Lucky Medicine Book Launch Recap

On February 23, 2023, Indiana University Libraries and IU Press were honored to celebrate the launch of our very special new publication, Lucky Medicine: A Memoir of Success beyond Segregation, by Lester W. Thompson. Thompson was hosted by Indiana University Provost Rahul Shrivastav and was joined by several special guests including Da'Ja'Nay Askew, Managing Editor of the IU Journal of Black Student Experience.
Lucky Medicine offers a closeup, unforgettable look at IU student life just before the sweeping social changes of the 1960s. Thompson, a skinny African American boy from Indianapolis, arrived at Indiana University Bloomington in 1961 determined to become a doctor. For the next three years, he kept a detailed, intimate diary of his journey to graduation. In Lucky Medicine, Lester returns to his long-ago journal and, with honesty, humor, and a healthy dose of rueful self-reflection, shares stories from his college years when students of color accounted for less than 2 percent of the Indiana University’s student body.
Remarks at the launch even included an author Q&A and were followed by a book signing and a reception, which took place in the Herman B Wells Library Scholars’ Commons.
Photos by Noel Photography















IU Libraries is well equipped to showcase the Black student experience on campus. Lester’s book is the 23rd Well House Book, highlighting IU histories, peoples, institutions, programs, and legacies. As Gary Dunham, Director of the IU Press, noted, "We at the Press are particularly excited about Lucky Medicine because the book will spark fundamental reflections on and spirited discussions about who we were, are, and will be as a university.”
As Provost Shrivastav mentioned in his remarks, the University Archives’ exhibition is quite compelling as well. Librarians and archivists bring the special collections to life for students, faculty and alumni. Many of the Lucky Medicine guests had familial ties to the alumni featured in the exhibition.
-Pete Rhoda, Executive Director of Development, IU Libraries