From the New York Daily News and MSNBC, news about a book by Richard M. Cohen, bestselling author whose earlier memoir ‘Blindsided’ gave readers an insight into his life with multiple sclerosis and colon cancer.

Ninety million Americans live with chronic illness. In his latest effort, Cohen helps readers explore their world by documenting the journeys of five people who have adapted to illness. Among the illnesses represented are ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease), non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, muscular dystrophy and bipolar disorder.

His message: these “citizens of sickness” are resilient, valuable people who are determined to live life on their own terms. In bearing witness to their lives, Cohen challenges public ignorance and offers lessons of courage and hope.

Married to “Today” show co-anchor Meredith Vieira, Cohen had trouble talking to his wife and their three kids about his anguish. In his autobiography, “Blindsided: Lifting a Life Above Illness: A Reluctant Memoir,” he disclosed all the details.

“I really was reluctant because I fought tooth and nail against revealing myself,” Cohen admits. “I didn’t want to tell my own story because the thought of actually laying open my life was unthinkable. But it became apparent to me that that was the only way the book was going to get published.”

So Cohen told all, but then realized there were others who needed to do the same.

“I always had this interest in learning how other people cope with illness, and it was something I couldn’t explore in ‘Blindsided,’” he says. “When the book came out and I attended a number of forums, I was quite taken aback that so many people showed up in wheelchairs and on walkers and canes. Three hundred people would come with their own stories. And I was totally mesmerized by what they were saying.”

The MSNBC site contains an excerpt. The Harper-Collins website is here.

See earlier post: Chronic illness often a taboo subject.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 5th, 2008 at 1:50 pm and is filed under ALS, NOT2BEMISSED, books, cancer, chronic illness, multiple sclerosis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.  Email This Post