5 comments about Waist-High in the World: A Life Among the Nondisabled.

1. I had to read this book for one of my women's study's classes nearly 7 years ago. It has been too long to remember much of the detail but what I do remember is the depth of the impression that was left upon me. It is a very difficult task to look at someone's life, through their eyes, and experience their total destruction of being...slow....poignant...and startlingly real.
   
   As we discussed this book in class, one of the girls ran out in tears, later coming back and disclosing that she, too, suffered from MS, making the book that much real and impressionable for me.



2. Reviewer: robert dorroh from Sonora, CA United States Nancy Mairs, with devastating honesty, chronicles life as a cripple (her choice of word) in poignant essays in "Waist High in the World."

   Beset with multiple sclerosis and bouts with clinical and situational depression, she offsets these stumbling blocks with joy, candor, eloquence, and cultural and political insights. It is a book for everybody, not just the disabled, for it challenges our fears, cultural hangups and citizenship: "The more perspectives that can be brought to bear on human experience, even from the slant of a wheelchair or a hospital bed, or through the ears of a blind person or the fingers of someone who is deaf, the richer that experience becomes." She attacks the stereotype that cripples must be passive and unfailingly polite in a culture that doesn't want to deal with them: "Beyond cheerfulness and patience, people don't expect much of a cripple's character."

   Pondering her husband and caretaker George's battle with cancer, she offers a balanced look at suicide in the face of his death. Though she has attempted suicide "more than once," she questions the right-to-die movement, which extolls "rational" suicide: "Since hopelessness is a distinctive symptom of depression, which is an emotional disorder, actions carried out in a despairing state seem to me intrinsically irrational. This last time I clung to shreds of reason, which saved me." Still, she sees suicide as a possibility: "I want to be the one in charge of my life, including its end."

   Why should society pay for the misfortunes of others? people ask. Because it's what human beings do: take care of one another, Mairs says, adding that it's the government's role to ensure that its citizens are entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Mairs notes that the abled-bodied should aim to preserve the dignity of the disabled. This takes in seeing them as sexual beings: ... "The general assumption, even among those who might be expected to know better, is that people with disabilities are out of the sexual running."

   As a paraplegic, I admire her advocacy on my behalf. I admire her more, however, for her willingness to work toward the betterment of our society through a rare and gifted intelligence.




3. Nancy Mairs is painfully, startlingly brave. Her book is something I recommend, not just for people with MS but people, period. She reminds me of just how powerful telling the truth can really be. We all need this book!



4. Nancy Mairs writes about the human condition with humor, compassion, and ruthless honesty. This is a book of personal reflections about disability, embodiment, marriage, religion, and lots of other things, but fundamentally about the possibility of honestly acknowledging all the pain and confusion in our lives and at the same time--within that pain and confusion--living fully, gratefully, joyously.
   
   Wow. What a gift. Thank you, Nancy Mairs.
   
   This book and "Ordinary Time" are my favorites by Mairs.



5. Facing chronic disease myself, I've turned to books like this for information, comfort, challenge and ideas. Nancy Mairs is the best I've found for writing honestly about what it means for people (women in particular) to face chronic, degenerative illness. She writes from her personal experience, but I see myself in her struggles. A book to read and re-read.

5 comments about Lessons I Learned in the Dark: Steps to Walking by Faith, Not by Sight.

1. A friend recommended this book when I was going thru a very difficult time. I have since bought it to give to others during hard times.
   
   Jennifer tells her story of coping with blindness and getting on with her life and how depending on Jesus is the only way to go thru life.
   
   She is honest and open with her fears and thus you can connect and relate to her no matter what your present situation is.
   
   Very encouraging book that will build your trust in Jesus.



2. I loved this book. As it teaches us how people with vision problems have to go though. I have worked with the visual handicap and believe me they can do alot of things you think they cant. A big thanks to the author Jennifer Rothschild. Everyone should read this book.



