Kidder then flashes back to discuss Farmer’s early life. Farmer was born in Massachusetts to a lower-class family. His father was a salesman, and moved the family to Florida when Farmer was young. In Florida, Farmer first met Haitian immigrants while picking fruit—a task which, in the 1960s, was regarded as “negro work.” Farmer was a superb student, and studied at Duke, followed by Harvard Medical School. He had an unusual relationship with his father: although his father loved him and was very proud of his accomplishments, he never gave his son any
