About the Author - Oliver Sacks

Oliver Sacks

I've decided on Oliver Sacks for this project. A few things made it an easy choice once I started to do some research on him. 

My friend strongly recommended him to me a while ago and she got well excited when I mentioned I might use him for the project. So she helped convince me that he is a brilliant writer and all round interesting person.

Neurology
I don't know much at all about how the human brain works so it will be great to learn more about neurology and the left/right hemisphere differences in the brain.

After watching the TED talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgOTaXhbqPQ Sacks gave I think there will be a fantastic amount of stories to pick from. Some of the hallucination stories from his patients are fascinating in how bizarre and strange they are. 

Sacks facts from Oliver Sacks interview 1989 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwqu_K0Wj4A
He dropped out of his medical studies to travel across Canada where he worked as a logger and began writing.
Became obsessed with weight lifting and even set a state record in California.
Came to New York to find what he wanted to do with his life.
He began working with patients with neurological diseases across hospitals in New York.
'Where others may find despair, Sacks finds inspiration.'
He takes notes in the botanical gardens to process his thoughts.
"I'm addicted to patients"
"I need these other lives to become part of my own"
"Empathy isn't enough"
"I wish I could be in their shoes"

The impression I get from interviews and his writing is that he is a very compassionate person who talks about the importance of having empathy for the patients rather than 'statistics or lists' and treating them with dignity and how you need to 'get to know and love them, recognize, respect them, as people'(Awakenings).

Authors can have a reputation as being reclusive and hard to get to know but I find there is a warmth with Sack that I can identify with and that will make it much more rewarding long term, as I get to know him more as a person as well as his writing. He is shy but approachable and eager to share his expert knowledge with anyone.