Flying without Wings: Personal Reflections on Loss, Disability, and Healing

by Arnold R. Beisser, Eric G. Dove (Read by), Hugh Prather (Foreword by), Gerald Jampolsky MD (Foreword by)

Overview

At twenty-four, Arnold Beisser was a recent medical school graduate and a nationally ranked tennis player. But overnight a devastating bout of polio left him permanently paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on an iron lung to draw his next breath. Polio robbed Arnold Beisser of his strength, his athletic ability, and almost his life. Yet he discovered in this unthinkable trap not only the expected sadness and despair, but wonder, delight, and the pleasure of everyday living.

This is the wise, deeply moving, and warmly humorous account of Arnold Beisser’s search for a new life and meaning as he comes to terms with his disability and then transcends it … to practice psychiatry, to fall in love, truly to soar without wings. His spirit and determination to fight for happiness will inspire any listener faced with unbearable loss. Dr. Beisser shows us why the contrast between winner and loser, athlete and cripple, is in our minds much more than in our bodies. And he shares with us the experiences that taught him life’s greatest truth: nothing can keep you from love, laughter, meaningful work, or enlightenment—except yourself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798212024716
Publisher:	Blackstone Publishing
Publication date:	09/20/2022
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 5.70(h) x (d)

About the Author

Arnold Beisser (1925–1991) was a graduate of Stanford University and its medical school. He was a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, a Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a recipient of its Gold Achievement Award. He published over one hundred articles, reviews, book chapters, and books, including Madness in Sports and Mental Health Consultation.

Eric G. Dove is a full-time voice actor, musician, and author, who released his first novel, Ghosts of Royston, in 2013 and who has several Nashville song cuts to his name. The winner of multiple Earphones awards, he has narrated over seventy audiobooks. A native of Ohio, he lives in Charleston, South Carolina. For more information, visit ericgdove.com.