Goin’ to Nebraska
The Huckleberry Finn Novel of the 1950s
At age twelve, a boy is full of questions. A summer train trip to the family farms will shape the rest of his life.
Emergency Physician · Hospice Doctor · Storyteller
Richard Wall, MDStoryteller
Twenty-nine years in the emergency room, fifteen at the hospice bedside, and a lifetime of adventure. Fact can be stranger than fiction.
Where it began
The full storyLittle did I realize when I went off to medical school that I would be starting a career as well as an adventure in life. No one could have predicted the incredible path that took me from emergency medicine to unique situations that required both methods in the art of medicine.
- years in the ER
- 29
- years in hospice care
- 15
- XTERRA triathlons
- 50+
- books published
- 3
New release · Medical thriller
Doctor KamikazeGoin’ to Sarasota and Beyond
An erotic medical thriller. Paralyzed, amnesiac, and minutes from becoming an organ donor, he has to piece together how he got here.
18+ · Contains graphic sexual content. In the author’s words: don’t buy it if you might be offended.
The bookshelf
Stories from Iowa,the ER & beyond
Adventures in Medicine
and Redemption in Hospice
Twenty-nine years in the ER, fifteen in hospice, and the stories in between, told from the bedside and around the world.
A life, on film
Medicine, mountains & theopen road
My résumé
Six decades,one adventure
From a blue-collar neighborhood in Davenport to the World Championships, and from the ER to the hospice bedside.
Full biography- 1965
Central High School, Davenport, Iowa
Graduated with honors
- 1969
Grinnell College
B.A., Phi Beta Kappa
- 1973
University of Iowa College of Medicine
M.D.
- 1973–74
Highland Alameda County Hospital
Rotating internship, Oakland, CA
- 1974–2003
Penrose & Penrose Community Hospital
Staff emergency physician for 29 years
- 1983
American Board of Emergency Medicine
Board certified, Certificate #800380
- 1985–98
Expert mountain biker
USA Cycling Masters
- 1998–2016
50+ XTERRA triathlons worldwide
Age-group world champion, 2002
- 2005
Hospice & Palliative Medicine
Board certified
- 2009
First novel
Published Goin’ to Nebraska
- 2020
Second book
Published Adventures in Medicine and Redemption in Hospice
- 2026
Third book
Published Doctor Kamikaze
Stories & notes
Adventures that didn’tmake the book
A Medical Adventure in Spain
Team physician at the 2000 Mountain Bike World Championships: a downhiller’s infected knee, a septic Aussie at 3 a.m., and a throne at the bottom of the mountain.
Read the storyA Medical Adventure in the Caribbean
A Windstar cruise, a Brooklyn dentist with a desperate request, and an unlicensed Good Samaritan procedure on the high seas.
Read the storySignings · Storytelling · Talks
Bring a storyteller to your event
Richard is available for book signings at storytelling events, book clubs and talks.
Get in touch