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Oliver Sacks

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Oliver Sacks
CBEFRCP
A grey-haired Oliver Sacks with glasses and a beard
Sacks in 2013
Born
Oliver Wolf Sacks

(1933-07-09)9 July 1933
London,England
Died30 August 2015(2015-08-30)(aged 82)
New York City,U.S.
EducationUniversity of Oxford(BA,BM BCh)[1]
Known forNon-fiction books about his psychiatric and neurological patients
Medical career
ProfessionPhysician, professor, author, neurologist
InstitutionsNew York University
Columbia University
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
University of Warwick
Little Sisters of the Poor
Sub-specialtiesNeurology
Websiteoliversacks
Signature

Oliver Wolf SacksCBEFRCP(9 July 1933 – 30 August 2015) was a Britishneurologist,naturalist,historian of science, and writer.[2]Born in London, Sacks received his medical degree in 1958 fromThe Queen's College, Oxford,before moving to the United States, where he spent most of his career. He interned atMount Zion HospitalinSan Franciscoand completed his residency in neurology andneuropathologyat theUniversity of California, Los Angeles(UCLA).[2]Later, he served as neurologist atBeth Abraham Hospital's chronic-care facility inthe Bronx,where he worked with a group of survivors of the 1920s sleeping sicknessencephalitis lethargica,who had been unable to move on their own for decades. His treatment of those patients became the basis of his 1973 bookAwakenings,[3]which was adapted into anAcademy Award-nominatedfeature film,in 1990, starringRobin WilliamsandRobert De Niro.

His numerous other best-selling books were mostly collections ofcase studiesof people, including himself, withneurological disorders.He also published hundreds of articles (both peer-reviewed scientific articles and articles for a general audience), about neurological disorders, history of science, natural history, and nature.The New York Timescalled him a "poet laureateof contemporary medicine ", and" one of the great clinical writers of the 20th century ".[4]Some of his books were adapted for plays by major playwrights, feature films, animated short films, opera, dance, fine art, and musical works in the classical genre.[5]His bookThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,which describes the case histories of some of his patients, became the basis of anopera of the same name.

Early life and education[edit]

Oliver Wolf Sacks was born inCricklewood,London, England, the youngest of four children born to Jewish parents: Samuel Sacks, aLithuanian Jewish[6][7]doctor (died June 1990),[8]and Muriel Elsie Landau, one of the first female surgeons in England (died 1972),[9]who was one of 18 siblings.[10]Sacks had an extremely large extended family of eminent scientists, physicians and other notable individuals, including the director and writerJonathan Lynn[11]and first cousins, the Israeli statesmanAbba Eban[12]and the Nobel LaureateRobert Aumann.[13][a]

In December 1939, when Sacks was six years old, he and his older brother Michael were evacuated from London to escapethe Blitz,and sent to aboarding schoolin theEnglish Midlandswhere he remained until 1943.[10]Unknown to his family, at the school, he and his brother Michael "...subsisted on meager rations of turnips and beetroot and suffered cruel punishments at the hands of a sadistic headmaster. "[16]This is detailed in his first autobiography,Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood.[17]Beginning with his return home at the age of 10, under his Uncle Dave's tutelage, he became an intensely focusedamateur chemist.Later, he attendedSt Paul's Schoolin London, where he developed lifelong friendships withJonathan Millerand Eric Korn.[18]

Study of medicine[edit]

During adolescence he shared an intense interest in biology with these friends, and later came to share his parents' enthusiasm for medicine. He chose to study medicine at university and enteredThe Queen's College, Oxfordin 1951.[10]The first half studying medicine at Oxford is pre-clinical, and he graduated with aBachelor of Arts(BA) degree in physiology and biology in 1956.[19]

Although not required, Sacks chose to stay on for an additional year to undertake research after he had taken a course byHugh Macdonald Sinclair.Sacks recalls, "I had been seduced by a series of vivid lectures on the history of medicine and nutrition, given by Sinclair... it was the history of physiology, the ideas and personalities of physiologists, which came to life. "[20]Sacks then became involved with the school's Laboratory of Human Nutrition under Sinclair. Sacks focused his research onJamaica ginger,a toxic and commonly abused drug known to cause irreversible nerve damage. After devoting months to research he was disappointed by the lack of help and guidance he received from Sinclair. Sacks wrote up an account of his research findings but stopped working on the subject. As a result he became depressed: "I felt myself sinking into a state of quiet but in some ways agitated despair."[20]

