Fields and Pastures New: My First Year as a Country Vet

In 1963, just three years out of veterinary school, Dr. John McCormack moved his wife and kids to Choctaw County, Alabama, to start his first practice. Choctaw folk never had a licensed vet before, and, with few exceptions, they welcomed the red-headed doctor and the tireless care he gave their animals.

Fields and Pastures New is the heartwarming story of young Dr. McCormack's first years in this deeply rural country, where mule-drawn wagons still bumped down dirt roads . . . where the local barbershop was the best place to catch up on the news . . . and where nobody ever let Doc forget his most embarrassing moments.

"I am proud to say that my closest friendships, outside my family, have been with my clients," Dr. McCormack writes. "I hope readers will get to know some of the workings of the small family farm, and how these down-to-earth people confront their hardships and disappointments with so much good humor."