736 entries.
Cathy
from Atlanta
Thank you, Dr. Sacks, for teaching me how mysterious and magnificent is the brain; for the endless, pleasurable hours engrossed in reading about the myriad ways the brain wanders about and makes its mark; and for laying the groundwork that helped me to understand and appreciate the beauty of my son's neuro-divergent mind.
Matt Curlee
from Rochester, NY
Dear Dr. Sacks -
I cannot adequately express how your work, your special voice, and your humanity have inspired me, and have infused the way I think, the music I write, how I teach, and how I listen. You are a hero of mine, and I aspire to see beauty all around me, as you seem to. Thank you...just...thank you.
Matt Curlee
Lynne Watson
from Leeds UK
Today I read about your mother's response to your coming out and your forgiveness. This touched a deep and profound cord in me. I was a mother of a gay son. I too didn't understand this and caused pain for myself and my son. Eventually my love for Michael overcame my fears and our relationship was fully healed and deeply honest and unconditional by the time he died. I miss him so very much. He was my soul mate and I am a better person and mother because of him. Thank you dear man for your compassionate heart and wise mind.
Sheila
from St. Paul, MN
Dr. Sacks,
I just finished reading your autobiography and thoroughly enjoyed it! I've read most your other books, so it was fun to get a better picture of the man writing them. I'm sure I don't have anything to say that hasn't been said more eloquently by your many admirers. But I'm still glad to say thank you your fascinating writings. And thank you for being an example of living life on your own terms. I wish you peace as you head towards the next great adventure, and comfort for the loved ones you leave behind.
Marit
from Stockholm
Dear Oliver. A belated thank you for opening my mind with Musicophilia. I read it the first time just after it came out, and it changed the way I saw myself and the outside world, being a musician myself. When people ask me to recommend something to read or ask me of my top 3, it's still one of the regulars. Again, thank you.
Jeff Bockman
from New York
Dear Dr. Sacks:
I was very moved by your memoir, and awed by your energy, passion and commitment to patients, writing, the life of the mind (pun intended), and the world.
We met once about twenty years when we published in my wife's (and my) literary journal various pictures of Jessy Park including the cover--mostly magical paintings by her of buildings in Williamstown, where my wife got her BA and Art History MA. This was at an show at The National Arts Club.
I have long enjoyed your works, as much for the storytelling as the scientific learnings. And as a "lapsed scientist" who crossed over to the dark side of the BioPharma industry, for whom creative writing has been an avocation, your dual focus has been (to paraphrase Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka) a good deed shining in a weary world.
In closing, as one Greenwich Village neighbor to another, I wish you all the best, especially for your newfound love.
Warm Regards,
Jeffrey M. Bockman
VP, Defined Health
Publisher, Literal Latte
genie goldring
from new orleans
I wrote in weeks ago, but after reading your latest book, I have a new realization on how your genius expands my own mind. Your mind is open, flexible and you have the rare ability to uncensor your knowledge and preconceptions. Your expansive consciousness triggers my own ability to see beyond the constrictions and boundaries of accepted knowledge, to open up to the possible. Your are my hero for so many reasons.
Bob H from Sugar Land, Texas
from Sugar Land
Dr. Sacks,
I recently enjoyed reading your book, Uncle Tungsten. A footnote on page 291 states, "It was reading The World Set Free in the 1930s that set Leo Szilard to thinking ... secret patent on these in 1936 ... bomb." Your juxtaposing the words secret and patent was oxy-moronic and very entertaining. Thanks ! But I searched for Szilard patents and the earliest I found was dated in December 1944. Naturally, this and related subsequent US patents were among the products of the Manhattan Project. The DOD and AEC could very easily have contrived to keep them secrets for the full 17-year duration of the patents and even beyond. Can you tell us in what country Szilard patented in 1936? Wasn't Szilard still in Germany through 1938? There is no record of that invention date for Szilard in the United States. And what is the relationship between the 1936 patent (which would have predated the Manhattan Project by at least 5 years) and the patents he obtained in the US in 1944 and following years? If the concept was "secretly patented" in Germany in 1936, this could have given the Nazis a 5-year head start on the development of a fission-powered explosive device. That possibility would certainly focus one's attention ! Curious minds beg for further answers!
Gabriel
Dr. Oliver Sacks
I cannot express in sufficient depth what I have gained in curiosity, wonder, knowledge, and sheer delight for life from the works you have published. From first picking at random copy of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat in my freshman year of college, through the seven years and scores of books which have followed, both your own and those of others whom your writing has led me to, I've found myself increasingly thirsting for knowledge, and increasingly eager to seek it out. Your intellect is infectious: I cannot thank you enough for the contribution you have made to the world; in this I am sure I am not alone.
Gabriel
norla
from fresno
Dear Dr. Sacks,
I am treating myself to a lunch break made all the more pleasant with the reading of your Oaxaca Journal. I am grateful that you are in this world, sharing your insights at a time when I am here to learn. It has been my great privilege to listen to interviews and read your books. Your voice always makes me smile. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself over the years.
