Mar 022009
I wish I had heard of Christopher Nolan, the Irish writer and poet, before reading about his recent death today. Nolan was born with severe cerebral palsy; he could not speak and he had full control only over his head and eyes. He learned to type using a stick attached to his head. In 1987, at the age of 22, he won the Whitbread Award for his autobiography Under the Eye of the Clock. “The Economist‘s obituary for Nolan provides a few short excerpts of his work (although the article’s subtitle referring to him as the “voice of the crippled” made me grit my teeth a little”).
He died at age 43 after choking on some food. A tragic death, but it was preceded by a life rich with accomplishment.
Thank you so much Marc for letting us know about this man, by the beautiful text with the poetic excerpts from Christopher Nolan’s “hand”.
I simply felt compelled to look up what hollyberries were, yes, in that awful heavy Webster’s. I was surprised to find there are a lot of these prickly thorny red berries in my garden.
For a life like Cristopher’s I would say this:
do not grumble about the thorns, try to be delighted these thorns proved to carry unique, shiny berries, thanks to the “crested” attitude of this so-called “crippled” man: his attitude of courage, pride, courage and patience.