The STAR

The STAR began in 1931 with Stanley Stein as editor, its name chosen by Carville patient and Texas pharmacist Stanley Levyson, also known as Stanley Stein. First issued as a mimeograph sheet about hospital activities, it quickly became political, and editorial policy controversies forced it to close in 1934. Stein re-established it as The STAR magazine in 1941, by which time disease had left him sightless. Under his leadership, it became both a voice for Carville patient advocacy and a source of Hansen's disease medical information for leprosy field workers around the world, so much so that in many remote clinics the medical library consisted almost entirely of issues of The STAR. Stein later recalled that he personally paid the postage to send out the first issue, with a circulation of 300, and that for nearly three years professional printing was beyond reach until an American Legionnaire encouraged him to have it printed in magazine form with mailing privileges, an ambition Stein called his life's ambition. The December 1943 cover showed the 40 & 8 as Santa Claus piloting a plane bearing American Legion and 40 & 8 insignia and delivering a new printing press to The STAR at U.S.M.H., Carville, Louisiana. The 40 & 8 veterans' organization continues to fund its printing. The scene in Bundling The STAR took place in a screened corridor outside the print shop in House 15 and shows patients preparing the magazine for shipping, with a nurse from the Daughters of Charity in the background; the painting was made by Frede Vidar in 1947 and later restored with support from the 40 & 8.

St. Gabriel, Louisiana · United States