Editor’s Note: The unique year we endured in 2020 led to a slight twist in our annual People of the Year. As a way to honor the extraordinary work done to combat COVID-19 over the past year at our local hospitals, Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital and Peconic Bay Medical Center, we present two Person of the Year stories here, including Dr. Lawrence Walser, who we also honor in our Riverhead News-Review edition. A common theme began to emerge across America when the coronavirus pandemic struck and reality of the devastating effects caused by COVID-19 became all too clear: “Not all heroes wear capes.”