Education Update - July 2002

JULY 2002 ■ EDUCATION UPDATE ■ BOOK REVIEWS15Logos Bookstore’s RecommendationsBy H. Harris Healy, III, President, Logos Bookstore,1575 York Avenue (Between 83rd And 84th Sts.), New York, New York 10028(212) 517-7282, Fax (212) 517-7197; WWW.NYCLOGOS.CITYSEARCH.COMIt is summertime in the city. It is just the timeto come up to Logos Bookstore, sit outside inour backyard on sunny, cooler days andevenings, sipping on a beverage of your ownchoice, and looking over books for your summerreading. On hotter days, you can enjoy ourwell air-conditioned store browsing for books,cards, music, bibles and other gift items. Whileat the store, take a lookThe Mr. MenSeriesby RogerHargreaves(Price, Sloan,Stern, $2.99each book)at the Mr. Men seriesthat includes such titlesas: Mr. Grumpy, Mr.Cheerful, Mr. Clever,Mr. Clumsy, Mr. Busy,Mr. Grumble, Mr.Perfect and Mr.Impossible. RogerHargreaves’ texts andillustrations are wellsuited to convey to children, with great humor,those character traits and the foibles these littlemen have.A compelling first novel, just published, isTwelve written by Upper East Sider NickMcDonell, seventeen years old at the time andin school. McDonell engages the reader in achilling world of sophisticated, boredManhattan teenagers who must enjoy the ultimatesensation in drugs, weapons or any otherpet indulgences to find meaning in their lives.The author’s ability to tell a good story keepsthe reader’s full attentionright up to the last page.Twelveby NickMcDonell(Grove Press,$23)During the month ofJuly from Monday, July8 through Wednesday,July 31, 2002, enjoy theLogos Summer Sale of20% Off All Hardcover Books. Come on over!Transit: #4, #5, #6 Lexington AvenueSubway to 86th St., M15 Bus (First & SecondAves.), M86 Bus (86 th St.), M79 Bus (79thSt.), M31 Bus (York Ave.)Upcoming Events At LogosWednesday, July 3, 2002, 7 P.M., KYTVReading Group will discuss The Sea, The Seaby Iris Murdoch.Logos Summer Sale: Monday, July 8 throughWednesday, July 31, 2002, All HardcoverBooks 20% Off.Wednesday, August 7, 2002, 7 P.M., KYTVReading Group will discuss Howard’s End byE.M Forster.Night Falls Fast: Understanding SuicideBy MERRI ROSENBERG‘Behold, I am a dry tree’ (Isaiah)When Kay Redfield Jamison uses this quotefrom a suicide to explainNight FallsFast:UnderstandingSuicideby KayRedfieldJamison.Published byVintage Books,New York:2000 (432pages).the degree of hopelessnessthat the successfulexecution of this actembodies, it is hard forthe reader not to feel justas overwhelmed by thosefeelings of despair.As Jamison explains inthis thorough, beautifullywritten and oddly compellingbook, suicide isone of those acts thatmocks those who survive,whether they are familymembers, health professionals,compassionate friends, or simplybewildered bystanders. She writes that we nowknow almost everything about suicide exceptthe ‘why’, and to a large extent, this book is herattempt to bring us closer to some comprehensionof this tragic mystery. Be careful, though.It’s not a book to attempt in one sitting; thatwould be almost too much to bear.“Most suicides, although by no means all,can be prevented,” says Jamison. “The breachbetween what we know and do is lethal.”The statistics that Jamison, a professor ofpsychiatry at Johns Hopkins University Schoolof Medicine and an honorary professor ofEnglish at the University of St. Andrews inScotland, cites are sobering: 30,000 Americanskill themselves every year; half a million makean attempt that is serious enough to land themin a hospital emergency room. Jamison – herselfa sufferer of manic-depression, and a failedsuicide– knows her subject all too intimately.The risk of suicide is especially great amongteenagers and young adults. Suicide is the thirdleading cause of young people, and the secondamong college students. She writes, “Collegeagechildren are at particular risk for mental illnessor suicide because first episodes of depressiveillness or schizophrenia are most likely tooccur at this time.”And according to a 1997 Youth RiskBehavior Surveillance Study that the authormentions, 20 percent of high school studentshave seriously considered suicide. Anotherstudy, based on New York high school students,suggests that 50 percent of them have thoughtabout killing themselves.Jamison is particularly stringent in her condemnationof diagnosis and treatment of mentallyill children and adolescents, who areat risk for suicide. One problem is that bipolardisorder and manic-depression are often misdiagnosedas attention deficit disorder. Another isthat too many school-based programs aren’teffective in their interventions. Jamisonbelieves that some do harm, by presentingstudents with inaccurate or misleading information.One program she does like, based on thework of David Shaffer at Columbia, is effectivein part because there is no responsibility forteachers or students to assume the role of mentalhealth professionals.In one of the more disheartening narratives,following the fallen trajectory of a successfulAir Force cadet who succumbs to mental illnessand ultimately suicide, Jamison writes,“Each way to