Jude Pardee, Ph.D.
from Santa Fe, NM
Dear Oliver Sacks, my book group met this evening and one of our members, Carolina Yahne, suggested we read your memoir next. We all readily agreed. Carolina said she met you after a talk you gave in Albuquerque and afterwards you included something she told you about her mother in your book Musicophilia. Her mother was mobility impaired, but walked more easily after Caro recorded a little "mother walking" song for her.
As for me, I have been deeply grateful to you for the past 12 years that I have been taking amitriptyline (50mg) daily. For several years I had suffered from frequent menopausal migraines (not the piercing headache, but nausea, weakness, numbing patches). My doctor suggested a series of things -- estrogen patch, beta blocker, niacin. I kept detailed graphs of my symptoms, which were getting worse. Then I found your updated book on migraine and -- voila! -- amitriptyline was the answer! And Migraine, like all your writing, is brilliant and absorbing. Your recent pieces in the New Yorker have been wonderful. I am a podcast freak and have loved hearing interviews of you. I am sorry that you are ill and I shall remember you always with gratitude and affection.
Jude
Christina Borja
from Sacramento
Dr. Sacks,
I am researching music therapy and its effects on the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of individuals with Alzheimer's disease. During my research I found the book Musicophilia and was inspired by your work. Thank you for your passion and knowledge that you share. You have deeply influenced my education and given me so much to consider and remember as I embark into the medical field. I will soon graduate with a BS in gerontology and plan to become a nurse. Currently I work as an assistant in transfusion services at a hospital. I am 35yo, have three children and a drive to pursue my education so I can help people who are ill; and treating not only their physical ailments but also ensuring their well-being. My favorite quote by Dr. Sacks, though there are many, is:
"Music can lift us out of depression or move us to tears- it is a remedy, a tonic, orange juice for the ear. But for many of my neurological patients music is even more- it can provide access, even when no medication can, to movement, to speech, to life. For them, music is not a luxury, but a necessity."
Thank you again for your inspiration
Christina
Allison
from Eugene, OR
Dear Dr. Sacks,
As a young person, you were a Shakespeare or a Homer or an Aesop for me. From your books, I learned not only about the world but about how to be in the world because your words told stories but also created a mental space where I could be still and ponder the facts that you presented and the feelings you conjured. I noticed what you noticed, and I wondered some of the thoughts that you wondered in your writing, but these were just jumping off points. You presented amazing and beautiful things and these inspired my imagination, perhaps in ways that other things that I read didn't. The world is filled with people who think beautiful thoughts and ask beautiful questions, but perhaps very few write so well as you. You have been a messenger of knowledge and joy and openness for me.
Sammantha
from Oakhurst, CA
Dr. Sacks,
I heard you on Radiolab and immediately took a shine to you. I appreciate your curiosity and unending drive. I am in school right now, going for nursing. I am 38 years old. Your mind is inspiring to me. Thank you for all that you do. And little did I know, you are the doctor behind Awakenings (one of my favorite movies). I HAD to sign the guestbook just for that. Keep on keepin' on, doctor. :)
~~Samm.
Rex Winn
from Delta
I have been reading Dr. Sacks for decades. His writings have provided information, insight, and entertainment. Last week I read "Seeing Voices" and was overcome by the stories he told there. Reading the book opened up the world of the deaf, but on a deeper level, it left me stunned thinking about the many ways we are voiceless in childhood; in other words, how parents teach their children. Some are raised in an atmosphere in which it is only correct to speak with the voice, while others are raised to speak in any way they are able. What a gift Dr. Sacks has given to the world. Many thanks, also from the millions who are out there who have been given insight and wonder.
Kathleen
from Yonkers, NY
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the hard work you so joyously and generously share. Don't have much to say here, just feeling gratitude for you Oliver Sacks.
Namaste,
Kathleen
Debbie Rubenstein
from Charlotte, NC
Dr. Sacks, I am a 46 year old woman who has read your books since the eighties. I began with The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and then went back and forth in your writing, soaking up each memoir, case study and article I could find. Thank you for sharing your life and your incredible mind. While your stories are endlessly entertaining and enlightening, your compassion and curiosity move me to be a better person. It can be difficult at times to live with integrity and authenticity in the world and that journey is made gentler with you as a model and guide. I am and will always be grateful that you chose to write and so I had the privilege of "meeting" and knowing your amazing mind and heart.
Marquesa Stephens
from Cleveland, OH
I am a mother of two, a graduate of CSU and a security officer. I am a single black female as well. So it's funny when I find myself reading and reading and wondering about the unknown, because I don't have very much time on my hands. I have been given a great gift, I can write very well and It seems to captivate people. I wanted to learn about people who write so I started some of my own research into who was interesting and who spoke to me. I came across you, and i think i am going to start learning from you.
Eddy Torigoe Pellot
from Chicago, IL
Dear Dr. Sacks,
I don't write famous people (you're the first one actually), and I wanted to thank you for all the work you've done throughout the years and to tell you that you have made the world a better place.
Many many thanks,
Eddy Torigoe
Will
from Glasgow, UK
Dr Sacks,
I only want to say that you are extraordinary and a shining example of humanity, someone we should all aspire to be.
Will
