Book Description

In May 1971, Look magazine featured a story entitled "Chicago’s Cook County Hospital: A Terrible Place." The article provided an inside look at the largest public hospital in the country, one located on Chicago’s dangerous gang-controlled and drug-infested west side. Months later, Carol Karels and seventy other nursing students began their nurse’s training there, despite newspaper articles that warned that the hospital might close any day. ‘The County,’ as it was called by the multitudes who sought health care treatment there, has weathered massive layoffs, doctors and nurses strikes, budget slashing, and public relations nightmares. Chicago’s counterpart to the Statue of Liberty, ‘the County’ welcomed the sick, desperate, and destitute multitudes who were turned away elsewhere. Burn victims, abused children, Skid Row drunks with TB, gunshot victims, nursing home rejects, drug overdoses, and those with complex medical conditions all found refuge on County’s massive wards. Metal beds, separated only by green curtains, lined the walls of these wards. Patients shared a common bathroom (at one end of the ward) and TV (at the other end of the ward). The nurse’s station was often a full block away from the last bed. Call lights were unheard of—patients shouted if they needed help.

Within weeks after starting nursing school, Ms. Karels began work on one of the busiest emergency wards in the hospital. Each night she assisted the overworked nurses and doctors by washing the vermin-infested bodies of the homeless, applying leather restraints to those who were confused and violent, shaking those with drug overdoses to keep them alert, translating street English for foreign doctors, and racing around the hospital to find medications and emergency equipment. Most who trained at Cook County Hospital, the hospital on which television’s hit "ER" is loosely based on, describe it as a city unto itself. While the patients were housed on wards, the staff lived and ate right across the street in sexually segregated dormitories--male doctors in one, female nurses in the other. Social life consisted of Friday teas in the nurse’s residence, local frat parties and Saturday night dances in the doctor’s dormitory.

County was also a hotbed of political activity with staff members representing every imaginable political ideology. In the years before Medicare, Medicaid, legalized abortions, and managed healthcare, County’s idealistic nurses and doctors were among the first in the nation to go on strike for better working conditions, and the first to go to jail for their convictions. The struggle for change, complicated by a massive internal bureaucracy, internal corruption, and city politics, is also documented.

"Cooked" chronicles the day-to-day challenges faced by committed caregivers and shows how stress and exhaustion often leads to indifference, callousness, tragic mistakes, and burnout. The memoir also shows how humor on the wards helps both caretakers and patients maintain their sanity. One example was a pre-dawn roller-skating romp in County’s musty tunnels.

The memoir also explores the culture of the Mexican immigrant on Chicago’s near south side. Feeling shut out of the Chicago’s public health care system because of language barriers, the Hispanic community resorted to forming their own community health clinic run by a street gang called ‘the Brown Berets.’ Ms. Karels shares memories of her Wednesday evenings at the clinic, which survived until organized violence took precedence over community healthcare.

COOKED is filled with stories about the compassion, caregiving, dedication, and chaos that took place on County’s huge wards and in the surrounding neighborhoods. In COOKED the medical novice will get an inside look inside the country’s largest public hospital while those with a medical background will nod their heads in recognition and encourage their children to read about a bygone era of institutional, yet excellent, medical care. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great read of a grand place
I received this book as a gift after retiring from a long career of nursing at Cook County Hospital. I enjoyed the way the author accurately described this hospital's atmosphere and the types of patients that we helped. Her unique stories were similiar to my own. I highly recommend it to all people who want to remember this grand institution. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (75)

Excellent....
I picked this book up one day with no clue as to what it was. After having read it I've concluded that it's the best story that I've read concerning animals (excluding animal farm). It also helped me understand life as a veternarian (at least some fifty years ago!) I've also come to the conclusion that Herriot has created a brilliant novel in his first try that have taken so many others years to complete. Synopsis: A heart-warming true tale of a veternarian named Dr. James Herriot in the late 30s in Yorkshire, England.

classic works!
James Herriot's books stand out in modern writing as absolute classics, evocative of an earlier, more innocent time, and more wonderously, by the skill with which these deceptively simple, entertaining, moving stories are written. Beneath the entertaining text and characters lies absolutely beautiful, artful writing, with craft and skill that ties all these chapters and stories together in a pattern of one country vet's life in England in the 1930's and 40's. These are so much more than animal stories. I am biased; these are my favorite all-time books, read and re-read since my youth. Increasing age has not diminished their charm. History will write James Herriot's name large. If you haven't read these books yet, you owe it to yourself to start with "All Creatures Great and Small". Whether or not you care for animals, you will fall in love with a gentler time, the escapades of a trio of young men, and the laugh-out-loud as well as very tearful events this author writes about so beautifully. Absolutely timeless and a classic.

Best Listening Book Experience Ever!!
James Herriot is a wonderfully gifted writer. The way he can describe a scene with the exact perfect wording and phrase is simply uncanny.

You are THERE on the Yorkshire dales living the lowly daily life of a young vet.

Add to that Christopher Timothy's truly masterful performance and this audio book should be in the hall of fame. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

A breath of fresh air. Genuinely hilarious, heart warming, uplifting.

Give yourself the best gift ever. Listen to this book.

The beginning of magic
This is where it all started with James Herriott for me - a paperback tucked in with 3 or 4 other books I received for my birthday a long time ago. I couldn't tell you what the other books were, but this book, and its sequels, have become dear friends. I can tell you the stories from memory (and from my heart) and I have read the paperbacks so often I've had to replace them with hardbacks just so they'll last longer.
James Herriott was a vet practicing in Yorkshire (England) from the end of the Depression until about 20 years ago.
The stories are charming, happy, glorious, tragic and tear-jerking. It was a wonderful but brutal time to be practicing veterinary medicine. It was before many of the surgeries we have now and Herriott was there for the introduction of antibiotics and many other medicines. Think about it - how often have you had your cat or dog treated for infections - 60 years ago there was nothing to kill the bacteria that brought death to so many. How impossibly hard it must have been for him to lose so many of the animals he treated, and how wonderful when he knew he saved them either for the farmers who needed their stock or the families who loved their pets. And the people he writes about! What characters!
I have pets and love to read the stories about cats and dogs and horses. I teach medical students and use more than a few examples from these books about the PROCESS of thinking which is so essential to any practice of medicine. His stories here and in later books about diagnosing hoof and mouth disease or husk or heatstroke or nettlerash are fascinating reading about the mind of a physician as it works while the seconds of life tick away.
This book is great, the series of books is great - curl up somewhere and get to know them.

A great book
You have to be dead not to enjoy this book. I just wanted to register my five stars. ... Read more

Book Description

Welcome to New Auburn, Wisconsin (population: 485), where the local vigilante is a farmer's wife armed with a pistol and a Bible, the most senior member of the volunteer fire department is a cross-eyed butcher with one kidney and two ex-wives (both of whom work at the only gas station in town), and the back roads are haunted by the ghosts of children and farmers. Michael Perry loves this place. He grew up here, and now -- after a decade away -- he has returned.

