Dr. Jerome Lowenstein, founder of the Bellevue Literary Press and the NYU Program for Humanistic Aspects of Medical Education, as well as an Emeritus Professor of Medicine at NYU Medical School, died on December 8, 2025. He was 92.
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| Jerome Lowenstein | |
In a tribute, Bellevue Literary Review noted that the eminent nephrologist "taught thousands of medical students and residents, including both BLR's editor-in-chief, Danielle Ofri, and founding publisher, Martin J. Blaser.... He understood deeply the valuable connection between medicine and literature. In addition to being one of the founders of BLR, he also was the founding publisher of Bellevue Literary Press, which is dedicated to publishing literary fiction and nonfiction at the intersection of the arts and sciences."
"Over the 20 years that I served as nonfiction editor of BLR, I never lost my passion for preserving the voice of our authors," Lowenstein observed in the review's 20th anniversary editor roundtable.
He was the author of six books, including The Midnight Meal and Other Essays About Doctors, Patients, and Medicine; the novel Henderson's Equation; and a nephrology classic, Acid and Basics.
"Jerry was a mensch extraordinaire, truly one-of-a-kind," said Ofri. "He cared deeply about the experience of the reader at every level. I remember sitting with him in my clinic office at Bellevue as we planned the first issue of BLR, weighing different samples of paper in our hands, trying to decide which would feel the nicest in our readers' hands. And, of course, I recall our many discussions about the importance of stories in medicine. The success of BLR led him to start the Bellevue Literary Press.... We owe Jerry a debt of gratitude for helping BLR as well as BLP get off the ground. He devoted his life to humanistic medicine, as all of his patients, his trainees, and his many readers can attest. He will be missed."
Blaser added: "In his own way, Jerry was a modern renaissance figure--physician, writer, teacher, scientist, outdoorsman, and with great joie de vivre. He was both sweet and humble. Wherever he went, he made friends--based on his intrinsic warmth and interest in other people. Jerry was an idealist, who loved his family, friends, the institutions he believed in, and the spirit of creativity. Even in old age, he kept his impish quality. To me, he was a true friend and a model of how to live a life well-spent."