The Difference One Person Can Make

Thank you for honoring Marianna TePaske Daly ’79, M.D. (“Lives: An Appreciation,” February issue).

I met her at a UNC Internal Medicine meeting in the 1990s. She and I attended that conference for the next 20-plus years, sharing remembrances and also Princeton basketball NCAA appearances (the conference is held in mid-March). In March 2019, Marianna was telling me about the chemo and radiation ahead of her. When an acquaintance asked her about me, she said simply, he is a college friend, not revealing what had occurred seconds before.

Marianna was a front-line doctor, and her work in Madison County, North Carolina, has saved many lives from HIV, hepatitis C, and opiate use disorder. One dedicated person (and Princeton grad) can make a great difference in a rural setting.