Unable to polka or repair his own pickup, his farm-boy hands gone soft after years of writing, Mike figures the best way to regain his credibility is to join the volunteer fire department. Against a backdrop of fires and tangled wrecks, bar fights and smelt feeds, he tells a frequently comic tale leavened with moments of heartbreaking delicacy and searing tragedy. Tracing his calls on a map in the little firehouse, he sees "a dense, benevolent web, spun one frantic zigzag at a time" from which the story of a tiny town emerges, building to a final chapter that is at once devastating and transcendent. ... Read more

Reviews (34)

Close to Home - 2nd attempt
I recently completed Population: 485 and found that it hit very close to home. I grew up in a town smaller that New Auburn, helped with the VFD and then moved away for a while only to recently return. Reading the book reminded me of why I came back.

The characters are the type that are readily noticed in a small town because you are more likely to know everyone. The spirit of community when someone is in need is indeed true. From my own experience, the person that cusses you the louded everyday may very well be the first to offer help when needed. You may not have a lot of common most of the time, but you pull together in the darkest hours.

I would recommend this book for anyone who has ever lived in a small town, ever served in fire/EMS service or ever wanted to do do either.

The stories are compelling. The writing, while fanciful at times is well adapted to the subject. It was a quick read, partially because I couldn't put it down.

All in all a ... good book

Close to Home
Population: 485 is a book that makes me want to laugh and cry, generally on the same page. I grew up in a small town, worked the VFD then moved away to return some years later. I can readily identify with what Mr. Perry has written in his book. It hits close to home.

If you have ever lived in a small town, served on a small fire department/EMS service, or ever wanted to, this is a book you should read.

The story involves characters that are unique to small towns and they will make you smile and chuckle. The coming together of people to help one another will make you beam with pride. And the tragedies involved with his work will make you cry with a hurt that is all too familiar.

Well written with enough detail to make the experience real Mike Perry has written a book that will reside forever in the dens and family rooms of small town firefighters and EMS workers. Its humanity and inside along with the characters and stories will make it an enjoyable read for anyone.

You cannot go wrong with this book.

Love Among the Rubes
"Summer comes on like a zaftig hippie chick, jazzed on chlorophyll and flinging fistfuls of butterflies at the sun."
If you're past a certain age, that opening line should remind you of the books that you read in your impressionable years; the ones that made you a reader for life. Think Richard Brautigan. Think Thomas Pynchon. Think Ken Kesey or Hunter S. Thompson.
Michael Perry has a sensibility and a style that assimilate the best that these guys had to offer: Brautigan's sweet, sad quirkiness, Pynchon's God's-eye view of his characters' worlds, Kesey's brawny prose and close observational skills, Thompson's prickly - and very funny - clarity of vision and expression. He goes on to outdo them, however, in a book so small and unassuming - and so tender - that you forgive him for knocking your old literary gods into the hog trough.
Framed by two stories of such pathos - something lacking in our daily lives as a rule, thank God - that we don't have a premeditated response to it, are a wealth of slice-of-life stories about the little town of New Auburn, Wisconsin, (population 485) that are so lovingly and meticulously rendered that you'll recognize your own town. Your own neighbors. Your own self.
The opening piece - "Jabowski's Corner" - tells the story of a hardworking farm family with a deadly piece of road bisecting their land. Part encomium to the farmer and his wife who raised seven girls and five boys on a rockpatch farm, part euology to the girl so terribly injured on the sharp curve known as Jabowski's Corner, and finally, part tale of Perry's attempt - by joining the local volunteer fire department and EMS squad - to weave his life back into that of the community in the hometown that he left years ago, this is a harrowing tale of faith and loss and love.
About the girl, Perry tells us, "Seven years since the accident, and this is what freezes me late at night: There was a moment - a still, horrible moment - when the car came squalling to a halt, the violent kinetics spent, and the girl was pinned in silence... The meadowlark sings, the land drops away south to the hazy tamarack bowl of the Big Swamp... all around the land is rank with life... The girl is terribly, terribly alone in a beautiful, beautiful world."
Between this horrible, lovely story and the end piece - an equally lachrymose one about Perry's sister-in-law of seven weeks' death under similar circumstances - are a series of meditations and just plain wacky yarns about everything from the semiotics of lawn tchachkes to the night Tricky Jackson wiped out the laundromat. My favorite is the one about the big, boozy, bearded logger who thinks he's having a heart attack. He and his fellow Budmeisters are out in the middle of nowhere, and when the EMS team shows up, and the woodsy mirthmakers hear the words "cardiac arrest", they surround their downed friend like protective, demented musk oxen - "arrest" being the only word that penetrates their alcoholic fog.
In the final essay, Perry tells us about Sarah, the young girl who marries his thirty-something brother only to die in a car accident seven weeks later. "At the wake," he says, "it was her hands that made me cry. I would look at them and think of them touching my brother." Which pretty much says all that need be said about the unspoken love between siblings.
It takes a big, strong heart, I think, to join an EMS team or to volunteer as a firefighter - to look at people at their weakest and not turn away. It took that same kind of heart to write these stories.

Small Town Living Captured Perfectly
From describing interactions between feuding high school sweethearts in the middle of Main Street to Kodiak-chewing characters that make you say, "I know that guy," the picture of small town living Michael Perry creates for readers is dead on. I couldn't stop reading, laughing, sighing, shaking my head - this book has it all. Because I was raised small town Abrams, Wisconsin, I can honestly say that Perry captures the bittersweet life people live there and, he made me a little homesick. Please read this book!

Fine tales from the Midwest
POPULATION: 485 is a patchwork of stories, history & memories written from the perspective of a native son's return to his home town as a First Responder. Michael Perry writes with an unerring eye for community, nostalgia, tragedy, comedy & self-reflection. Tears & laughter are the spices which make this as welcome a read as a hot toddy on a cold night.

Rebeccasreads highly recommends POPULATION: 485 for anyone who relishes the humor & drama of everyday life in a small American town hanging on to life by the roots of its families. ... Read more

Book Description

This is the story of young man's recovery from a devastating stroke, taking the reader on a journey far beyond the typical "survivor" story, into the depths of a young man’s feelings, and across ten years of physical and emotional challenges living with disabilities.