His tutor at Queen's and his parents, seeing his lowered emotional state, suggested he extricate himself from academic studies for a period. His parents then suggested he spend the summer of 1955 living on IsraelikibbutzEin HaShofet,where the physical labour would help him.[21]Sacks would later describe his experience on the kibbutz as an "anodyne to the lonely, torturing months in Sinclair's lab". He said he lost 60 pounds (27 kg) from his previously overweight body as a result of the healthy, hard physical labour he performed there. He spent time travelling around the country with time spent scuba diving at theRed Seaport city ofEilat,and began to reconsider his future: "I wondered again, as I had wondered when I first went to Oxford, whether I really wanted to become a doctor. I had become very interested in neurophysiology, but I also loved marine biology;... But I was 'cured' now; it was time to return to medicine, to start clinical work, seeing patients in London. "[20]

My pre-med studies in anatomy and physiology at Oxford had not prepared me in the least for real medicine. Seeing patients, listening to them, trying to enter (or at least imagine) their experiences and predicaments, feeling concerned for them, taking responsibility for them, was quite new to me... It was not just a question of diagnosis and treatment; much graver questions could present themselves—questions about the quality of life and whether life was even worth living in some circumstances.

— Oliver Sacks[20]

In 1956, Sacks began his clinical study of medicine at theUniversity of OxfordandMiddlesex Hospital Medical School.[19]For the next two-and-a-half years, he took courses in medicine, surgery, orthopaedics, paediatrics, neurology, psychiatry, dermatology, infectious diseases, obstetrics, and various other disciplines. During his years as a student, he helped home-deliver a number of babies. In 1958, he graduated withBachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery(BM BCh) degrees, and, as per tradition, his BA was promoted to aMaster of Arts(MA Oxon) degree.[22]

Having completed his medical degree, Sacks began hispre-registration house officerrotations atMiddlesex Hospitalthe following month. "My eldest brother, Marcus, had trained at the Middlesex," he said, "and now I was following his footsteps."[20]Before beginning his house officer post, he said he first wanted some hospital experience to gain more confidence, and took a job at a hospital inSt Albanswhere his mother had worked as an emergency surgeon during the war.[citation needed]He then did his first six-month post in Middlesex Hospital's medical unit, followed by another six months in its neurological unit.[19][22]He completed his pre-registration year in June 1960 but was uncertain about his future.[20]

Beginning life in North America[edit]

Sacks left Britain and flew to Montreal, Canada, on 9 July 1960, his 27th birthday. He visited theMontreal Neurological Instituteand theRoyal Canadian Air Force(RCAF), telling them that he wanted to be a pilot. After some interviews and checking his background, they told him he would be best in medical research. But as he kept making mistakes, like losing data of several months of research, destroying irreplaceable slides and losing biological samples, his supervisors had second thoughts about him.[23]Dr. Taylor, the head medical officer, told him, "You are clearly talented and we would love to have you, but I am not sure about your motives for joining." He was told to travel for a few months and reconsider. He used the next three months to travel across Canada and deep into the Canadian Rockies, which he described in his personal journal, later published asCanada: Pause, 1960.[20]

In 1961 he arrived in the United States,[24]completing aninternshipatMt. Zion Hospitalin San Francisco and aresidencyin neurology and neuropathology atUCLA.[25]While in San Francisco, Sacks became a lifelong close friend of poetThom Gunn,saying he loved his wild imagination, his strict control, and perfect poetic form.[10]During much of his time at UCLA, he lived in a rented house inTopanga Canyon[26]and experimented with variousrecreational drugs.He described some of his experiences in a 2012New Yorkerarticle,[27]and in his bookHallucinations.[28]During his early career in California and New York City he indulged in:

staggering bouts of pharmacological experimentation, underwent a fierce regimen of bodybuilding at Muscle Beach (for a time he held a California record, after he performed afull squatwith 600 pounds across his shoulders), and racked up more than 100,000 leather-clad miles on his motorcycle. And then one day he gave it all up—the drugs, the sex, the motorcycles, the bodybuilding.[29]

He wrote that after moving to New York City, anamphetamine-facilitated epiphany that came as he read a book by the 19th-centurymigrainedoctorEdward Liveinginspired him to chronicle his observations on neurological diseases and oddities; to become the "Liveing of our Time".[27]Though he would remain a resident of the United States for the rest of his life, he never became a citizen.[2]He toldThe Guardianin a 2005 interview, "In 1961, I declared my intention to become a United States citizen, which may have been a genuine intention, but I never got round to it. I think it may go with a slight feeling that this was only an extended visit. I rather like the words 'resident alien'. It's how I feel. I'm a sympathetic, resident, sort of visiting alien."[30]

