
My life with Oliver Sacks: ‘The most unusual person I had ever known’ (2017) - benbreen
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/mar/26/bill-hayes-insomniac-city-my-life-with-oliver-sacks-new-york
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zoomablemind
Captivating read, a rare glimpse. It's based on a personal diary, but sounds
off more like an elegy. It's truly remarkable how Dr. Sacks could remain so
actively writing in his final months, maintaining emotional discipline and his
genius in face of impending fate.

At the same time the text left a feeling of solitude, not the loneliness kind,
but the one devoid of distractions, very much determined and concentrated.
Perhaps this is unfair to those last 6 or so years which were marked with his
opening up to love and new relationship, and which surely had a great share of
joy to them.

Thank you for sharing your genius, Dr. Sacks.

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gadders
The thing I like about Oliver Sacks wasn't just his academic achievements - it
was how strong he got [1]. A 600lb squat is pretty immense. He truly was a
renaissance man.

[1] [https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-bodybuilder-
olive...](https://www.sciencefriday.com/articles/the-bodybuilder-oliver-sacks-
days-on-muscle-beach/)

~~~
skrebbel
Hm not sure. The article you quote ends with:

 _We looked at each other, our bodies half-destroyed by lifting.

“What fools we were,” Dave said. I nodded and agreed._

~~~
gadders
Maybe. They definitely pushed their bodies to extremes. But then a lot of
people half destroy their bodies by sitting on a sofa eating Haribo. At least
they generated some useful adaptations and learnt something from inflicting
voluntary hardship on themselves.

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sharadov
His autobiography "On the Move" is deeply personal and humbling. The guy was a
neurologist, bodybuilder, crazy motorcyclist, marathon swimmer and a top-notch
human being all rolled into one.

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sswaner
I miss Oliver Sacks. It is enjoyable to hear episodes of Radiolab and hear him
describe his current passion, or read his candid descriptions of his illness.

I have such respect for him because his unusualness was wrapped in a lack of
pretension. Wouldn't we all do better by trying to emulate his focus on
learning and his lack of regard for status and fame?

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losthobbies
This is beautifully written.

My birthday is the 28th of August. I find it very interesting that, in 2012,
when I was celebrating my birthday, Oliver Sacks, Bill Hayes and Bjork were
having dinner at her home in Iceland.

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lordleft
My take-away from Oliver Sacks memoir is the value of a historically grounded
science. Sacks got a lot of grief for reading the primary sources of
naturalists writing in the 19th century, but it helped him develop a
phenomenal facility for science communication and exposed him to useful ideas
that had lapsed in popularity.

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nobody_nowhere
Article makes me want to have lunch with Bjork

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IndySun
Talking of dinner parties with Oliver Sacks as a guest...
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008pdv](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0008pdv)

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IndySun
Did someone say Oliver Sacks is on Radiolab? Link gratefully received! Loved
On The Road, superb.

Check out BBC Radio Great Lives on him. It's quite touching.
[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001xt7](https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0001xt7)
Wonderful man.

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daltonlp
His "Uncle Tungsten" is in my lifetime top 10 favorite books. It is
ridiculously amazing.

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dr_dshiv
A great death story. It's good to celebrate excellent last days and moments.

My father died recently and it was truly beautiful to be there and help him
go. Sadness, yes, but we shouldn't fear.

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ggm
Sacks' book about his broken leg is a huge insight into the loss of identity
in illness. I think many of us consider him one of the authors we'd have
invited to tea, because we like him as he is (and the tea with Bjork only
confirmed that to me). Other tea party guests are usually interesting but
jerks, Elvis with Hitler type mashups, but Sacks, you wanted him there as a
genuinely interesting but also compassionate person.