This is a true story that reads like an action novel. The second edition has a new foreword by best-selling author Julian Whitaker, M.D., as well as more of Paul's adventures, and a new section on useful resources requested by readers of the first edition. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

It gave me hope!
My father is much older than Paul when he suffered his stroke in December of 2000. My father's stroke was very severe and has left him totally paralyzed on his right side and unable to speak or effectively communicate in any manner, which is the same side and conditions that Paul suffered. This book gave me hope that some day my 78-yr. old father may be able to communicate on some level. All speech therapy has been stopped for my father, but after reading this book and seeing what 8 years of therapy has done for Paul, my family is looking into our options once again. I can think of nearly nothing worse than being able to understand most of what is being said around you and not being able to communicate back. People with aphasia are essentially trapped within their own body. Thanks, Paul for having the courage to move forward with your life and to tell your story. It truly gave me hope!!

What an attitude! He must be from Philly.
I admit, I am also from Philly, and nobody messes with us. Paul wouldn't accept any diagnosis other than a life that was interesting and fulfilling. It's remarkable how he struggled to get back his body. It's a funny uplifting book that should give inspiration to other head trauma victims. (And a nice reminder to the rest of us.) Paul and Stephanie have written about regaining a lifestyle they enjoyed in spite of new disablities. I found it fascinating that Paul came back with more of a sense of humor and a more outgoing personality. Imagine a man with aphasia starting conversations with his fellow commuters! What pluck. It's a readable book, for anyone, not just stroke victims.

Don't take "no" for an answer
For 8 years I led a support group for people with stroke and other brain injuries. This honest, funny, gutsy account of one man's struggle to regain his life after a devastating stroke shows what can be done, and what it takes to do it.

What struck me most in this inspiring story was Paul's ability to keep on trying despite innumerable setbacks. I felt empowered by his wife's tireless advocacy, creative solutions, and search for resources. As a member of a family that struggles with chronic illness, I enthusiastically recommend this book to anyone seeking to change a life.

Living with a stroke
Me and my husband read this book together and we did find some parts of it very helpful, but is is lacking in reality the depression and guilt, along with the sorrow that a person feels when they have suffered a stroke. My husband had a stroke at 40, even thou my husbands stroke was not as severe as Pauls, he made alot of his recovering years sound like a walk in the park.

Need inspiration?
This book is a bright bright light for families experiencing a stroke or other life-changing event. So much of the information out there is clinical...useful but that's all. Stephanie and Paul open their doors to their experience and the result is a detailed, compassionate view of the struggles and rewards of dealing with a major life changing event. What's more this book is a gripping page turner. I finished in it one evening and found myself yearning for more. Read it. ... Read more

Book Description

Some people are born to lead and destined to teach by the example of living life to the fullest, and facing death with uncommon honesty and courage. Peter Barton was that kind of person.

Driven by the ideals that sparked a generation, he became an overachieving Everyman, a risk-taker who showed others what was possible. Then, in the prime of his life — hugely successful, happily married, and the father of three children — Peter faced the greatest of all challenges. Diagnosed with cancer, he began a journey that was not only frightening and appalling but also full of wonder and discovery.

With unflinching candor and even surprising humor, Not Fade Away finds meaning and solace in Peter’s confrontation with mortality. Celebrating life as it dares to stare down death, Peter's story addresses universal hopes and fears, and redefines the quietly heroic tasks of seeking clarity in the midst of pain, of breaking through to personal faith, and of achieving peace after bold and sincere questioning.

Reviews (27)

Beautifully written and truly memorable!
When I saw Laurence Shames interview on televison last week, only having caught a portion of it -- for some inexplicable reason I felt compelled to read this book. I mentioned my interest in reading this book to a few people, and got some sideways glances...I'm sure they were wondering why a pregnant woman would be drawn to a memoir of a dying man? Shouldn't I be reading something a bit livlier? I knew just enough about the remarkable life of Peter Barton that I really wanted to know, what were his final thoughts?

This book is about the adventure of being alive, the choices we make and the risks we take that make it incredible. There are pearls of wisdom in this book -- his remarkable insight into business, parenthood, love and of course the eventual struggle we all will face with our own mortality. It's the type of book you finish, and then just sit there for awhile soaking it in -- feeling a bit changed from having read it.

Why is this book not on the bestsellers?
Laurence Shames and Peter Barton have written one of the best books since Tuesdays with Morrie. I enjoyed every page and found Mr. Barton's life and dying experience to be funny, sad and touching. We are given the opprotunity to see inside of a man who worked hard and had "everything" only to die at a young age. However, he provides the reader with insight as he goes through the dying process. What he learned about his parents, his wife, children, himself and life. What really becomes important when you know your time is limited and how it effects how you send that time.

After reading this book my only questions was why has someone not gotten the word out about this touching story? If you like Tuesday with Morrie you will love Not Fade Away..you go way from reading the book with a greater knowledge of what we all will have to face day.

Mr. Barton has blessed us with his experience. READ IT-- and spread the word!

A READERS DIGEST TYPE OF LIFE...CONDENSED
This book is about Peter Barton and he has written half of it and the biography part is by Laurence Shames. My personal philosophy is pretty well set in stone, but for a younger person, this book should be a good primer in how to live...well. Mr. Barton tried to do many things and did do them well. His serious occupation did not develop until his early 40's (along with his marriage) and the story of how he arrived there is very interesting. He was responsible for much of what you see on cable television today and his ideas of what to look for in finding a job for yourself is enlightening. His attitude of life is superb and you should get a lot out of reading about his stairway to the stars.

Peter Barton: A brief but very full life!
Pete and I were classmates at Loomis. The recommendation to read his book came during our recent 35th reunion. I have two observations after reading it: the first, is my regret at not having kept up with Pete. He lived his life fully and always had a lot of fun. He was irreverent, a trait I admire. The second is his admonition to slow down and enjoy the "now" that life offers. It has given me pause as I reflect upon my own life and values. While most in my generation have assumed responsibilities that require more than the narrow focus of living entirely for the moment, Pete's experiences in the last year of his life show that responsibility and enjoying the now can go hand in hand: after all, today may be all you have.

Sad but Good
A sad but inspirational book. Maybe not for the top of your reading list, but one to consider. If you enjoyed "The Five People You Meet in Heaven", "My Fractured Life", and "Father Joe" then this could be the next on your list. ... Read more

Book Description

The awe-inspiring story of the life and mission of Dr. Catherine Hamlin who, with her husband Reg, established what has been heralded as one the most incredible medical programs in the modern world. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Inspiring and compelling memoir of hope in times of despair
Seldom has a missionary painted such a compelling portrait of hope from darkest despair as Dr. Catherine Hamlin in her inspiring memoir, THE HOSPITAL BY THE RIVER. When she and her husband, Reg, embarked on their careers in gynecology in Australia, they never dreamed their work would eventually take them halfway across the globe to the third world country of Ethiopia to establish a teaching hospital.

Ethiopia's insistence on child-brides and the poor obstetric care in that country is responsible for the high incidence of women who suffer from fistula, a childbirth injury that results in constantly running urine and terrible internal injuries. The personal stories of these women as told by Dr. Hamlin will break readers' hearts. Divorced by their husbands and rejected by their families, many of these injured women live out the remainder of their lives ostracized alone in dark rooms --- all for want of an operation costing only a few hundred dollars.