3. Loved the book! Inspiring! Unique "look" at the lessons learned from loss of sight! I loved the "play" on words!



4. Jennifer Rothchild touches our very souls with her encounters with God and his majesty. We begin to "see" for the first time just how powerful and mighty our Heavenly Father can be to his children. While we listen to her stories dealing with her family and her life as a vibrant mother and lecturer, we often forget she is doing all these wonderful things under the cover of darkness. We forget because there is no darkness in Jennifer's soul. Each chapter, enriched by a personal poem or song, introduces us to the holy love and power of Jesus Christ. Uplifting and encouraging, this book begins a journey for us, and we want to walk alongside this amazing woman for the rest of our days. There is no doubt how much she loves the Lord, and this love enables her to make some wonderful connections to his power and light. I loved this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to "see" the big picture when it comes to religion, overcoming handicap, emotional triumph, and even awkward moments of victory. As Jennifer runs across a busy street, our thoughts go along with her. Jennifer may have learned lessons in the dark, but she walks in the light of the love of the lamb. That light touches the souls of her readers and transmutes us all to her own special way of seeing. I cannot wait to read more books by this wonderful author.



5. Jennifer Rothschild writes to make us SEE! She is a wonder and a role model for anyone and everyone. Courage is her badge and the word NEVER enters her life. I honor her and hope to have as much courage and endurance in my life as she does.

5 comments about The Story of My Life: The Restored Classic, Complete and Unabridged, Centennial Edition.

1. I'm astonished by the one star comments! These people should at least read a story about the way human language emerged and evolved to writing and reading. Maybe "How Writing Came About" by Denise Schmandt-Besserat and perhaps they would start understanding the unimaginable effort done by Helen and the uniqueness of her testimony, as so well expounded by Konrad Lorentz.
   Some time ago I had the great opportunity to exchange some emails about this subject with prof. Harold Bloom. Prof. Bloom, who knows very well the story of Helen, suggest that we have not only an internal ear but even an internal eye that allowed Helen to deeply understand the classics she read: her comments are short but so deep. One last remark, a recent book " Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain" by Maryanne Wolf could be very useful to better understand the key role of Helen Keller (and Anne Sullivan!).



2. Great book about a great lady who was blind and deaf. She had many struggles but became a speaker and a writter. I received the book right away without any problem, and it great condition.



3. Most moving and inspiring book I have ever read. It should be required reading in all elementary schools throughout the world. I could go on and on, but that should suffice.
   
   James Donovan
   Del Mar, CA



4. A deaf dumb and blind girl, but no pinball. Helen Keller, bereft of the senses that your average person is able to utilise, has to learn other ways to communicate. She is instrumental in forming systems that will lay the foundation to enable other people so afflicted to do the same, with the work she does herself, and with her tutors.
   
   Well worth a look.



5. Helen Keller gives a sweetly innocent rundown of her life in this brief book. It's just enough to get a glimpse into her well publicized transformation into a girl lost in her own inability to communicate to a wonderfully prolific soul; a person who changed the world. She is disarming and self aware and isn't afraid to gloss over a little bit of the struggle to paint a journey of searching that led to many rivers of experience. It's a charming book and if one is curious about Helen Keller it is best to 'hear' the words from the author than another source.

3 comments about Next to Nothing: A Firsthand Account of One Teenager's Experience with an Eating Disorder (Adolescent Mental Health Initiative).

1. If you've struggled, or know someone who struggles with an eating disorder, this a book that can help you realize that you're not alone and that there IS help. I should know, I've struggled with them since I was a teenager, but have overcome them.
   It can happen :-)



2. This is a book with valuable information about eating disorders. As it chonicles one woman's struggle with an eating disorder, it reviews the psychiatric and medical complications associated with eating disorders. This book also gives references about seeking help and guidance to recovery. I am a professional who works with eating disorders and I will highly recommend this book to my clients and their families.



3. This book offers wonderful support and information to those suffering from an eating disorder as well as to the family and friends trying to help their loved one. The style is very engaging and easy to read, with lots of practical advice. The author draws upon her own experiences along the way. But, at the same time it includes the latest in scientific research and findings, in language that is very understandable. "Next to Nothing" has it all, and is a must read for those looking to understand the complicated world of eating disorders.

3 comments about Me, Myself, and Them: A Firsthand Account of One Young Person's Experience with Schizophrenia (Adolescent Mental Health Initiative).

1. A very well written and informative book. It provided information and insight into the illness of schizophrenia. I learned much from reading it and gained new insight and perspective about the disease. We all need to know more about mental illness-only when we all do, can we collectively remove the stigma attached to it. Thank you for writing this personal and painful tale and educating me.



