STILL TRYING: A Practical Book about the Handicapped, by a Polio Victim

by Joseph Laurance Marx ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 10, 1974

Proof positive, really very positive, that you can live a professionally, maritally and socially full life in spite of a truly crippling disability. Some 60 years ago, at the age of three and a half, Marx had polio which left him with two relatively useless legs (he once played baseball on his knees -- he still has a golf game going for him). Marx admits that he had the benefit of an intellectually, emotionally and financially privileged childhood; still the ""wodd of the handicapped"" is very real and separate and there are always special problems to be managed even if you can't ""lick"" them. He writes instructively about compensation, about self-pity (the most totally negative and self-destructive factor) and pain and the means of diverting it. On more practical terms, about transportation (he drives himself -- planes and trains are still difficult), and doctors and hospitals, and the limits you must accept. Also about motivation and rehabilitation (special tributes to Henry Viscardi and Rusk) and when it comes right down to it, ""the more you do, the more you want to do."" And apparently can do -- in this case particularly for other people who will find this substantially realistic.

Pub Date: April 10, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1974

Categories: NONFICTION