BUY THIS BOOK

A brand-new edition of probably the very best resource for anyone who is paralyzed, quasi-paralyzed, or just thinking about becoming paralyzed has just been published, and it's a beauty.

It's called SPINAL NETWORK: THE TOTAL WHEELCHAIR RESOURCE BOOK. If you are old enough to grok the reference, it is the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG of all things wheelchair and para-health related, from sex, travel, and sports to personal assistance services, insurance, and cure research. It's all there.

There are also many witty and provocative essays on life in a wheelchair by people who live it daily. For instance: in a section called "Our Labels, Ourselves," a writer named S.L. Rosen makes this eloquent observation:

"For me, and I imagine for most others like me,'survivor' is the real term that holds meaning. We are surviving indeed, to the embarrassment of a society that can't figure out what to do with us, ghastly successes of that medical skill of patching together shards of people who, some years ago, wouldn't have survived at all."

Even crips, patched-up shards that we are, tend to take life for granted.

Anyway, get the SPINAL NETWORK book by logging on to www.spinalnetwork.net or calling 888-850-0344 ext 209. It runs 400 pages and cost $34.95. It's worth every penny.

Mention my name and it won't save you a dime.

BUSTER AND THE PIG

Buster is not part of the Vegan Generation. He's a throwback to the Pigmeat Generation.

RAMP THAT

Another nightmare wheelchair scenario courtesy of writer and Philadelphia's favorite daughter, Karol Silverstein. Thanks, K.


see more pwn and owned pictures

WE GET LETTERS

Here's one of the best I've ever gotten re "The Best Seat In The House." I just received circuitously via my agent in New York because my email service on this site messed up again. In any case, this note goes on top of a big stack. I will now shamelessly reproduce it as a way to thank the very thoughtful Judy Finelli.

"Mr Rucker, you wrote one hell of a book. I loved it! I am a 61 year old quad and you had me in tears, laughing and crying in recognition. As far as I am concerned, you did the impossible -- you found the humor in the horror. Not only did you tell your own story, your own personal truth, but you told all of our stories. That's the neatest trick of all.

Gratefully, Judy Finelli, San Francisco Clown Conservatory"

Thank you, thank you, Ms. Finelli.

I say, if you want to be a clown, go see Judy.

REAL NEWS

If you didn't catch Tuesday's New York Time Health section, you probably missed this astounding story. I'll just give you my own headline.

THERE ARE A HELL OF A LOT MORE PARALYZED PEOPLE IN AMERICA THAN EVER IMAGINE!

The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation commissioned a meticulously designed study to revisit the old guesses about this population and here's what they discovered:

* There are 5.6 MILLION people in the US paralyzed by a central nervous system disorder. That's almost 2% of the population.

* There are probably FIVE TIMES as many SCI paralytics out there as previously thought. The old number, seemingly writ in stone, was 250,000. The new number: 1.275 MILLION. Big dif.

* The number of people with paralysis due to MS -- where I more or less fit -- was estimated to be 939,000, which is TWICE the previous estimate of all people with the disease, period.

All of this leads me back to a question I have had since the day I became paralyzed. With all those paralyzed people, a majority of them in wheelchairs, I'd guess, how come I rarely see any of them in public? You go to IKEA on a Saturday, the place is filled because they're having a sale on cooking pots or something, and you'll see one or two wheelchair users, tops, and one of them is simply overweight. Strange. 2% of the population and it's virtually invisible.

Here's the Times link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/21/health/21para.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Paralysis%20study&st=cse

Back to you, Brian.

MEET BUSTER

A recent addition to our extended family. This is Buster, a French bulldog or "Frenchie," as a pup. A few months later, he now weighs in at 25 beefy lbs. It's hard to be depressed when you're around Buster.

MORE GOOD READIN'

My new friend Robert aka Bob Slayton, Professor of History at Chapman University, author of the best book ever written about Al Smith, among other fine tomes, and recent TM recipient, has penned a terrific blog on Huffington Post about airsoft, stem cells, and his life as a hemiplegic. Check it out:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-slayton/stem-cell-research-up-clo_b_188370.html

You're welcome.