2. I've enjoyed the book. I agree that a lot of people with schizophrenia do not accept their illness and we need to understand that.



3. As a psych nurse, I found this book to be not only accurate, but very engaging. There are a couple others with different Axis I diagnoses that I'm going to get as well. Thinking of purchasing some for the psych unit to help newly-diagnosed folks understand this isn't the end of the world, there is hope, and there are others out there who understand.

5 comments about Touch the Top of the World: A Blind Man's Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye Can See: My Story.

1. About eight months ago (from the time of writing this review) my wife lost her eyesight. Knowing about Erik Weihenmayer from a Travel Channel special that included a segment about his leading the Global Explorers annual trek to Machu Picchu, I actually wrote his website in the hopes of getting someone there to give me ideas about how to help my wife enjoy the outdoors again. Little did I know I'd be hearing from Mr. Weihenmayer himself. He was truly gracious and helpful, and both he and some other folks from his site and Global Explorers suggested I give this book a look.
   
   I purchased this along with Sabriye Tenberken's "My Path Leads to Tibet." What I was hoping for was not so much the usual "inspirational" stories that make soccer moms cry when Oprah tells them to read this book but the day-to-day details that would give me insights into what my wife was experiencing and what I could do to help. "Tibet" provided some details, but didn't really cover a lot about how a person deals with losing their eyesight or what they learn about to adapt.
   
   Mr. Weihenmayer's book, however, provides a LOT of details about how he felt as he lost his sight and some decent information about how he learned t adapt. In fact, I used several of the things he mentions in his book to help my wife start adjusting. For example, he describes how his mother would make him put away the groceries that he liked (fruit, cereal, cookies, etc.) so he knew exactly where they were. On our next grocery trip, I laid out all of the foods that were mostly hers, or that she used a lot, and let her put them away. Those of us that have family and friends that have lost their eyesight, there can be a line to walk between wanting to limit their challenges as they adapt and thrusting challenges upon them so that they CAN adapt. This book provides enough insight into some of the challenges that can be helpful that it can give the reader ideas about how to help their blind friends and/or family.
   
   Likewise, Mr. Weihenmayer describes his adjustment to losing his eyesight with a combination of humor and bluntness that people who have lost their eyesight can sympathize one moment and laugh the next. I tracked down a copy on tape for my wife, and we actually listened to it while driving back and forth from the school for the blind she will be attending to learn the adaptive skills and technologies needed to get back into her career. It helped provide her with the understanding that her feelings, frustration, anger, and such were normal - that she was not the only one that had had these thoughts or moments. We're so inundated with mental pablum from the Lifetime and Hallmark channels' made-for-TV-movies about such things that many think they're supposed to face loosing their eyesight with the quiet, southern-belleesque dignity of Scarlet O'Hara or some garbage. No. There's times you want to bawl your eyes out and yell, "This sucks!!!! Why me!!?!?!!?!?" And that's okay.
   
   Mr. Weihenmayer's book helps show that such moments are perfectly normal. But he also shows how people eventually move on and learn to reclaim their lives. It should be noted, however, that the American Foundation for the Blind's credo mentions in part that, while there are exceptional people like Mr. Weihenmayer, the accomplishments of "normal" blind people are no less extraordinary. You don't have to climb Mt. Everest to be exceptional or inspirational as a blind person. Simply reclaiming your life as a human being in a world that is still rather unfriendly to blind people (seriously... you're set for life if your 400lbs and need a scooter, but you're still pretty much on your own if your blind) is no less awe-inspiring than climbing a mountain.
   
   If you know someone that has gone blind, or if you yourself have gone blind, pick up this book. Honestly I found the day-to-day details more interesting and helpful than the latter one-third that focused mostly on his climbing. But, that's because the first half to two-thirds focused more on the stuff I was actually reading it for.



2. I was disappointed in this book. I love to read about Everest and those who climb it, but this book was dry and too much about the authors whole life and not much about his Everest adventure.



3. I saw Erik speak last year and received a copy of this book. It sat on my bookshelf for a long time until I had a chance to read it! I loved hearing his stories when I saw him speak, but the book goes much further and provides a treasure trove of great anecdotes of how he has refused to sit back and be led through life. Erik's tales weave a tapestry of courageous and compassionate acts that are an inspiration to anyone who's ever climbed a mountain or reached for a goal "because it was there". I highly recommend it!



