True historical thriller has lessons for our time, too.

Byline: SECOND SUNDAY BOOK CLUB By Karen McCowan The Register-Guard

It didn't take a scary, made-for-TV movie to get local readers talking about how to prepare for a deadly pandemic: The Downtown Athletic Club's book group invited Dr. Sarah Hendrickson and Elizabeth Miglioretto of Lane County Public Health to their April discussion of `The Great Influenza.'

And, as John Barry's real-life historical thriller was also last month's pick for The Register-Guard's Second Sunday Book Club, our readers got to follow and join the conversation virtually, on our book blog.

Barry's book is an account of the 1918 epidemic that killed an estimated 100 million people.

But given current speculation about a potential bird flu pandemic, much of the discussion centered on preparedness lessons for today. And DAC's guest experts suggested that our best defense here in Lane County is simply geography.

Because we live in a relatively sparsely populated area, any serious epidemic will probably manifest its deadliness in more dense urban centers first, so we'll have a `heads' up' to take it seriously.

Here is a sampling of comments from our blog and from the DAC discussion:

On what "taking it seriously" means: The obvious best defense is to avoid getting it: That means staying away from crowds and situations where it's likely to be present ... When I entered Hong Kong during the SARS panic, they had set up infrared screening cameras, and trained people to observe the image of each arrival. If anyone showed up with a fever, they were pulled aside and examined. That won't work here because most who arrive come by car ...

If it gets bad, I'll be wearing a breathing mask and washing my hands frequently ... Washing your hands regularly is still the best defense against colds and the flu. Aside from being a hermit ... When the author spoke in Portland, he recommended that every family have two weeks of water and food.

On expecting the government to save us: There will not be enough vaccine available for everyone ... Hand-washing and social distance are not a fallback measure, they're our first line of defense ...

The downside to reading this book is listening to the uneducated bureaucrats in charge of preparing for the next pandemic. They are worse than clueless, and it scares me ... No matter how much you think history is important, that last chapter is explosive ... The line in the last chapter that sticks out: "It's not a matter of if, but of when."

On Barry's writing: I devoured "The Great Influenza." It reminded me of Erik Larsen's "The Devil in the White City," it was so well researched and well written, right up to the current status of the H5N1 virus that is stalking us ... If you're up for a riveting read, this is the book.

HOW IT WORKS

What is the Second Sunday Book Club? It's a vicarious book group. Each month, we select a real local book group and allow Register-Guard readers to piggyback on its book choice. Then, on the second Sunday of each month, we'll print a compendium of comments from Register-Guard readers and from the featured book group.

How do I participate? Read the book and then go to www .registerguard.com/blogs/books to comment.

What are the next books?

The May read is Lucille Clifton's poetry collection, "Blessing the Boats," the choice of Lane Community College's Reading Together program.

The pick for June is ``A Sudden Country'' by Karen Fisher, a novel set on the Oregon Trail.

ONLINE SPECIAL

As we near the May 21 anniversary of the Thurston High shootings, Lucille Clifton has let us post her poem about children killing children in its entirety on our blog (www.registerguard .com/blogs/books), where readers may post comments.