A simple operation can alleviate their suffering, and most women are curable. (Hamlin takes payment in everything from live chickens to jewelry.) But although two million women suffer from fistula, less than 7,000 are treated each year. The challenges to create a hospital that serves these women --- and then maintain and finance operations --- are formidable.

Hamlin's descriptions will move even the most jaded readers to tears --- and sometimes to a queasy stomach. In one gruesome anecdote, she tells of a woman mauled by a hyena while giving birth (the hyena ate her baby while she was helpless to protect it). However, Hamlin wants us to understand the depth of this despair so difficult to relate to --- the horrific conditions these women live in --- in order to arouse our deepest compassion for their suffering.

In one memorable passage, she describes the life of one such outcast, discovered in a village by a medical worker:

"...They reluctantly showed her a side room. Inside it was dark, and the smell was almost unbearable. In the far corner, against the wall was a raised platform. Peering through the gloom they made out a woman lying on her side with her legs drawn up in a flexed position. Her bladder and bowel contents were leaking into a pool underneath. Because she had been in this position for five years the joints had become stiff... and she could no longer walk...."

This woman --- like more than 20,000 others --- was cured by Hamlin and her team.

This is a book of contrasts, from the gatherings thrown by royalty to the extreme poverty that most of the people of Ethiopia experience. Although the reader has to mine a bit too much detailed memoir to get to the good storytelling, it is well worth the effort. Her tone throughout is one of gratitude. Hamlin is quick to offer copious amounts of praise for others, even those who have perhaps wronged her in some way. She is vulnerable about her own shortcomings, especially as a parent.

Almost four decades after her work began, it's understandable why Hamlin has been called "The new Mother Teresa for our age" by the New York Times, and nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. This fascinating account of Dr. Hamlin's work will break your heart --- and offer hope that even the worst circumstances can be changed if we care enough to help. Keep the Kleenex handy.

(...)

Don't live another week without reading this story!
I have been writing to publishers and book sellers for over a year begging them to publish this book in the U.S.Dr. Catherine Hamlin tells the story and illustrates how one intelligent, caring woman devoted her time on earth to easing the plight of young mothers in Africa.Don't live another week without reading this story!Also, sales of the book go toward keeping Dr. Hamlin's hospital and refuge open for young mothers in Africa who need reconstructive surgery following the birth of their babies.
... Read more

Amazon.com

In this moving and engrossing memoir, veteran television news producer Richard Cohen relates a life spent dealing with multiple sclerosis, first diagnosed when he was 25 years old and just getting started in the competitive world of broadcast journalism. As his career progressed, he struggled not only with the disease but the touchy question of how much of the truth about himself to share with colleagues and potential employers. Cohen spent much of his life running from the onset of the disease's symptoms from which his father and grandmother also suffered. Defiantly, he took challenging, sometimes extremely dangerous assignments in Lebanon, Poland, and on the domestic political campaign trail, even as his body deteriorated. But over the course of Blindsided, it becomes apparent that illness had actually built Cohen up even as it ripped him apart. Without the physical and mental toughness required to navigate a journalist's life while fighting back loss of eyesight and poor equilibrium, it's doubtful that the flaky kid we meet early in the book would transform into the award-winning professional Cohen eventually becomes. His marriage to journalist Meredith Vieira, every bit his equal as both newshound and deadpan cynical comic, gave Cohen the stable family life and children he needed when MS made it impossible to continue in a traditional news job. But two bouts with colon cancer in the late 1990s tested his resolve and his family's patience. While Cohen is both courageous and inspirational, Blindsided is not the overly sentimental clichéd tale that stories about fighting illness often become. He refuses to paint himself as the hero (except when making fun of his own failure to be heroic) and recounts in detail the strain that he put on his marriage and children. Stories such as this often end with the memoirist arriving at a state of peace and mental clarity but again Cohen remains more compelling and credible by offering no such pat answers. As with most people fighting to preserve their families, their lives, and their bodies, Richard Cohen's is an ongoing struggle. --John Moe ... Read more

Reviews (25)

Puts everything in perspective
"Anyone battling chronic illness understands the power of family support and even the groundless fear of being left," Richard Cohen says.

Cohen, whom I had never heard of before reading this book, puts everything in perspective in this eye-opening and introspectively candid look into not only his life, but that of his spouse Meredith Vieira and their 3 children. At times shocking, revealing, humorous, instructive, as well as cathartic, Blindsided makes for an incredibly refreshing read for anyone who has suffered through a chronic illness or hospitalization(such as myself) or who simply enjoys a profoundly uplifting memoir.

Cohen will surprise you with his surprising candor and dry humor. Especially amusing was his unbridled disdain for the ostensibly helpless light in which Ladies Home Journal cast him in after interviewing Meredith. Making him out to be a pitiful invalid and Meredith as the incessantly weeping caretaker was far from the truth, Richard says. As a true testament to his unwavering resolve, he has chosen to live his life to the fullest that he possibly can -- regardless of his medical limitations.

"Personal strength, in the end, wins out. My hope never dies. And, still, I call myself an optimist. I believe that in the end, my life will be better."

I Did It My Way
After listening to the author's wife, Meredith Viera, on the Barbara Walters' interview, I purchased this book by Richard M. Cohen, a survivor of multiple sclerosis and colon cancer, because he deserves to be heard. He is strong through adversity. His wife is his best friend, his loyal partner, and obviously wants to share the inspiring story of her admiration for Richard Cohen and the strength of their family.

Mr. Cohen develops his "reluctant memoir" as he refers to his book, in a realistic way. All of us will face some sort of adversity at one time or another during our short time on this earth. Read this engrossing story in order to learn this man's coping mechanisms. He continues to deal with worsening symtoms of this disease, teach his children to be understanding and compassionate towards others, work constantly on being optimistic in the face of uncertainty about his medical conditions, and give his opinions and insights on just about everything.

The effects of this progressive disease on his wife and three children are told with honesty and concern. He is a skillful writer, an independent thinker, and discourages any sympathy one might have for him.

As I read this timely book through in just two sittings, I counted my blessings and gave thanks to our God for His peace which passes all understanding. None of us are promised a "rose garden" in this life, but we are promised a "Presence" to comfort us, if we ask. There is no mention in this book of a spiritual journey. I hope he writes another book with a mention of that type of journey as well as a thanks and a mention of all those who have assisted and encouraged him these past 3 decades - for without them, I doubt he could be the "overcomer" he daily strives to be.