4. This was definately an interesting book, and it kept my interest. In the midst of so many mountaineering books that are often similar, this offers a substantially different perspective. Few of us would have the skill or determination to climb even one of the seven summits. The author, however, summits four...blind. That being said, I didn't particularly care for his writing style. It seemed fragmented and did not have a lot of continuity, at times I had to reread sections to determine what he was talking about. Also, as someone else mentioned, it would have been more impressive if he had waited until he completed all seven summits before he wrote the book. Most of all, I thought the repeated sexual references did nothing to enhance the story. Whether it was referring to the computer game they played at the camp for the blind, his exchanges with the various guides, or whatever, they were really unnecessary. Repeating middle and high school dirty phrases was not impressive either. If his intention was to inspire and impress us with his mountaineering feats, then those references did not help his cause.



5. Erik spoke at the American Dental Assoc. conference in Denver where my husband got the
   chance to meet him. He autographed a copy of the book "To Gray, Reach!".
   
   I happened upon it while cleaning last week and was immediately intrigued. I
   used to rock climb but have not been actively involved in the sport for a
   couple years. Anyway, I have never written to any author before but was so
   impressed with Erik's gift of story telling that I had to write. He is one
   funny dude. I laughed out loud at his adventures and dialog with his
   climibing partners. It brought back fond memories of previous climbing trips
   and the fun times I shared with my climbing buddies. I will probably never
   climb any of the seven summits but was able to enjoy expericing these climbs
   through his words.
   
   I am an Occupational Therapist and meet people everyday in my work that
   exhibit self-limiting behavior that prevents them from living full,
   enriched, healthy lives. I am going to recommend Erik's book to encourage
   others to REACH! Thanks for a great book! What a refreshing way to look at
   life...

5 comments about No Excuses: The True Story of a Congenital Amputee Who Became a Champion in Wrestling and in Life.

1. The next time you think that life has dealt you a bad hand, you should pick up this story about Kyle Maynard, the congential amputee athlete. I found the story very inspirational and motivating. While I was hopeing that Kyle would talk more about other aspects of his life, like career, it was impressive reading about how he trained for football and wrestling. There is also the amazing amount of faith and caring from Kyle's friends and family.
   
   Next time that you get self-conscious over a blemish or do not feel like exercising, take a few minutes to flip through this book about an amazing human being.
   
   Doug Setter, author of Stomach Flattening



2. Kyle's story is one that helps you to believe in love of family and power of the human spirit.



3. This book is truly inspiring!
   Read it, with a box of Kleenex tissue handy. This book will put iron in your spine!
   Then buy copies for everyone in your family . . . and friends . . . and.
   Do not! Repeat- Do not miss out on the rich blessing this book delivers.



4. It is a great book. It proves that the mind can overcome any physical disablilities.



5. Very great story. It's one thing to tell a kid that they can do anything they put their mind to when they're born with a body that's not "normal".
   
   But it's another thing for a man like Kyle to SHOW people that it's possible. He's served as an inspiration to at least 2 of my patients and their families, because they can see the possibilities of life as an adult, defining and projecting who you are as a man, rather than letting society tell you who you are supposed to be.
   
   Excellent read. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Like Sound Through Water : A Mother's Journey Through Auditory Processing Disorder.

1. This is a kind of book that you cannot put down. You can't wait to see what happen next or what Karen and Ben experience together. It is a well written true story. I have gained a lot of informations and understanding of what APD is in an EASY and ENTERTAINING way. There's no difficult medical term, just daily experiences/routines that help me understand APD. It's a good read, really!! A box of tissue nearby would be helpful!



2. I thought this book was a great read - I read it non-stop to the end. If the author were to write a second book updating her son's story, I would definitely read it. This is a compelling book for any parent not just those whose children have APD.
   
   In fact, I'm not sure that her son's APD is particularly typical. Her son clearly demonstrated language problems from the outset, whereas I believe many APD cases are quite subtle. So, like the other reviewers, I would say don't read this as a textbook for APD, but more as an interesting story of how one family dealt with their son's challenges.



