Jean-Dominique Buaby, former editor of Elle, at 43 years old, had a stroke, and the only power he had left was to blink his eye. And with that, he dictated a book, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
grade: B
Yeah, it is a little on the short side, but that's good for me, I need to catch up to read 24 books this year.
The code, is the letters of the alphabet listed in frequency of their usage in English (naturally different for Mr. Bauby in French ), someone reads the list, and the invalid blinks on the correct letter, and then you start again. Building words, letter by letter, blink by blink.
e t a o i n s r h l d c u m f p g w y b v k x j q z
If I'm in a coma, please, someone make sure that I have music for a couple hours every day. Not radio, especially not Seattle radio, sheesh, that stuff is horrible, and the commercials would drive me mad. Make play lists for me. It's OK if there is a horrible song or two, good for keeping the emotions working, but do be so kind as to mix it up, maybe follow a Gwen Stephani with some Tibetan Monk Chanting, then some Willie Nelson followed by Tiffany for a laugh. What does worry me, Buaby's hearing was horrible after the stroke, and some things were aggravated, and other things he could not hear. That would suck.
Hopefully my childrens would be able to read this blog and know how much their papa loves them. I would want to see them all the time with my one semi-functioning eye, but I wouldn't want to depress them, or keep them from growing-up. The Father's Day chapter was pretty sad for me.
Bauby loved getting letters, and was surprised that some of the deepest, most personal letters, were from people he hardly knew. So, please be kind to write. Even though I'm not sure I would say to someone in a coma.
I am reminded of Paulos Erdos , and when a friend had a stroke, Paulos went in, and immediately started giving his friend math problems, with increasing difficulty. To kick start his friend out of depression. So, I guess with me, start arguing with me about politics. Or show me a Hollywood blockbuster, and tell me how great it is, that would get my blood a' boilin'.
Recently, I am told that someone my age, who used to work in my department, recently died because of a tooth infection gone bad. Wow. Life really is uncertain.
Posted by joncim at July 11, 2008 09:01 PM