"When sorrows come, they come . . . in battalions."
Richard Cohen knows about sorrow as well as joy. When he was twenty-five, life seemed to have endless promise. He was an up-and-coming television news producer who felt physically fit and self-confident. One day, Cohen dropped a coffee pot, and he chalked it up to a clumsy moment. On another occasion, he was standing at a curb and he lost his balance for no apparent reason. He gave these symptoms little thought until his leg began to itch and Cohen realized that the outside of the skin on his leg was completely numb. After speaking with his father, a physician, Cohen learned that he has multiple sclerosis, a devastating and potentially crippling disease.

"Blindsided" is not just a story of sickness and physical deterioration. It is also a testament to the faith, love, and determination of a very special family. Cohen married Meredith Vieira after he was diagnosed with MS. They have three children whom they adore, and they have remained unified throughout many years of suffering and sacrifice. Besides his battle with MS, which has left him legally blind, Cohen has also survived two bouts of colon cancer.

Each day, Cohen lives with the knowledge that he will most likely never recover his strength, that he cannot work at the job he adores, and that his wife and children will see him growing weaker as the years pass. Yet, he chooses to fight back by doing his utmost to remain as strong as he can, and by setting an example of courage that is an inspiration to those who know him. Although Cohen's prose is not subtle or elegant, his story is compelling, unforgettable, and unflinchingly honest. After reading this powerful book, most readers will consider every day of good health to be a tremendous blessing that should never be taken for granted.

Reluctant indeed
If I could ask Richard Cohen one question, it would be "Why did you write this book?" Because he is reluctant, and even while he wants to give the impression of being personal and honest, I get a feeling he's trying to do so while not giving too much away, or that he's talking around something. Maybe he was nagged to write a book about his experience to the point that he finally just wrote it to get everyone off his back. He's very angry person who seems to think that that's fine with his family, that they had worked it out and accept his hair- trigger temper as just a loveable quirk. I don't mind that he is angry about his illness. For once, someone does not get all gooey about illness, but just presents it as pain, obstacle, a waste of life force that Cohen would rather have spent on his career or family or anything else. And why not? I appreciate his rage, rage, rage against the dying of the light (literally, in his case). Not everyone can be ennobled by illness, and I'll bet it's actually a relief to many sufferers to learn they have a kindred soul in NOT being more than average and in hating their illness and what's been stolen from them. There are better, more eloquent books about what it's like to have illness ("Time on Fire," for one) interrupt your life, steal your time, youth, freedom, independence and love and patience. This book feels like it is a narration to which I'm missing the pictures -- Richard Cohen was in TV, after all, and is used to having the pictures do most of the talking. I don't "see" this book at all, feel like I'm being lectured at, and found Cohen to be a very hostile, unpleasant person to the point where, although I believe his resentment is justified, I didn't enjoy being around him during the time spent reading his book.

Multiple sclerosis affected his body, emotions and future
Illness changed author Richard M. Cohen's life when he was only 25: it came in the form of multiple sclerosis and affected his body, emotions and future. Blindsided: Lifting a Life Above Illness: A Reluctant Memoir (his resulting autobiography) sketches his confrontation with his condition, its effects on his family and his relationship with his wife, and his determination to lead a good life still filled with dreams. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (8)

A Fitting Conclusion
My wife and I just finished reading the whole series of four Herriot books. I think that the first one (_All Creatures Great and Small_) is probably the best one overall. The author probably put the best stories he knew into his first book. But there are several delightful stories spread through the later books, and all four make for enjoyable reading.

This book has a couple unique features. One is that the author goes on a couple international adventures traveling as caretaker of some overseas animal shipments. These are interesting travel stories on their own. Also in this book we meet James' children and see them grow up to some degree.

_The Lord God Made Them All_ is a fittingly warm and pleasant conclusion to a really enjoyable series of books.

a beloved memoir
James Herriot once again takes you on a magical journey through his whimsical hamlet of Yorkshire Dales, stealing your heart at every stop along the way. Anyone who picks up this book will be immediately captivated by the depth of love and respect for animals that embodies all of Herriot's books. Every character you meet, be it human or animal, will tug your heartstrings in a manner that you never expected from such a humble book whose clear honesty parallels that of the other books in an unforgettable series. You don't have to be an animal crazed lover like me to enjoy the simple joys of this book- it is definitely a cherished read, you won't regret it!

Good compilation of vignettes
I read James Herriot's first four books when I was a child. Now in my 30's, I recently picked up his fifth book. I was struck by how these stories are ostensibly about animals, but say vastly more about their human owners and the need for companionship. Herriot's writing style is appropriately simple and unadorned, which atcually helps increase the impact of his stories. However, his writing can be a bit at times. There really is not a plot, just a selection of stories from his years as a a vet and resident of a small Yorkshire town.

Unfortunately, he jumps around in time a bit too much (from 1947 to the mid-1950s). For example, he includes journal passages from trips he has taken as a vet escorting animals for sale to other countries. These stories are fairly interesting, but don't really belong here and are interspersed between all the other stories, further leading to a lack of context. Overall, a worthwhile, but flawed book that is significantly buoyed by Herriot's obvious love of animals and their owners.

Heck of a Book
James Herriot is a remarkable author. He proves this once again in the last of his set of novels, The Lord God Made Them All. In it Herriot tells us maore heartwarming tales of his life as a Yorkshire veterinarian. He writes very down to earth, which allows readers to relate to his stories very well. Especially in this book. Herriot not only writes about his experiences as a vet , but about becoming a father, and experiences he has while his children are young. An old client of Herriot once tells him, "Aye, there's no doubt about it, when your children are young and growin' up around ye- that's when it's best. It's the same for everybody, only a lot o'folk don't know it and a lot find out when it's too late."(369) James also writes about his voyage to Russia on a freighter with a bunch of pedigree sheep. And his journey to Istanbul which was supposed to be luxurous and relaxing. Needless to say, it was far from that. Nevertheless, as in all his stories, Herriot is able to turn them around to make us laugh and fill us with wisdom. After reading the book, I have aquired a better apprecition of life, and high hopes for the future. You can't help but think that way when he ends the book with the words, "....there are great days ahead!"

Awesome!
Well, what can i say? This is one of the books that made me think about changing my job to become a vet! The stories are great, the caracthers are full of life. James Herriot writes beatiful stories. In one storie you laugh, in the next you cry. This whole series is a must for everyone! ... Read more

Reviews (9)

EXCELLENT
This book was amazing, it changed how I looked at transplants. What the patients go thru, and there are times that the Doctors want to only think CLINICALLY, but there are times and instances that you have to look beyond, and believe what you don't see and trust in that.

Food for thought
After reading "The Heart's Code" by Paul Pearsall and now this book I am convinced we are just beginning to scratch the surface of the science of transplant information and details about the heart and how it controls personality.

It is a proven fact that heart patients who are ill have a sudden change in temperment and also proven that transplant patients take on some characteristics of the donor.

