Create new account | My Profile | My Account | My Bookmarks | My Inbox | Help | Log in

Home Latest Threads Greatest Threads Forums & Groups My Subscriptions My Posts

DU Home » Latest Threads » Forums & Groups » Main » Latest Breaking News (Forum) » Oliver Sacks Dies at 82; ...

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 05:18 AM

DeadLetterOffice (1,352 posts)

Oliver Sacks Dies at 82; Neurologist and Author Explored the Brain’s Quirks

Source: NYT

Oliver Sacks, the neurologist and acclaimed author who explored some of the brain’s strangest pathways in best-selling case histories like “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” using his patients’ disorders as starting points for eloquent meditations on consciousness and the human condition, died Sunday at his home in New York City. He was 82.

The cause was cancer, said Kate Edgar, his longtime personal assistant.

Dr. Sacks announced in February, in an Op-Ed essay in The New York Times, that an earlier melanoma in his eye had spread to his liver and that he was in the late stages of terminal cancer.

As a medical doctor and a writer, Dr. Sacks achieved a level of popular renown rare among scientists. More than a million copies of his books are in print in the United States, his work was adapted for film and stage, and he received about 10,000 letters a year. (“I invariably reply to people under 10, over 90 or in prison,” he once said.)

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/31/science/oliver-sacks-dies-at-82-neurologist-and-author-explored-the-brains-quirks.html?_r=0

Knew it was coming, but still so sad -- he inspired me so much when I was growing up.

18 replies, 3456 views

Thread info Bookmark this thread Trash this thread

Reply to this thread

Back to top Alert abuse

Always highlight: 10 newest replies | Replies posted after I mark a forum

Replies to this discussion thread

18 replies	Author	Time	Post
Oliver Sacks Dies at 82; Neurologist and Author Explored the Brain’s Quirks (Original post)	DeadLetterOffice	Aug 2015	OP
I remember how devastated I was upon learning	bvf	Aug 2015	#1
Safe passage, Dr Sacks.	eridani	Aug 2015	#2
RIP	n2doc	Aug 2015	#3
I knew it wascoming but I am saddened it was to be this soon. Like with Jimmy Carter, I was....	marble falls	Aug 2015	#4
Like others, I knew this was coming	alcina	Aug 2015	#5
He exited gracefully.....	llmart	Aug 2015	#6
Oh my...	arikara	Aug 2015	#12
A wonderful writer and a great man.	mia	Aug 2015	#7
Thank you Dr. Sacks	KT2000	Aug 2015	#8
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Aug 2015	#9
'Scuse me? That's a very flippant and shallow assessment of a great man's work.	Hekate	Aug 2015	#13
Message auto-removed	Name removed	Aug 2015	#16
.	hedgehog	Aug 2015	#10
I have been reading his latest Op Eds online..	dixiegrrrrl	Aug 2015	#11
Dr. Sacks greatly deepened our understanding of the workings of the human brain....	Hekate	Aug 2015	#14
Oliver....	Dont call me Shirley	Aug 2015	#15
RIP!	burrowowl	Aug 2015	#17
Aww..what a pity.	lostnfound	Aug 2015	#18

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 05:35 AM

bvf (6,604 posts)

1. I remember how devastated I was upon learning

of his illness.

He was an amazing writer and my introduction to Temple Grandin.

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 06:27 AM

eridani (51,905 posts)

2. Safe passage, Dr Sacks.

There were giants in those days....

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 06:33 AM

n2doc (47,953 posts)

3. RIP

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 07:04 AM

marble falls (45,389 posts)

4. I knew it wascoming but I am saddened it was to be this soon. Like with Jimmy Carter, I was....

to gain some more insight by his handling end times with grace. I am going to miss his writing very much, also.

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 08:27 AM

alcina (602 posts)

5. Like others, I knew this was coming

But it still saddens me more than I expected. RIP, Dr Sacks.

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 09:11 AM

llmart (12,292 posts)

6. He exited gracefully.....

I read his last editorial where he talked about his impending death. He had a very pragmatic approach to the end of his life. If you haven't already read it, you may want to. I especially liked his comment about no longer spending any more emotional energy on politics.

"I feel a sudden clear focus and perspective. There is no time for anything inessential. I must focus on myself, my work and my friends. I shall no longer look at “NewsHour” every night. I shall no longer pay any attention to politics or arguments about global warming.

This is not indifference but detachment — I still care deeply about the Middle East, about global warming, about growing inequality, but these are no longer my business; they belong to the future. I rejoice when I meet gifted young people — even the one who biopsied and diagnosed my metastases. I feel the future is in good hands."

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to llmart (Reply #6)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 01:46 PM

arikara (5,562 posts)

12. Oh my...

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 09:41 AM

mia (7,776 posts)

7. A wonderful writer and a great man.

His writings will live on and inspire many. He taught us how to "Rest in Peace".

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/opinion/sunday/oliver-sacks-sabbath.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 11:52 AM

KT2000 (20,017 posts)

8. Thank you Dr. Sacks

You taught us so much and we are grateful.

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Name removed Message auto-removed

Response to Name removed (Reply #9)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 03:57 PM

Hekate (72,458 posts)

13. 'Scuse me? That's a very flippant and shallow assessment of a great man's work.

I get the impression that you have never actually read one of his books all the way through.

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to Hekate (Reply #13)

Name removed Message auto-removed

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 12:52 PM

hedgehog (36,286 posts)

10. .

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 01:07 PM

dixiegrrrrl (59,837 posts)

11. I have been reading his latest Op Eds online..

What a gracious man he was.

I am grateful he was with us as long as he was.

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 04:05 PM

Hekate (72,458 posts)

14. Dr. Sacks greatly deepened our understanding of the workings of the human brain....

I found his outlook to be very humane and kind. Each of the "cases" he described was a real person -- they never lost their personhood or humanity in his telling, and in fact regained those qualities for his readers.

One poster above thinks he put on a freak show for popular entertainment, but that is far from my experience.

Safe passage, and rest in peace, Oliver Sacks. Thank you for your insights.

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 04:33 PM

Dont call me Shirley (10,998 posts)

15. Oliver....

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 06:59 PM

burrowowl (15,400 posts)

17. RIP!

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Response to DeadLetterOffice (Original post)

Sun Aug 30, 2015, 10:15 PM

lostnfound (14,948 posts)

18. Aww..what a pity.

Love his books, rest in peace.

Reply to this post

Back to top Alert abuse Link here Permalink

Latest Breaking News (Forum)