Tea with Oliver Sacks: Will Self, Andrew Solomon and Sue Halpern pay tribute

The death of Oliver Sacks this week made headlines, some of them surprising. Three writers pay tribute to an ardent observer, whose literary portraits of his patients are rich in compassion, insight and humourHaving met the late Oliver Sacks, neurologist and writer, only twice in my life, the occasions separated by some 36 years, I certainly cannot pretend to any friendship or even acquaintance. Nonetheless, I think I can speak for hundreds, if not thousands, who, while not especially close, nevertheless felt physically touched by the life of this extraordinary man. And touched is surely the right word: on the second occasion I met Oliver, in April of this year, he spoke of what a dreadful anatomy student he had been, barely able to conceive of all the convolutions within – yet, and he laughed at this, he’d always been a whizz at doing lumbar punctures, which can be notoriously difficult and excruciatingly painful. “How did you manage it?” I asked, and he said: “Touch, I could just feel where the needle should go.” Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Books Culture Oliver Sacks Science and nature Psychology Source Type: news