There was a case of a nun who received the heart of a prostitute (absolutely true story) and many more in Paul's book and this book seems to focus on one true story of one woman.

You have to be careful though, if you've had open heart surgery or are waiting on a transplant it can get a bit emotionally heavy as you related to her having to face death. Watch the dark tones and you'll be fine as you read the info. The object is to come away having learned some secrets of what to expect and those are very very interesting.

There was also a case of a transplant recipient who began using vocabulary words from the donor and then later when the patient met the donor's family and used those rare words randomly they were floored. Good read.

Personal experience
I've known Claire Silva for many years. I knew her well before her body started to fail. This book is her reality. It unfolded just as she states. If her story seems amazing, consider how it must have felt to her, miraculous, beyond belief. She is ever so rapidly dying, then a chance to receive a heart and lung, (the first in New England, "experimental surgery") suddenly, out-of-the-blue. Friends rush her to Yale, New Haven, CT. she receieves a new life. New heart, new lung, more than that. New cells, old memories. The dreams begin. She has incorporated new celllular tissue, new DNA residue and the doctors have warned her that the tissue could be rejected. Incredibly,the memories of a dead young man begin to flood her dreams, her senses. I met Claire after the surgery. We spent quite a bit of time together. A change of person and heart had taken place. Read this book and trust that there are some things that science and medicine may never unravel. Draw from your own knowledge, intuition and experience. Your reality is within you. Claire chose to share this experience. Her experience is something that will cause you to think about how you live your own life. It will cause you to realize how special and extra-ordinary you are as a result of your own unique genetic, societal, physical and psychological composition. It may cause you to dream and wonder and question the courage you fail to exhibit to the world for fear of being ridiculed. Finally, this is a book about a woman with the courage and the desire to live and the willpower and curiosity to explore and investigate her changed life and her changed reality. 143

Highly Recommended
Claire Sylvia's Change of Heart is a great book because it makes you think about things you never thought would possibly happen. It's like "The Others" (the Other Side) or "The X-files" but in real - but not in a way that you don't believe it. I really believe that she feel that he - the teenaged boy who died in a motorcycle accident -is apart of her. Read this special book if you want a new view of your life!

Not so bad
I bought this book because i ever believe in the soul. But i never imagine the kind of things that Claire Sylvia said's. In my opinion is a good book, with incredible moments, things that make you think about the death and the life. A good work by William Novak, who help people like Nancy Reagan, and Magic Johnson to make their biographies before. The history of woman, who needs a new heart. the history of a woman, who star a new life. ... Read more

Reviews (49)

A personal account with sound advice
I give the book three stars because the author spends too much time on personal narrative about her marriage to a nice husband who understands and is tolerant of Asperger's and her childbearing and -rearing experiences, which are of no interest to the reader looking for detailed information on the disorder. Also, the publisher neglected to include an index, a serious flaw. However, Appendix 1 with information for parents, teachers, employers, and others makes up for the books faults. Tony Attwood's book, "Asperger Syndrome, a Guide for Parents and Professionals" contains more objective and helpful material, even though most of it applies to children.

Helpful book, but some overgeneralization
As the mother of a son with Aspergers, I am always eager to read anything written on the subject. This book was well written, interesting and helpful in understanding Aspergers, and I would recommend it. The only fault I really found with it was overgeneralization. I think at times the author assumes her own traits are traits that anyone with Aspergers would have. For example, she talks about having a poor sense of directions being a trait, when in fact I think many people with AS have an abnormally good sense of direction, including my son. I think such generalizations can hide the fact that people with AS, like all people, are very different than each other, and have their own very unique personalities. However, I don't mean to put this book down---it's a very valuable resource and a good read.

Thank Goodness!
Thank goodness that AS, autism, DID, ADD, and the entire host of other possiblities are finally coming to light in this day and age. For years so many of us have suffered either WITH one of these syndromes or in conjunction with someone who has one of these "disorders." It's about time someone explained this. And lest you think these syndromes are limited to academia and the medical/psychological community, there have been a host of "fiction" books written about this. Some are entertaining and even informative, but in a "round-about" way (Haddon's "Curious Incident" and McCrae's "Bark of the Dogwood")and we should be grateful for these as they too bring to light autism, AS, and the others in the "spectrum."

I would highly recommend "Pretending to be normal" to anyone who even THINKS he/she may have AS or know someone who does.

Just One Woman's Tale
As an autobiography this is an easy and creative read. I was raised by a mother with AS. Her difficulties make Lianne's look plain querky or individualist. This is just one woman's tale. Asperger's Syndrome can be far more difficult to live with than this and certainly most AS sufferers would have trouble talking of themselves (and especially others) with such sustained and reasoned insight, though eloquence with words is common. AS runs in my family on both sides. I couldn't help but feel Lianne is just socially uncomfortable, as so many people can be and just has her own pet querks like the majority of us! Perhaps she is at the higher fundtioning position on the imfamous 'spectrum' of this disorder. Otherwise,...Asperger's Syndrome? Doesn't sound much like it to me.

Stop Pretending to be Normal!
The title of this book really sums up the most tragic aspect of Asperger's: the self-denying, closeted mentality. Nowadays, autistics are gaining more self-respect. Willey and Attwood's views are a marked improvement over previous depiction of autism as pathology, but ultimately, they reinforce a sense that, while deserving of sympathy, autism is a tragic deficit. Many autistics now feel that we are a positive neuro-variation, possibly an evolutionary step forward from the mob mentalities that now crush this planet. ... Read more

Book Description

Humorist Cathy Crimmins has written a deeply personal, wrenching, and often hilarious account of the effects of traumatic brain injury, not only on the victim, in this case her husband, but on the family.

When her husband Alan is injured in a speedboat accident, Cathy Crimmins reluctantly assumes the role of caregiver and learns to cope with the person he has become. No longer the man who loved obscure Japanese cinema and wry humor, Crimmins' husband has emerged from the accident a childlike and unpredictable replica of his former self with a short attention span and a penchant for inane cartoons. Where Is the Mango Princess? is a breathtaking account that explores the very nature of personality-and the complexities of the heart.
... Read more

Reviews (30)

Riviting and Compelling!!
In her no holds barred book, Where Is The Mango Princess? Cathy Crimmins takes the reader on a candid journey of courage, determination and humor, as she struggles to rebuild her life following a senseless accident which leaves her husband Alan with severe traumatic brain injury. In the weeks and months after the accident, Cathy shares the challenges she and her family face as Alan survives coma, completes rehab,and re-enters the workforce.

Cathy's take charge and 'take no prisoners' attitude as she battles her HMO with a razor sharp wit, is indicative of the conversations many of us have in our heads, but would never dare verbalize. As a traumatic brain injury survivor, I found her story touching, bold and brilliantly executed.

