Oliver Sacks, MD (July 9, 1933, to August 30, 2015)

OBITUARY In Memoriam: Oliver Sacks, MD (July 9, 1933, to August 30, 2015)

Lewis P. Rowland, MD

liver Sacks, MD, was a man in motion. He was a mo- torcyclist, mile-a-day swimmer, weight lifter, and O traveler to exotic lands. He wrote 13 books,1-13 several of which were best sellers. Part of the proceeds of these sales are now in the Oliver Sacks Foundation, a nonprofit or- ganization he established to continue publishing his work, pre- serve his archives, and support use of the case history to ad- vance humanism in medicine. The cover of his most recent book is adorned by a photograph of a young Dr Sacks astride a motorcycle and dressed in a black leather outfit. The book, a memoir published shortly before his death, is entitled On the Move: A Life.13 Oliver Sacks was born in London on July 9, 1933, the son of2physiciansand1of4brothers.HereceivedhisBAdegree in physiology and biology from Queen’s College, Oxford, and his medical training at Middlesex Hospital in London. Arriv- ing in the United States in 1961, he did further training at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco, followed by a residency in neurology and neuropathology at UCLA (University of Cali- fornia, Los Angeles). He came to New York in 1965, working as a fellow and later as an instructor and then professor at Oliver Sacks, MD Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also joined the fac- ulty at New York University in 1992 as adjunct professor. He then moved in 2007 to Columbia University as a professor of other drugs have also been applied. In the wake of these new neurology and psychiatry and as Columbia University Artist and unproved agents, a new neurologic specialty—movement in recognition of his unique ability to bring together the arts disorders—emerged in the 1970s. and sciences. In 2012, he moved back to New York University Several of Dr Sacks’ books are autobiographical. A Leg to as a professor of neurology, a position he held at the time of Stand on3 describes the result of a mountain climbing acci- his death. dent; the author fractured a femur but, despite severe pain, In addition to the books, Dr Sacks wrote in other venues: managed to make it down the mountain. During the following The New York Times,14 The New Yorker,15,16 and The New York 3 weeks, he experienced an odd lack of “ownership” of the de- Review of Books.17 A few books were adapted as motion pic- afferented limb and struggled to understand this feeling in both tures or inspired plays, documentaries, and even a ballet. physiologic and philosophical terms. His inquisitiveness and his One of his early books was Awakenings,2 which was based personal experience led him to study mind-altering drugs, es- on his experience as a neurologist at a nursing home in the pecially during the 1960s, and he later wrote a book entitled Bronx borough of New York City. The story attracted a wide- Hallucinations.12 spread audience in the Oscar-nominated film starring Robert A2015essayinThe New York Times described his mortal De Niro as a patient with postencephalitic parkinsonism who illness. The piece was entitled My Own Life,14 which was also was severely disabled by widespread, 4-limb rigidity. The the name used for the autobiography of David Hume, the 18th- character based on Dr Sacks was played by the late Robin century philosopher.18 Dr Sacks’ disease was a uveal mela- Williams. noma that had metastasized to his liver. During his final ill- The sorry state of these survivors of the epidemic of en- ness, he expressed gratitude for a long and well-lived life. cephalitis lethargica was dramatically reversed by the admin- Dr Sacks was not merely a skilled popularizer, he was a istration of levodopa, a drug that was greeted enthusiasti- scholar of genius proportions as he delved into the history of the cally by neurologists for providing a visibly more effective neurologic conditions he was studying. He explored the litera- treatment of what was presumably an untreatable and chronic ture that had been written by the great neurologists of the past, age-related neurodegenerative disorder (parkinsonism). The including Hughlings Jackson, Henry Head, Kurt Goldstein, and limitations of levodopa therapy include adverse effects; thus, A. R. Luria. In his final book,13 Dr Sacks wrote with verve and

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openness about his life, his rejection by the medical establish- 6. Sacks O. An Anthropologist on Mars. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf; 1995. ment, and his mother’s stern disapproval of his homosexuality. 7. Sacks O. The Island of the Colorblind. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf; 1997. Oliver Sacks died on August 30, 2015. At his bedside were 8. Sacks O. Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood. New York, NY: Alfred the 2 most important people in his life: Bill Hayes, the writer who A Knopf; 2001. was Dr Sacks’ partner for the past 7 years, and Kate Edgar, his 9. Sacks O. Oaxaca Journal. New York, NY: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group; collaborator and editor, who will now direct the Oliver Sacks 2002. Foundation. 10. Sacks O. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf; 2007. In 1990, I was president of the American Academy of Neu- 11. Sacks O. TheMind’sEye. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf; 2010. rology. It was the year we launched the Decade of the Brain. 12. Sacks O. Hallucinations. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf; 2012. To commemorate this event, we searched for an appropriate 13. Sacks O. OntheMove:ALife. New York, NY: Alfred A Knopf; 2015. speaker to address the annual meeting of the academy. Sev- eral members of the board, including me, were in favor of ask- 14. Sacks O. My own life: Oliver Sacks on learning he has terminal cancer. The New York Times. February 19, 2015:A25. ing Oliver Sacks to address the meeting. One member dis- 15. Sacks O. The catastrophe: Spalding Gray’s brain injury. The New Yorker. April missed this idea. “We need a prominent investigator, not a story 27, 2015:26-30. teller,”said the dissenter. “But this ‘story teller’ happens to be 16. Sacks O. Filter fish: at life’s end, rediscovering the joys of a childhood the most famous neurologist in the entire world,”I replied. Dr favorite. The New Yorker. September 14, 2015:40. Sacks spoke to an audience of several hundred neurologists and 17. Sacks O. Urge. New York Rev Books. September 24, 2015:4. their guests and then spent an hour after his talk signing pro- 18. Hume D. My own life. https://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/humelife grams. For me, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. .html. Published April 18, 1776. Accessed December 18, 2015. 1. Sacks O. Migraine. Los Angeles: University of California Press; 1970. 2. Sacks O. Awakenings. London, England: Duckworth; 1973. Author Affiliation: Neurological Institute, Columbia University Medical Center, 3. Sacks O. A Leg to Stand on. New York, NY: Summit Books; 1984. New York, New York. 4. Sacks O. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. New York, NY: Summit Books; Corresponding Author: Lewis P. Rowland, MD, Neurological Institute, 1985. Columbia University Medical Center, 710 W 168th St, PO Box 147, New York, NY 5. Sacks O. Seeing Voices: A Journey Into the World of the Deaf. Berkeley: University 10032 ([email protected]). of California Press; 1989. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: None reported.

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