3. The book was insightful, easy to read. I couldn't put it down. The book is written from the family's perspective as their child is identified with a disorder. It relates the family's stuggles for correct diagnosis, treatment and support. A must read for early childhood specialists who assess and work with young children with special needs.



4. Because I couldn't NOT find out how their journey turned out, I was up until midnight last night with Karen Foli, Ben, and their family. Besides being Every Mom, Foli is a solid thinker, a strong communicator, and a mystery writer. This book unfolds like a popular novel, so you stand right next to the protagonist as she unravels the issue of APD, finally getting diagnoses and treatment.
   This book is on my short list for young teachers, along with Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence, Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic,Change Your Brain, Change Your Life: The Breakthrough Program for Conquering Anxiety, Depression, Obsessiveness, Anger, and Impulsiveness, and Why Gender Matters: What Parents and Teachers Need to Know about the Emerging Science of Sex Differences. Like many of these books, Like Sound Though Water reflects how rapidly improving technology can and should change the way we teach. Like all of them, this book will help teachers empathize with families. APD can be very frustrating for everyone, including harried classroom teachers. When you've worn yourself out trying everything to hook a kid, it's easy to blame family or the kid himself. This book will help you keep your eyes open for other causes for classroom difficulties.
   Okay, now I'm going to get on my soapbox: I think one of the reasons I had to stay up so late reading this was that I was internally screaming "Someone get this kid to an audiologist!" I was totally not surprised that the first person to recognize processing problems was a lady who ran a little church basement kindergarten, and I firmly believe that if Foli had Ben in a public school first, the problem would have been identified sooner. Public school teachers are required to have more training and diversity in our student population is not just country of origin. We've seen more.
   Anyway, great book for all readers but especially parents, teachers, and medical folks.



5. My 3rd grade son was just diagnosed with auditory processing disorder and I found this book to be informative and a pleasure to read. My son's condition isn't as severe as the author's son's; however, I could identify with her frustrations before the diagnosis. The author brought up 2 new treatment strategies that I was unaware of-Fast ForWord and Earobics. I have already recommended this book to friends and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in APD.

3 comments about Life After Gastric Bypass: 6 Steps to Ensure Your Weight Loss Success.

1. This book is the real deal - tells you the good and bad. I really enjoyed it - read the whole book in one day!



2. This is a great book. It has alot of needed information for pre-op bariatric patients and those considering the proceedure. I reccommend this for anyone who needs to learn more about what is needed to be done after surgery, what to eat and some inspiration.



3. this is an outstanding book on gastric bypass but it didn't go far enough. it needed to cover the period after 6 months out and beyond.

5 comments about Death Be Not Proud (P.S.).

1. I was in the Barnes and Noble on Broadway and couldn't find "Death Be Not Proud." I was looking in the biography section and needless to say I was surprised on not finding it. I called an older clerk over and he looked too. He knew the book and he knew Johnny's story. He, too, was shocked.
   We went to the computer and found out that it was classified as Biography, but as "Literature."
   That started a conversation between the clerk and me. I told him that I just got back from Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, NY and seen Johnny's grave. I wanted to buy a copy of the book as a remembrance. He took a break and we had an interesting and thoughtful conversation about it.
   More than a biography, more than a piece of literature, Death Be Not Proud is a celebration of life which is also a celebration of one particular life. The book is written by Johnny's Dad and tells the story of the last year of Johnny's after he developed a brain tumor. The humanity and decency of his parents, his doctors, but mostly, Johnny comes through on every page.
   I was reading a critique by someone who thought that the book was pablum and a failure. They just don't get it. Johnny the whole time he is dying is keeping everyone else's spirits up. There can be no greater act of selflessness, than cheering up those who love you while you fight the good fight, even when you know that you aren't going to win. I think Johnny knew he was dying from the beginning and he dealt with it by "filling the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run."
   A few weeks before he died, Johnny received notification that he had been accepted by Harvard. Over a year of suffering but he still attain his greatest goal.
   Johnny Gunther was a man and, to me, "a man for all seasons."
   I know that it is highly unlikely, but I wish everyone who faced death had a father, brother, sister, mother or friend like Johnny's Dad. Thanks to John Gunther Sr., Johnny will live forever.
   And that is only right.



2. My Mom had me read this old classic when I was about 10, only the book was not all that "old" then. I've reread it several times, and introduced my two kids to it at a young age, though certainly not at 10. This is WAY too heavy for the average youngster; fortunately, I've got pretty good reading ability.
   
