This is a tribute to Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author.
Today, my husband, Hoyt, came in my writing room and said, “Oliver Sacks has died.”
Oh no. I sank back in my chair. Oliver Sacks has been one of my favorite authors about what it means to be a human being!
His passing is a great loss. If you don’t know, he was a professor of clinical neurology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and wrote many books about his patients, medicine, and other good topics that heal and help us.
I’ve read several of his books, like The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, a collection of stories about patients he treated who were affected by terrible disorders. He wrote with such empathy and humor I found his work irresistible.
Then I read A Leg to Stand On. In this book, Oliver Sacks himself is the patient. Once I began reading his remarkable account about his accident in the mountains of Norway where he fell and broke his leg and of his frustrating but enlightening experiences during his consequent treatment, I could not put the book down.
He wrote, “As a child I had once had a violin which got brutally smashed in an accident. I felt for my leg, now, as I felt long ago for that poor broken fiddle.”
A quote on the back cover: “In calling for a neurology of the soul and a deeper and more humane medicine, Sacks’ remarkable book raises issues of profound importance for everyone interested in humane health care and the human application of science.” – Vic Sussman, The Washington Post Book World.
Oliver Sacks was a pioneering doctor and an eloquent writer. If you haven’t read any of his books, I encourage you to pick one up. You won’t be disappointed.
Our hearts go out to his family, friends, patients, students, and readers.
See you next time!
Carol Megathlin
Charlene….I, too, was saddened to hear of his death. He did much good for humanity. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Cousin Carol