4
School supply drive benefits kids in need
From left, Syosset Public Library Director Christine Belling, Assistant Director Sharon Long, Deputy Minority Leader Drucker, Head of Adult Programming Alisa Fogel and Programming & Arts Librarian Pam Strudler pictured with donations on Wednesday, July 17. Photo courtesy Office of Deputy Minority Leader Arnold W. Drucker Nassau County Legislature Deputy Minority Leader Arnold W. Drucker (D – Plainview) thanks the Plainview-Old Bethpage and Syosset communities for their generous support of the Scott Martella “Supply our Students Drive” in
$1
Friday, July 26, 2024
Vol. 84, No. 30
support of the Long Island Coalition for the Homeless. During recent visits to the Plainview-Old Bethpage and Syosset Public Libraries, Deputy Minority Leader Drucker was updated on the impressive
proceeds of the drive so far, which is named in honor of Scott Martella, a former Smithtown School Board Trustee who made history when he was elected at age 22 and later became a top aide to forSee page 8
The Jericho Syosset News Journal is published every Friday by Litmor Publishing Corp. Periodical Postage paid at Hicksville, N.Y. 11801Telephone 931-0012 - USPS 3467-68 Postmaster: Send Address Change to: The Syosset Jericho News Journal, 821 Franklin Ave., Suite 208, Garden City, N.Y. 11530 • Meg Norris Publisher
Dentist honors brother with oral cancer awareness BY GARY SIMEONE It was in 2020, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, when Dr Parul Dua Makkar, a Jericho based dentist, had gotten word that her younger brother was terminally ill with cancer. Her brother, Dr Manu Dua, also a dentist, was living in Canada when he received the grim diagnosis of oral cancer. He found out the diagnosis at the young age of thirty-three, with the doctors telling him he had only a short time to live. “I ended up getting my PCR test in the midst of the pandemic and then flying to see my brother in Alberta, Canada in December of 2020,” said Dr Makkar. She said that her brother had written a series of blogs on topics such as parental love, hope, achievements, learning from failures and facing mortality at a young age. “It was his dying wish to have these blogs published and I wanted to make his last wish turned into a reality. I put everything together and wrote the epilogue for the book, describing what it was like losing someone to cancer in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic.” The book was entitled, ‘Life Interrupted- Dr. Dua’s Survival Guide.’ Dr. Makkar said that her brother had made peace with his fate and wrote the blogs with his depth and wisdom, chronicling his realization of life and what truly matters. “When I wrote the epilogue for him, I didn’t talk about his last days but focused on who Manu was as a person. I described how cancer doesn’t just affect the person, but the whole community and how a grim diagnosis can bring everyone together.”
Dr Manu Dua died in March of 2021 and the book was published in August of that same year. He was thirty-four years old when he died after battling oral cancer for two years. In the few years since the book was published, it has earned several awards including 2024 American Legacy Book Award, 2024 International Impact Book Award, 2023 NYC Big Book Award Distinguished Favorite and 2022 CIPA EVVY Gold Award in Motivational/ Inspirational memoir. Dr Makkar has been extremely proactive since her brother’s passing, holding lectures and symposiums on the importance of early detection on oral and head/neck cancers. One of her symposiums, entitled the ‘Dua Good Job Symposium, she talks See page 8
Dr. Manu Dua
Conservation poster contest winners PAGE XX Library celebrates memorial garden PAGE XX