   John Gunther was a well-known author and journalist of the 1930's thru the 60's, famous for his "Inside" books; in April, 1946, his only child, Johnny, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor....he lived 15 months, most of it miserable, with small doses of hope thrown in. Gunther and his ex-wife, Frances, joined forces and did all that could have been done.
   
   This is the story of Johnny's courage and determination. No child is as great as Gunther paints his son, but a father can be forgiven. The events surrounding Johnny's high school graduation somehow make the fight worth it. That Johnny fought without the comforts of religious faith is, of course, tragic...still, he fought.
   
   An excellent picture is given of cancer treatment in the late 1940's, with introduction to Wilder Penfield, and other grand master neurosurgeons of the day. Chemotherapy was in its very infancy; diagnostic imaging was far different, and often brutal, with CAT scans and the MRI far in the future. We get to meet Max Gerson, and his controversial diet; I believe it's still in use. Cancer treatment is much different now, and the results for many types of tumors much better, but one irony is that the prognosis of glioblastoma multiforme is essentially what it was 60 years ago. And radiation therapy and neurosurgery are still rough.
   
   My Mom was right about one thing; this book is still around long after John Gunther's other work is dated, and forgotten. A father shared his grief...I forgive him his excesses, and still recommend the book.



3. A journalist and occasional novelist, John J. Gunther (1901-1970)was best known for the series of geo-political books he wrote during the 1930s and 1940s; today, however, he is best recalled for DEATH BE NOT PROUD. Published in 1949 and subtitled "A Memoir," it is a short work describing the final months of son Johnny Gunther, who died of a cancerous brain tumor in the late 1940s. Over the years many people have recommended this book to me, describing it as poetic in style, deeply touching in story, philosophical in content. Having at last read the work, I find the descriptions of it largely inaccurate and myself sharply unimpressed.
   
   To hear his father tell it, Johnny Gunther was an entity without flaw, a seventeen year old who was charming in his shyness, brilliant beyond his years, corresponding with Einstein even as he bemoaned his lack of skill at sports, the perfect child, a paragon beyond paragons who endured great suffering with a smile. While I can easily accept the brilliance and integrity and strength of character--such people do exist--the portrait quickly becomes cloying; Gunther elevates Johnny to the level of plaster saint and it is tiresome in the extreme.
   
   Gunther's prose is not in the least poetic; it is in fact the workman-like writing of the journalist he was. As for philosophical tone, this seems to consist of asking the time-honored questions about life and death and little more. In the end, DEATH BE NOT PROUD is the emotional purging of a grief-stricken parent who considers his loss to be unique instead of universal and therefore lacks the scope that one would really wish of this sort of memoir. Recommended, but primarily for the details it offers of the way in which cancer patients were treated in this era.
   
   GFT, Amazon Reviewer



4. "Death Be Not Proud" could have been the worst book ever written. Consider: John Gunther, Jr. loses his only son to a brain tumor in 1947, when the boy is just 17. And Johnny was no ordinary boy --- he was brilliant, caring, funny. The kind of kid about whom, after his death, people say, "He was loved by everyone he ever met."
   
   And that's just the summary. In fact, this kid was off the charts. He did original thinking in mathematics and wrote to Einstein --- and Einstein wrote back to encourage him. Unable to attend his boarding school because of his tumor, he got all his work done, aced his college admissions tests and would have gone to Harvard had he lived. And, through his 15-month ordeal of operations and treatments and diets and doctors and hope and despair, he never showed his parents how much he was afraid.
   
   Here's how amazing: When his surgeon told Johnny he had a brain tumor, his immediate response was "Do my parents know this? How shall we break it to them?"
   
   Imagine having a kid like that. Your only kid. And then sitting down and typing 150 pages about him.
   
   Only the geezers among you will recognize the author, but John Gunther was, in his day, a megastar journalist. Just after World War II, he published a book called "Inside Europe," and it was so successful he went on to write a series of "Inside" books. His novels flopped, but no matter. He was a born journalist --- he knew how to tell a story with style and economy.
   
   And "Death Be Not Proud" is the proof.
   