Mango Princess comes home
Having never read a book that talked about a personal experience with Traumatic Brain Injury, I found myself unable to put the book down. My god-daughter recently sustained a head injury from being thrown from an All Terraine Vehicle (ATV) and I found so much of Cathy Crimmins' story right on the mark. This book can be a difficult book to read because of the deeply emotional subject, but is a touching memoir told with a great deal of humor, and most of all... honesty.

Reading this book will touch anyone who has ever known someone who has sustained a TBI. It's also a book that should be shared after reading it. I congratulate the author for sharing her story; one that shares the heartache and explores the mystery of dealing with a loved one who survives a serious head injury. It's a world that I hope my family is spared from ever knowing firsthand.

I guess we never know how we will respond to a life changing event, and Cathy Crimmins shows the human side - the ups and downs with a rare openess. This is not anything like the Harrison Ford movie, Regarding Henry, where he wakes up a sweet guy afer a serious accident. This is what really happens! This is a must read.

It opened my eyes and warmed my heart
When someone close to you suffers an accident, and ends up in a hospital bed in a coma, the world around you collapses. This happened to us on April 6th 2003, when Mickey was involved in a car accident and was in a coma for over 2 months.

This book has been incredibly helpful. It contains a lot of priceless information, information you CAN understand, complementing it with loads of personal experiences.
Thanks to the very easy language (it can be read as a novel) it has allowed everyone in my family to understand and accept the choices and changes we wnet though and are still going through with a TBI survivor. It has also helped us understand and help Mickey in his recovery process.

I have cried and laughed on endless nights with this book.
I have underlined passages and read them over and over (something I dont do very often)
I have shared this book with the rest of my family, friends, Mickeys friends and caregivers and even some doctors....

Thank you Cathy Crimmins for helping US stay confident, focused, and happy....

This book opened my eyes and warmed my heart.

To anyone going through this terrible ordeal... there IS HOPE at the end. Dont despair!

jdubuc
Recently my mother suffered a severe brain anuerism and stroke. She was unconscious for over a week and spent 27 days in the SCU. She was very young and this experience was very tramatic. Crimmins does a tremendous job to explain the oddities of TBI and name them without ever making you feel like you are reading a medical novel. By reading this story, I have been able to cope with confabulation and many other behaviours that TBI patients exhibit, that would have been shocking before reading this book. It is a truely amazing story as all recoveries from TBI are. I would hightly recommend this book to anyone dealing with any form of TBI.

Julianna mango princess
Julianna Margulies will be in a new movie Where is the Mango Princess son on TNT! WATCH IT! ... Read more

Book Description

They live for the action, for the saves, for the streets, for each other. In a first person narrative as vivid as the blast of a siren, Paramedic tells the authentic American story of one man's experience as an EMT, and the dedication it takes to save lives.

Peter Canning shocked his family and friends when he gave up a successful career as a speechwriter for the governor of Connecticut to become a paramedic. Making his way through a rigorous training period, overcoming his self-doubts and fear of making fatal mistakes, Canning went from a life of privilege to the life-and-death reality of the streets.

In Paramedic, Canning relives the nerve-racking seconds that can mean the difference between a patient's death and survival, as he struggles--sometimes in the face of a hostile crowd or the glare of TV cameras--to make the right call,dispense the right medication, or keep a patient's heart beating long enough to reach the hospital.

Dramatic, heart-felt, and exciting, Paramedic takes us into the pulsing center of a mobile ER. As Peter Canning tells his graphic, gripping war stories--of the lives he saved and lost, of the fear, the nightmares, and the constant, adrenaline-pumping thrill of action--we come away with an unforgettable portrait of what it means to be a hero. ... Read more

Reviews (32)

A must read for any prehospital worker
Just incredible!!!!!! I read this book while taking an EMT Basic course. The stories often brought a tear to my eye, either from laughing so hard or by feeling the pain associated with loss. I am truly convinced, after reading this, that I made the proper career choice. I am looking forward to another great installment from a truly gifted writer.

Get the real understanding of a Paramedic
I am currently a M.I.C.T (Mobile Intensive Care Technician-Paramedic).This book not only gave an excellent presentation of the position from a professional position with excellent description of treatment and protocol, but also caters to the layman who may not have any medical treatment.They book will not only show a true paramedic, but also give a Paramedic the credit where credit be due.Some think that being a Paramedic is all glory,...you will find out the true life of a Paramedic in this book....which is Glory for a mere second and waiting forever for a call, and transporting patients that did not have a ride to a doctors appointment.

What it's really like
If you want an idea what it is really like to be a medic on the streets, this is it--good, bad and ugly.I read it when I was starting EMT school, and nothing prepared me better for what I would see in the field.Definately a must read for anyone in the medical field, or anyone who wants to go into emergency medicine.

Medic's opinion
It was okay.I have run EMSfor 18 years and I feel he does a pretty good job with details.

Amazing!
Rescue 471 is the most insiteful book I have ever read! Peter Canning paints a vivid picture of the word of EMS today. His stories relate to the true feelings of hope and dispair we all feel day to day in this profession. I recommend this book to any one in EMS!! ... Read more

Book Description

"We are foolish, those of us who think we can escape the traps of aging," writes Tom DeBaggio. "I was one of them, dreaming of a perfect and healthy old age....Now, at fifty-eight, I realize the foolishness of my dreams as I watch my brain self-destruct from Alzheimer's." Losing My Mind is DeBaggio's extraordinary account of his early onset Alzheimer's, a disease that "silently hollows the brain" and slowly "gobbles memory and destroys life." But with DeBaggio's curse came an unexpected blessing: the ability to chart the mechanics and musings of his failing mind.

Whether describing the happy days of his youth or lamenting over the burden his disease has placed upon his loved ones, DeBaggio manages to inspire the reader with his ability to function, to think, and ultimately to survive. By turns an autobiography, a medical history, and a book of meditations, Losing My Mind is a testament to the splendor of memory and a triumphant celebration of the human spirit. ... Read more

Reviews (16)

POIGNANT, TOUCHING AND EXTREMELY MOVING
There is nothing so sad as to see a person who was once consumed with a passion for life, abundant with wisdom and intellect, active, alert and filled with a wealth of personal stories, overcome with Alzheimer's. It is a condition which has overwhelming effects not only for the individual afflicted with the disease, but for family and friends as well.

Few individuals with Alzheimer's write a book about their progressive loss of memory and the associated conditions that go with Alzheimer's. Unless, you personally know someone with the disease, it is difficult to understand how it affects one's social life, their loss of verbal communication skills and their thought process. Debaggio gives reader an inside view and clearer understanding from a patient's perspective of what it is like to live with this devastating disease on a daily basis. The author's courage and strength in the face of adversity will touch readers to their very core. Debaggio deserves a standing ovation for having the heart and spirit to write such a poignant book on the subject, from a point of view only one afflicted with the disease could fully and realistically explain.