Career[edit]

Sacks in 1985

Sacks served as an instructor and later clinical professor of neurology atYeshiva University'sAlbert Einstein College of Medicinefrom 1966 to 2007, and also held an appointment at theNew York University School of Medicinefrom 1992 to 2007. In July 2007 he joined the faculty ofColumbia University Medical Centeras a professor of neurology andpsychiatry.[25]At the same time he was appointed Columbia University's first "Columbia University Artist" at the university'sMorningside Heightscampus, recognising the role of his work in bridging the arts and sciences. He was also a visiting professor at theUniversity of Warwickin the UK.[31]He returned toNew York University School of Medicinein 2012, serving as a professor of neurology and consulting neurologist in the school's epilepsy centre.[32]

Sacks's work at Beth Abraham Hospital helped provide the foundation on which theInstitute for Music and Neurologic Function(IMNF) is built; Sacks was an honorary medical advisor.[33]The Institute honoured Sacks in 2000 with its firstMusic Has Power Award.[34]The IMNF again bestowed aMusic Has Power Awardon him in 2006 to commemorate "his 40 years at Beth Abraham and honour his outstanding contributions in support ofmusic therapyand the effect of music on the human brain and mind. "[35]

Sacks maintained a busy hospital-based practice in New York City. He accepted a very limited number of private patients, in spite of being in great demand for such consultations. He served on the boards ofThe Neurosciences Instituteand theNew York Botanical Garden.[36]

Writing[edit]

In 1967 Sacks first began to write of his experiences with some of his neurological patients. His first such book,Ward 23,was burned by Sacks during an episode of self-doubt.[37]His books have been translated into over 25 languages. In addition, Sacks was a regular contributor toThe New Yorker,the New York Review of Books,The New York Times,London Review of Booksand numerous other medical, scientific and general publications.[38][39][40]He was awarded theLewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Sciencein 2001.[41]

Sacks's work is featured in a "broader range of media than those of any other contemporary medical author"[42]and in 1990,The New York Timeswrote he "has become a kind of poet laureate of contemporary medicine".[43]

Sacks considered his literary style to have grown out of the tradition of 19th-century "clinical anecdotes", a literary style that included detailed narrative case histories, which he termed novelistic. He also counted among his inspirations the case histories of the Russian neuropsychologistA. R. Luria,who became a close friend through correspondence from 1973 to 1977, when Dr. Luria died.[44][45]After the publication of his first bookMigrainein 1970, a review by his close friendW. H. Audenencouraged Sacks to adapt his writing style to "be metaphorical, be mythical, be whatever you need."[46]

Sacks described his cases with a wealth of narrative detail, concentrating on the experiences of the patient (in the case of hisA Leg to Stand On,the patient was himself). The patients he described were often able to adapt to their situation in different ways despite the fact that their neurological conditions were usually considered incurable.[47]His bookAwakenings,upon which the 1990feature film of the same nameis based, describes his experiences using the new druglevodopaonpost-encephaliticpatients at the former Beth Abraham Hospital, currently Beth Abraham Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, Allerton Ave, in The Northeast Bronx, NY.[3]Awakeningswas also the subject of the first documentary made (in 1974) for the British television seriesDiscovery.Composer and friend of Sacks,Tobias Picker,composed a ballet inspired byAwakeningsfor theRambert Dance Company,which was premiered by Rambert inSalford,UK in 2010;[48]In 2022, Picker premiered an opera of Awakenings[49]atOpera Theatre of Saint Louis.[50][51][52][53][54]

In his memoirA Leg to Stand Onhe wrote about the consequences of a near-fatal accident he had at age 41 in 1974, a year after the publication ofAwakenings,when he fell off a cliff and severely injured his left leg whilemountaineeringalone aboveHardangerfjord,Norway.[55][56]

In some of his other books, he describes cases ofTourette syndromeand various effects ofParkinson's disease.The title article ofThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hatdescribes a man withvisual agnosia[57]and was the subject of a 1986 opera byMichael Nyman.The title article of his book,An Anthropologist on Mars,which won aPolk Awardfor magazine reporting, is aboutTemple Grandin,anautisticprofessor. He writes in thebook'spreface that neurological conditions such as autism "can play a paradoxical role, by bringing out latent powers, developments, evolutions, forms of life that might never be seen, or even be imaginable, in their absence".Seeing Voices,Sacks's 1989 book, covers a variety of topics indeaf studies.The romantic drama filmAt First Sight(1999) was based on the essay "To See and Not See" inAn Anthropologist on Mars.Sacks also has a small role in the film as a reporter.

