Johns Hopkins Magazine -- September 1997
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SEPTEMBER 1997
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RETURN TO PASSIONATE DIVERSIONS

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S C I E N C E    &    T E C H N O L O G Y

Passionate Diversions


Robyn Gershon
Occupational Health Scientist, Public Health
Photos by Doug Barber


Robyn Gershon's fate line does not branch off into little wrinkly side channels, as do many of the fate lines in the palms she reads. It follows a straight course, and, indeed, in terms of her career, Gershon has always been directed. Ever since her childhood, when she grew molds on old bread, she's been interested in microbes. A researcher at the School of Public Health, she now studies workers' risks of becoming infected with microbes such as HIV. "It's pretty intense work. Some of it is painful." Palmistry, in contrast, "is a good escape," says Gershon, who reads the palms of friends and acquaintances as a hobby, carrying on a tradition practiced by her grandmother. "It is a peaceful thing. It feels good. It's a very intimate way of connecting with people."


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