Sun Aug 30, 2015, 05:18 AM

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	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

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

1. I remember how devastated I was upon learning

2. Safe passage, Dr Sacks.

3. RIP

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

5. Like others, I knew this was coming

6. He exited gracefully.....

12. Oh my...

7. A wonderful writer and a great man.

8. Thank you Dr. Sacks

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

10. .

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

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

15. Oliver....

17. RIP!

18. Aww..what a pity.