ABOUT THE BOOK
Dr. Thomas McAvoy’s moving personal narrative JESSIE’S MIRACLE is part love story, part medical and scientific detective puzzler, and part philosophical treatise addressing the question, “Why would a benign God allow fatal diseases and other evils to exist?” 

On June 24, 2004, Jessie McAvoy lost her heroic struggle against the rare illness pseudomyxoma peritonei. Her husband Thomas dedicated himself to discovering the nature, causes, and possible treatments for the condition, in the hope that others might be spared the suffering that Jessie McAvoy endured. While conducting his remarkable research, he also discovered, along the way, some answers to questions that have perplexed mankind for millennia.

A man of profound faith as well as a distinguished scientist, McAvoy discusses the nature of evil’s existence from the points of view of theology, astronomy, cosmology, evolution, and Western philosophical schools of thought on freedom and “natural evil.” His conclusions are rich and profound, and will provide comfort to readers struggling, themselves, with the prospect of unspeakable loss.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Thomas McAvoy was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1940 and received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute in 1961. He received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton in 1964. He taught chemical engineering for 40 years, first at the University of Massachusetts (1964-1980), and then at the University of Maryland (1980-2004).

Dr. McAvoy is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland. In 1962 he married Jessie, who was also from New York. They were married for 41 years, and had three children, Thomas, Stephen, and Jennifer. Jessie’s example and courage in fighting a debilitating disease provided the motivation for writing this book.

PRAISE
Lisa Luciano, President of the PMP Research Foundation, calls JESSIE'S MIRACLE; A remarkable medical, philosophical, and spiritual investigation.