Opening Our Eyes
"Losing My Mind" is a well-written book authored by an ex-journalist gone herb-grower who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of fifty-seven in 1999. The book is a personal account of one man's struggle with dementia accompanied by an autobiography. Along with these two themes, Mr. DeBaggio inserts clippings from his own research on the disease in every few pages.
This is a great read for anyone who would like to venture into the mind of someone suffering from Alzheimer's. But be warned, the book does not contain any sparks of hope or messages of positive thinking. Readers are likely to become sad and feel slightly depressed from this book that is probably meant to "share some grief." The book is a sincere , raw and from the heart look at a frightening disease that will most likely affect even more Americans as the "Baby-boomer" generation embarks on its golden years.
This book is a must for anyone who has a family member diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. It provides insight into the moods, fears and anger of those suffering from it; this is especially important for families who have trouble getting their loved ones to open up and share what they're going through.
I salute Mr. DeBaggio for having the courage to share his inner-most feelings with all those interested in learning more about this insidious disease. May his fear abate and his arms embrace the love that his family is giving him.

A Unique Look Into the World of Alzheimer's
Highly recommended read for caregivers of loved ones with dementia, as well as everyone else with aging loved ones. You will have a new level of understanding and deeper compassion about what it is really like to be afflicted with this horrible disease. Although everyone who battles Alzheimer's is different, the insight here is so unique and so worthy of our attention. Everyone needs to help fight for research dollars from our government to combat this disease, which afflicts one in ten persons by the age of 65.

Jacqueline Marcell, author, 'Elder Rage', and host of the 'Coping With Caregiving' Internet Radio Program

Remarkably beautiful and touching!
It is a provocative memoir of a man who courageously sharing with the world some of its last moment of having a memory or human's most important asset that defined us all in this world. This book provides a glimpse of the Alzheimer's dim world besides exposing human's natural reaction of disbelief, denial, anger, fear and misery when unexpectedly been granted to such fate. The author is very open in revealing his raw emotion and perception on what he's going through and what lies ahead of him and the impact of such ailment to his loved one. The narrative is beautifully written with piercing essence; the thought and feeling expressed is real and very affecting to any soul who realise that as aging is never an option there's always possibility that we or someone we loved would be destined to such ending fate. Tragic if it happened too early. It taught the importance to make the most of every passing moment in life and to fight till the end of what's left of sanity. This book is worth reading, and gives a clearer understanding about the illness. Even though the description of the author's suffering is heartbreaking but his fighting spirit should be commendable. The humanity that he believe and fight shines and touches me through the words written.

I wish him all the best, and to his loved one may all the good memories stay alive even though he may reside in his own world one day. Well, nothing is more important than having a memory thus it should be cherished as far as we still live.

Yes, There's a thinking Human inside an Alzheimer Diagnosis
As a reader who has progressed from mild to moderate Alzheimer's [ALZ aka CRS]since January, 2002; and who is acutely aware of his own Rapid Onset in a Late Onset prognosis, I begged my Caregiver to order this for me asap, which she did. My own CRS has caused me to become unable to view complicated movies such as "Iris" and "Godsford Park" or multilayered television such as "West Wing" or "CSI." Similarly, the ability to complete reading a book more than 3 or 4 pages at a time has departed, never to return. But, like when I received "The Forgetting" by Shenk, I was able to read this 207 page saga, cover to cover, in less than a single 24 hour time span, aka "one day". My window of clarity, which happens less than once a quarter, gave me the grace to assimilate deBaggio's message, just as I was able to do before I became an Emeritus Professor in 1993.

The writing by DeBaggio is superb, his poetry shines on every page! And he has been blessed with outsanding collaborators and editors who polished his rough diamond into the superb blue white gem which "Losing My Mind" is. De Baggio does NOT record a descent to madness, but rather an ascent into a Mount Carmel of shining sanity, despite his testimony to the contrary. The literature of ALZ is overwhelmed with desciptions, diagnoses,and understandings for/of the saintly Caregivers and facilitators who guide our descent into a Dante inferno. BUT, there is next to nothing wherein the person diagnosed with Alzheimer's tells us what is going on inside their crania. "Speaking with Alzheimer's" and "Into the Labyrinth [out-of-print]" are two other exceptions.

Once we are diagnosed, it is as if we no longer are sentient human beings, capable of intellectual cognition. Our ability to convery our intelligence and meanings to others does deteriorate rapidly, particulary with aphasia, but the human entity is still there and functioning even though the ability to respond has vanished: i.e. a CRSer hears and understands all that is said in his/her presence, even though the ALZer cannot communicate that understanding.
Inspired by DeBaggio, I, too, have commenced a Journal of sorts, with the hope of telling others exactly what my sensations are as my hippocampus turns into Gorgonzola. {In my own situation, I have rewired my brain to eliminate frustration over a lack of word recall, and working memory recall, with the help of positive reinforcement, Qi Gong Nirvana state deep meditation, Vitamin B6, B12,E, and Aricet. Thus I have forced a window of clarity to write this critique, and DeBaggio has given this clinically diagnosed unipolar Depressive and CRSer hope that he can aid others before I am unable to lift my head or swallow. Like DeBaggio, the light at the end of my tunnel is an ALZ locomotive, at full speed, headed towards my demise, yet like him, I hope I can locate an agent, collaborator, and editor, so that my own Pilgrim's Progress will be a gift to my seven children and eleven grandchildren, {I include Andrew!}, when the words jumble and chaos reigns supreme, as it already has commenced.
Thank you very much Thomas, for your Augustinian "Confession!" I wish all of us fellow travelors, a "Safe Return." ... Read more

Book Description

Alexandra Deford, a precious and precocious girl, was just eight years old when she died in 1980 following a battle against the debilitating effects of cystic fibrosis, the number-one genetic killer of children. Her poignant and uplifting story touched the hearts of millions when it was first published and then made into a memorable television movie. A new introduction contains information on the latest cystic fibrosis research, and a touching postcript reveals how the Deford family came to terms with the loss of Alex.

Whenever he speaks, sportswriter Frank Deford knows people will bring articles for him to sign. But what makes him happiest is when someone attends a sports-oriented lecture and brings a copy of Alex: The Life of a Child for him to sign. "Invariably, and happily, there's usually someone at each appearance who either brings that book or wants to talk about their connection to cystic fibrosis." Deford says. "It's tremendously gratifying to me. Rarely does a week go by that I don't get a letter about that book. People leave things at her grave. They really do. I have people tell me that she changed their lives. It's terribly dramatic, but they literally say that. I heard from a woman who became a pediatric nurse after reading the book. Hearing from people like that means more to me than anything."

Reviews (50)

For years, the TV movie remained in my mind...
I was 12 or 13 when I first saw the movie "Ale