suicide is its own: intensely private,unknowable and terrible.”To be sure, there are some definite risk factorsthat contribute to the likelihood of suicide.Having a bipolar disorder, manic depression,schizophrenia, especially when combined withalcohol or drug abuse, clearly contribute tosuccessful suicides. In general, according toJamison, suicide is more likely to be linked toa psychiatric, rather than a major medical,condition. Still, she cautions, “Psychologicalpain or stress alone—however great the lossor disappointment, however profound theshame or rejection—is rarely sufficient causefor suicide.”It’s hardly coincidence that suicides oftenappear to run in families. In one of the moreprovocative chapters, Jamison suggests thatperhaps there is an evolutionary, or even biologicalbasis for suicide. She asks, “Is suicide aprice to pay for diversity?”, wondering whetherContinued on page 29A MEMOIR OF MICHAEL J. FOXBy JOAN BAUMSafe to say that if it were not for Michael J.Fox’s bold statement before the press inSeptember 1998 and subsequent appearances inCongress and on T.V., Parkinson’s Disease(P.D.) would be not so prominent a subject todayor at the center of the controversy surroundingstem cell research. (The “J,” by the way, wasmade up to distinguish MJF the actor fromanother Michael Fox with an Actors Equitycard.) Simply put, what MJF did four years agowas to make it all right forLucky Man: AMemoirby Michael J.Fox(HyperionBooks, 260 pp.$22.95)thousands of secret sufferersto acknowledge thisdegenerative neurologicaldisease. In a way, Fox’sannouncement was likeBetty Rollin’s years agoabout breast cancer in herbook, First You Cry – abreakthrough Lucky Manis certain to encouragethose who feel victimized by P.D. to converttheir fears to action and join the campaign for away to slow or stop the inevitable course of thedisease. Of course, Fox may have had no choicebut to go public, since the tabloids were alreadysuggesting that his withdrawal from the phenomenallysuccessful “Spin City” and his slowdownin accepting more movie roles pointed toa serious neurological disease. In fact, by 1998,it had already been seven years that the now 37-year old actor had been keeping his conditionsecret. That story and much more is the subjectof his inspiring memoir.Lucky Man has the odd distinction of probableappeal to two different audiences:1) younger fans who will revel in MJF’srecounting of how a hell-raising, high school dropout from a working-class Canadian family becamea star; and 2) an older audience who will read thebook, mainly for the information it provides aboutdiagnosing P.D. and learning perhaps how toaccept the inevitable. What links the parts is Fox’srepeated moving tribute to his loving and supportivewife, Tracy Pollan and their children, most ofwhom were born after he learned he had P.D. Evenhe finds it ironic that the mischievous star of theTV series Family Ties should finally embrace familyvalues. In truth, however, Tracy seems to haveserved him well before the onset of the disease.This is a well written book and there is no doubtthat the voice is his. Although Fox entitles thebook Lucky Man, it is more than likely that whatgot him through denial to resignation and acceptance,has less to do with luck than with innerresources: humor, drive, and focus. Luck mightalso be ascribed to his choice of wife, but in truthhis choice–and hers–would seem to reflect innatevalues and sound intuition. It was Tracy who keptafter him to look into why, one hangover morninghe can hardly recollect, he could not control a suddenodd twitching in his left pinky.Lucky Man has much to recommend to thatsecond readership–indeed, perhaps, even to theyounger first, since Fox himself came down withthe disease at the relatively rare young age of 30.Because of his extraordinary book and efforts,P.D. is now as well known as Alzheimer’s andALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), an etiology it partiallyshares with these other neurological disorders.Fox believes that of the three, P.D. will be“the first domino to fall” in the efforts to prevent,treat, or cure the disease. At the very least, however,this memoir will be instructive to those wholive in silent and lonely fear. The title might bemisleading — the book has an upbeat tone andcomforting message: reassess your life, find yourtrue values, seek and keep love — an exhortationnot unlike what has been offered to the victims of9/11. One cannot be comforted, however, for gettinga debilitating illness, but one can findstrength and, absent that, perhaps with a bit ofluck, others who can help in the struggle to findit. In one of the most touching parts of the book,MJF extends a wise and compassionate invitationto his curious and no doubt frightened youngson to be his scout for the twitching hand — totake charge, squeeze it, control it . . . for themoment. This moving scene, of many, no doubt,the author hopes, will move readers to supportthe efforts to combat P.D.All proceeds from Lucky Man are beingdonated to The Michael J. Fox Foundation forParkinson’s Research.#(See Medical Update pages 12,13)