Author to discuss book about Atlantic City's boardwalk incubator doctor Aug. 25

The Atlantic City Free Public Library will hold a Meet the Author program featuring Dawn Raffel — who wrote “The Strange Case of Dr. Couney” — on Saturday, Aug. 25 at 2 p.m. in the Main Library meeting room. The program is free.

The Atlantic City boardwalk was once home to a popular sideshow attraction that featured tiny premature infants in incubators. From 1903-43, the mysterious Dr. Martin Couney ran his concession on the boardwalk where the public could witness the care of two- and three-pound preemies.

Despite the bizarre spectacle, Dr. Couney was ahead of his time. Doctors at Atlantic City’s hospital would send their tiniest patients to be cared for in Dr. Couney’s sideshow. The ultimate showman, sending gaudy preemie floats down the boardwalk, Dr. Couney is also the rightful father of American neonatology.

The program will include re-dedication of the historic plaque that was first commission by a group of renowned neonatologists in 1971.