In his bookThe Island of the ColorblindSacks wrote about an island where many people haveachromatopsia(total colourblindness, very low visual acuity and highphotophobia). The second section of this book, entitledCycad Island,describes theChamorro peopleofGuam,who have a high incidence of a neurodegenerative disease locally known aslytico-bodig disease(a devastating combination ofALS,dementiaandparkinsonism). Later, along withPaul Alan Cox,Sacks published papers suggesting a possible environmental cause for the disease, namely the toxinbeta-methylamino L-alanine(BMAA) from thecycadnut accumulating bybiomagnificationin theflying fox bat.[58][59]

In November 2012 Sacks's bookHallucinationswas published. In it he examined why ordinary people can sometimes experience hallucinations and challenged the stigma associated with the word. He explained: "Hallucinations don't belong wholly to the insane. Much more commonly, they are linked to sensory deprivation, intoxication, illness or injury."[60]He also considers the less well knownCharles Bonnet syndrome,sometimes found in people who have lost their eyesight. The book was described byEntertainment Weeklyas: "Elegant... An absorbing plunge into a mystery of the mind."[61]

Sacks sometimes faced criticism in the medical and disability studies communities.Arthur K. Shapiro,for instance, an expert onTourette syndrome,said Sacks's work was "idiosyncratic" and relied too much onanecdotal evidencein his writings.[62]Researcher Makoto Yamaguchi thought Sacks's mathematical explanations, in his study of the numerically gifted savant twins (inThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat), were irrelevant, and questioned Sacks's methods.[63]Although Sacks has been characterised as a "compassionate" writer and doctor,[64][65][66]others have felt that he exploited his subjects.[67][68]Sacks was called "the man who mistook his patients for a literary career" by British academic and disability rights activistTom Shakespeare,[69]and one critic called his work "a high-browfreak show".[67]Sacks responded, "I would hope that a reading of what I write shows respect and appreciation, not any wish to expose or exhibit for the thrill... but it's a delicate business. "[70]

He is also the author ofThe Mind's Eye,Oaxaca JournalandOn the Move: A Life(his second autobiography).

Before his death in 2015 Sacks founded the Oliver Sacks Foundation, a nonprofit organization established to increase understanding of the brain through using narrative nonfiction and case histories, with goals that include publishing some of Sacks's unpublished writings, and making his vast amount of unpublished writings available for scholarly study.[71]His first posthumous book,River of Consciousness,an anthology of his essays, was published in October 2017. Most of the essays had been previously published in various periodicals or in science-essay-anthology books, and are no longer readily obtainable. Sacks specified the order of his essays inRiver of Consciousnessprior to his death. Some of the essays focus on repressed memories and other tricks the mind plays on itself.[72]His next posthumous book will be a collection of some of his letters. Sacks was a prolific handwritten-letter correspondent and he never communicated by e-mail.

Honours[edit]

In 1996, Sacks became a member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters(Literature).[73]He was named aFellowof theNew York Academy of Sciencesin 1999.[74]Also in 1999, he became an Honorary Fellow atthe Queen's College, Oxford.[75]

In 2000, Sacks received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[76]In 2002, he became Fellow of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences(Class IV—Humanities and Arts, Section 4—Literature)[77]and he was awarded the 2001Lewis Thomas PrizebyRockefeller University.[78]Sacks was also aFellow of the Royal College of Physicians(FRCP).[79]

Sacks was awarded honorary doctorates fromGeorgetown University(1990),[80]College of Staten Island(1991),[22]Tufts University(1991),[81]New York Medical College(1991),[22]Medical College of Pennsylvania(1992),[22]Bard College(1992),[82]Queen's University at Kingston(2001),[83]Gallaudet University(2005),[84]University of Oxford(2005),[85]Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú(2006)[86]andCold Spring Harbor Laboratory(2008).

Oxford Universityawarded him anhonoraryDoctor of Civil Lawdegree in June 2005.[87]

Sacks received the position "Columbia Artist" from Columbia University in 2007, a post that was created specifically for him and that gave him unconstrained access to the university, regardless of department or discipline.[88]

In 2008, Sacks was appointedCommander of the Order of the British Empire(CBE), for services to medicine, in theQueen's Birthday Honours.[89][90]

The minor planet84928 Oliversacks,discovered in 2003, was named in his honour.[91]

In February 2010, Sacks was named as one of theFreedom From Religion Foundation's Honorary Board of distinguished achievers. He described himself as "an old Jewish atheist", a phrase borrowed from his friendJonathan Miller.[92]

