By Deb Silverthorn

As a young boy, Michael Weisberg loved to write. So much so that he majored in English literature at Vanderbilt University. Weisberg was also seriously ill as a child, requiring extensive treatment at Boston Children’s Hospital. He recalls the compassion of the doctors and staff who saved his life, and says their care inspired his own medical career.

The recently published “A Second Shot” is the convergence of these “Michaels,” a nonfiction work of nearly 400 pages that tells the true-life story of a criminal case solved after more than 50 years.

“Dr. Kopp, paralyzed on one side, always limping up the stairs of our home and carrying his black bag, was always kind,” said Weisberg, a gastroenterologist in Plano since 1991. “I never got to thank him as I wished, but a career in medicine meant helping people.

“I love changing lives through medicine,” he added, “but I’ve also always had the gift of being able to write.”

“A Second Shot,” Weisberg’s third book and his first work of nonfiction, follows his 2014 release “The Hospitalist,” an amalgamation of medicine in the 21st century in which a hospitalist treats a schizophrenic patient with whom he has no history. His 2019 “In The End” is a science fiction thriller exploring social and psychological issues through the lives of five individuals facing modern-day challenges. He also gave a TED Talk in 2016 on “How the Art of Medicine Became Business in the 21st Century.”

“A Second Shot” grew out of Weisberg’s connection with Carolyn Philo, whose mother became his patient after moving to Texas. Philo later became his patient as well, and when her father’s 52-year-old case was finally solved, she asked Weisberg to tell the story.

“I liked him and his mannerisms the first time we met. He doesn’t discount his patients’ thoughts, he pays attention, and he works things out,” said Philo of Weisberg. “I’d read his books and felt he’d serve my father’s memory well.

“All these years, I knew if I was still alive, the murderer probably was too, and I just didn’t let it go. Now that it’s solved, ‘closure’ is a funny word,” she continued. “I’m over it though, and I’m tickled that the book is done and for sale. For us, the case is over now. It’s just over.”

Weisberg traveled to Maryland with Philo and her husband, Robert, meeting with those handling the case and many from the original team. Time, technology and a push by Hall’s family were how it all came together.

It took Weisberg two years to write “A Second Shot.” The title carries double meaning, as the book was written largely while he was recovering from a horrific auto accident — a second chance at life that paralleled the story he was telling.

“The accident saved my life,” said Weisberg, who doctors discovered had severe blockages in his coronary arteries. He ultimately underwent a coronary calcium scan, a stress test, angiogram and a quadruple bypass. “I took off seven weeks to recover but found myself drawn to write this, and I did for 12 to 14 hours each day.”

While Weisberg was recovering, his family also suffered the loss of both his mother and mother-in-law, leaving his heart to heal in more ways than one.

“A Second Shot” was published by Intelligentsia Books and quickly rose to the top of Amazon’s True Crime bestseller list, where it remained for three months. Readers have praised Weisberg’s storytelling for resonating through psychological and emotional impressions rather than gory detail, making it accessible to a wide audience.

Weisberg and his wife, Sheryl (née Steinberg), met at a Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas singles event in 1992 and were married less than a year later by Rabbi David Stern at Temple Emanu-El. The couple, now members of Congregation Anshai Torah, are the parents of Reid, Brent and Carly.

Born in Huntington, West Virginia, and raised there and later in Palm Beach, Florida, Weisberg is the son of Joan and Fred, of blessed memory, and the brother of Perry Weisberg and Leslie (Marc) Quinn. With only 50 Jewish families in the tri-state area, the family managed to belong to both a Reform temple, where his mother served as president, and a Conservative synagogue, where his father led the board. Weisberg spent summers at Camp Judaea in North Carolina.

“I love learning and my practice, and now my writing allows me to learn about things I’d never connect to on my own,” said Weisberg. “I love being educated, doing research and always growing. I never want that to stop.”