   "Johnny came home for the Christmas holiday in 1945, and he looked fit and fine." That's the first sentence of Chapter One, and it's a model. You know the boy is going to die. You know you're in for an emotional wringer. But you also know this father is going to serve it up straight, adult to adult --- he's inviting you to rise to his level.
   
   Big ideas? They're offered as sparingly as adverbs: "What I am trying to tell, however fumblingly and inadequately, is the story of a gallant fight for life, against the most hopeless odds, that should convey a relevance, a message, a lesson perhaps, to anyone who has ever faced ill health." What he doesn't need to say: That's you, dear reader, that's all of you, later if not today.
   
   This is the story of an emergency --- can the Gunthers find a cure for the tumor before it takes their son? --- and so the writing is, correctly, terse. Over this non-fiction medical thriller Gunther lays a story just as exciting: Johnny's effort to preserve his intellect, to make his mind triumph over his body.
   
   Of course there is no hope. Of course --- cruelly --- Johnny gets better. Several times. Only to relapse. Each time, Gunther just lays it out. You can feel him fraying as he writes, reliving how he frayed as he lived it. But he didn't crack then and so, if only for accuracy, he won't crack now.
   
   There is a scene in this book that should be required reading for everyone who ever has to write. It occurs at the end, when Johnny leaves his bed in New York to attend graduation at Deerfield Academy in Western Massachusetts. He's desperately ill --- he'll die just eight days later --- but he's determined to walk into chapel with his class and grasp his diploma in his left hand, just like his friends.. Gunther takes you through that walk, step by step, the chapel rocking with cheers --- good luck forgetting those pages.
   
   And then the end. The doctors are --- let Gunther have this metaphor --- "helpless flies now, climbing across the granite face of death." The world contracts. Now it's mother, father, son, in the saddest of scenes:
   
   "Johnny died at 11:02 P.M. Frances reached for him through the ugly, transparent, raincoat-like curtain of the oxygen machine. I felt his arms, cupping my hands around them, and the warmth gradually left them, receding very slowly upward from his hands. For a long time some warmth remained. Then little by little the life-color left his face, his lips became blue, and his hands were cold. What is life? It departs covertly. Like a thief, Death took him."
   
   An epilogue follows, but that's it, really. What can I say? Emotion doesn't come cleaner. You could throw a coin against those sentences and it would bounce back --- there's not a weak thought, an excess word.
   
   "Death Be Not Proud" was published in 1949. It isn't likely to go out of print any time soon. The saga of a boy dying? Sure, it grabs you and holds you. But that's because the broken, grieving man who wrote it was so professional he got out of the way and just... told the story.



5. Death Be Not Proud is a story written by John Gunther about his son, Johnny Gunther, who developed a brain tumor when he was just the young age of seventeen. Throughout the time of Johnny's months with his tumor, his professors at Deerfield Academy, friends, and family are impressed by his courage and patience through the worst times. From the time when Johnny first finds out about his illness, and the likelihood that it would never be cured, Johnny has the strength and courage to go on with his studies and act as if his illness is not affecting him, even if the tumor is worsening. This book shows the struggles and the hardships of a family and their son, who is "slowly being taken by Death," (Johnny's mother, Frances Gunther) while maintaining a positive outlook. Overall, the book was fantastically written and the father and the author, captures every moment of this time in Johnny's life. The book is almost like a series of pictures. John describes everything with such rich detail that I feel that everything could be expressed in a series of photographs.
   John Gunther writes "Johnny died at 11:02 P.M. Frances reached for him through the ugly, transparent, raincoat-like curtain of the oxygen machine. I felt his arms, cupping my hands around them, and the warmth gradually left them, receding very slowly upward from his hands. For a long time some warmth remained. Then little by little the life-color left his face, his lips became blue, and his hands were cold. What is life? It departs covertly. Like a thief, Death took him." This quote shows how much Johnny meant to his family, and later letters sent to his parents showed that the accomplishments Johnny made while he was sick, would surely never be forgotten by the ones he knew and loved with all his heart.
   After reading this story, I found myself contemplating the thought of Death stealing me or one I love away. Johnny Gunther not only gives me the strength to go on with life if you loose someone you love but also has become my hero. Hearing about the challenges he faced, and how much of an inspiration he was, I believe that there is no other way to die; to be at peace knowing the your loved ones are safe, and will go on remembering you.