Personal life[edit]

Sacks never married and lived alone for most of his life.[70]He declined to share personal details until late in his life. He addressed hishomosexualityfor the first time in his 2015 autobiographyOn the Move: A Life.[20]Celibate for about 35 years since his forties, in 2008 he began a friendship with writer andNew York TimescontributorBill Hayes.Their friendship slowly evolved into a committed long-term partnership that lasted until Sacks's death; Hayes wrote about it in the 2017 memoirInsomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me.[93]

InLawrence Weschler's biography,And How Are You, Dr. Sacks?,Sacks is described by a colleague as "deeply eccentric". A friend from his days as a medical resident mentions Sacks's need to violate taboos, like drinking blood mixed with milk, and how he frequently took drugs likeLSDandspeedin the early 1960s. Sacks himself shared personal information about how he got his firstorgasmspontaneously while floating in a swimming pool, and later when he was giving a man a massage. He also admits having "erotic fantasies of all sorts" in a natural history museum he visited often in his youth, many of them about animals, like hippos in the mud.[94]

Sacks noted in a 2001 interview that severe shyness, which he described as "a disease", had been a lifelong impediment to his personal interactions.[42]He believed his shyness stemmed from hisprosopagnosia,popularly known as "face blindness",[95]a condition that he studied in some of his patients, including the titular man from his workThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.This neurological disability of his, whose severity and whose impact on his life Sacks did not fully grasp until he reached middle age, even sometimes prevented him from recognising his own reflection in mirrors.[96]

Sacks swam almost daily for most of his life, beginning when his swimming-champion father started himswimming as an infant.He especially became publicly well-known foropen water swimmingwhen he lived in theCity Islandsection of theBronx,as he would routinely swim around the entire island, or swim vast distances away from the island and back.[2]

He was also an avid powerlifter.[97][98][99]

Sacks was a cousin of the Nobel Economics laureateRobert Aumann.[100]

Illness[edit]

Sacks underwentradiation therapyin 2006 for auveal melanomain his right eye. He discussed hisloss of stereoscopic visioncaused by the treatment, which eventually resulted in right-eye blindness, in an article[101]and later in his bookThe Mind's Eye.[102]

In January 2015,metastasesfrom the ocular tumour were discovered in his liver.[103]Sacks announced this development in a February 2015New York Timesop-ed piece and estimated his remaining time in "months". He expressed his intent to "live in the richest, deepest, most productive way I can". He added: "I want and hope in the time that remains to deepen my friendships, to say farewell to those I love, to write more, to travel if I have the strength, to achieve new levels of understanding and insight."[103]

Death and legacy[edit]

Sacks died from cancer on 30 August 2015, at his home inManhattanat the age of 82, surrounded by his closest friends.[2]

The 2019 documentaryOliver Sacks: His Own LifebyRic Burnswas based on "the most famous neurologist" Sacks, which noted that during his lifetime it was popular for neurology resident applicants to state that they chose neurology after reading Sacks's work.[104]

In 2019,A. A. Knopfsigned a contract with the historian and biographerLaura J. Snyderto author a biography of Sacks based on exclusive access to his archive.[105]

Bibliography[edit]

Books[edit]

Articles[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^Although it has been claimed that Sacks was a cousin of the former Chief Rabbi of the United KingdomJonathan Sacks, Baron Sacks,the two were not related.[14]This confusion is most likely due to an obituary written by Oliver Sacks's nephew, who was also called Jonathan.[15]

References[edit]

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  47. ^Sacks, Oliver (1996) [1995]. "Preface".An Anthropologist on Mars(New ed.). London: Picador. xiii–xviii.ISBN0-330-34347-5.The sense of the brain's remarkable plasticity, its capacity for the most striking adaptations, not least in the special (and often desperate) circumstances of neural or sensory mishap, has come to dominate my own perception of my patients and their lives.
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Further reading[edit]

  • Simon Callow,"Truth, Beauty, and Oliver Sacks" (review of Oliver Sacks,Everything in Its Place: First Loves and Last Tales,Knopf, 2019, 274 pp.),The New York Review of Books,vol. LXVI, no. 10 (6 June 2019), pp. 4, 6, 8. Oliver Sacks wrote in his public farewell inThe New York Times:"Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure." (p. 8.)
  • Bill Hayes:Insomniac city: New York, Oliver Sacks, and me,London; Oxford; New York; New Delhi; Sydney: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018,ISBN978-1-4088-9061-5

External links[edit]

Library resourcesabout
Oliver Sacks

Multimedia[edit]

Publications[edit]

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