Blindsided: Lifting a Life above Illness
Richard Cohen, a veteran writer, producer and distinguished journalist, has lived with multiple sclerosis for over 25 years. Recently diagnosed again with colon cancer, Cohen describes his lifelong struggle with multiple sclerosis, his first bout with colon cancer, a loving marriage to Meredith Viera, the effect of illness on raising children, and the nature of denial and resilience, all told with grace, humour, and lyrical prose.\ Cohen chronicles and celebrates a life brimming over with...
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Richard Cohen, a veteran writer, producer and distinguished journalist, has lived with multiple sclerosis for over 25 years. Recently diagnosed again with colon cancer, Cohen describes his lifelong struggle with multiple sclerosis, his first bout with colon cancer, a loving marriage to Meredith Viera, the effect of illness on raising children, and the nature of denial and resilience, all told with grace, humour, and lyrical prose.Cohen chronicles and celebrates a life brimming over with accomplishment, adversity and personal endeavour and his story has struck a chord with readers nation–wide. He has been interviewed by Barbara Walters for a nearly hour–long segment that ran on 20/20, he also appeared on wife Viera's program, The View and is scheduled for Charlie Rose, Larry King Live, Good Morning America, and the Paula Zahn Show, among others. Blindsided also received outstanding print attention and People magazine has run a first serial piece. Autobiographical at its roots, reportorial and expansive, Blindsided builds on Cohen's story as a task aimed at emotional well–being, if not survival, pursued in sober tones that explore coping to its most redemptive and complex levels. Despite his extreme circumstances, Cohen's is a common struggle, recognisable as an integral part of humanity, and one which he explores with varying amounts of diligence, respect, personal revelation and humour. The New York Times Blindsided is a powerful memoir, tough in the way Cohen's old news bosses would have wanted it to be tough. It doesn't flinch and it doesn't whine. Its tone is more of self-horror than self-pity. Its incredulity matches Job's: ''Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?'' — D. T. Max
\ Tom Brokaw"Blindsided is beautifully written and utterly honest. May we all be so brave and caring in our own families."\ \ \ \ \ Beverly Sills"I cannot remember ever being more profoundly moved by any book I have ever read.…Don’t miss this book."\ \ \ Doctor"[Blindsided] paints an incredibly sharp picture of what it is like to live passionately—with joy, love, and anger."\ \ \ \ \ Seattle Times"Eloquent and brutally honest."\ \ \ \ \ New York Times Book Review"[A] powerful memoir, tough in the way Cohen’s old news bosses would have wanted it to be tough."\ \ \ \ \ Chicago Tribune"...a warm, sarcastic, unflinching dissection of love, pain, laughter and wounded pride."\ \ \ \ \ The New York TimesBlindsided is a powerful memoir, tough in the way Cohen's old news bosses would have wanted it to be tough. It doesn't flinch and it doesn't whine. Its tone is more of self-horror than self-pity. Its incredulity matches Job's: ''Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?'' — D. T. Max\ \ \ \ \ Publishers WeeklyIn 1972, when he was 25, Cohen, an up-and-coming television journalist, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease for which there is no cure. In this wrenching memoir, he tells how he has for the past 30 years succeeded in his determination to "cope and to hope." For a long time, he hid his condition from friends and co-workers, taking on dangerous assignments for CBS in Poland, Lebanon and El Salvador even though his mobility and vision were impaired. He became a senior producer at CBS, and although he eventually quit the station in 1987 because he felt it was pandering to commercial and political pressures, he worked as a producer for PBS, CNN and Fox until he left TV in the late 1990s to become a writer and teacher. In spite of his illness, he also married and had three children. He nearly lost his courage in 1999 when he learned that he had colon cancer, but after two operations and the realization that despair and anger would drive his family away, he come to grips with this, too. In painful detail, he chronicles the progress of multiple sclerosis-the increasing numbness in his hands and legs and the resultant falls, loss of vision to the point where he is now legally blind and, lately, mental confusion. Nevertheless, he writes: "These pages are not about suffering.... This book is about surviving and flourishing, rising above fear and self-doubt and, of course, anger." His wife, Meredith Vieira, a well-known television personality, has been portrayed in popular magazines as a martyr who bears a terrible burden. Cohen proves that nothing could be further from the truth. First serial rights to People magazine. (Feb.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalAn accomplished journalist and self-described "recovering network and television news producer" with three Emmys to his credit, Cohen has been fighting multiple sclerosis (MS) for decades and, on top of that, has had two bouts with colon cancer. "How much can one guy take?" one might ask. Cohen, married to View cohost Meredith Vieira and with three children, has wondered himself but here chose to focus on "surviving and flourishing, rising above fear and self-doubt and, of course, anger." Throughout, he shows a humorous side that is vulnerable, without self-indulgence and with acceptance and recognition of the inevitability of a progressive disease. As a result, Cohen has managed to put into words what many MS sufferers either can't or won't. A powerful and agonizingly frank description of a life with which many chronically ill people and their families will identify, this is highly recommended for all collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/03.]-Mary Nickum, Ivinss UT Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Kirkus ReviewsLongtime journalist and former television producer Cohen recounts with aplomb and high character his years battling chronic illness. This couldn't have been easy to write. The author is reticent by nature, so laying bare the impact of multiple sclerosis and cancer-his malfunctioning limbs, numb appendages, bad gut, loss of vision, his anger, his fragile grip on life-is an act of emotional health that, though salubrious, clashes with some of his basic instincts. Multiple sclerosis has no treatment, no certain outcome, no definitive cause, and no cure; it is a process, a grim pileup on the central nervous system. Cohen tested limits, postponed consequences, and practiced denial, then started learning the art of candor: to whom and when to be honest about his illness. After stints in Gdansk and Beirut, this television producer on a rip admitted that his death-defying behavior was absurd, that he was not right and fit as rain. Nonetheless, he wanted (along with other things, like walking upright and seeing straight) a woman in his life and a family. He found Meredith Vieira, also in the TV business, whose desire to be a hands-on mother made her a cause celebre among some in the 60 Minutes studio. And Cohen was busy elsewhere, with their children, learning that "those who battle with illness are blind to the fact that even in our pain, we give to our loved ones, even as we receive." As a parent, he realized, "a temporary ileostomy was the least of my worries. . . . I laughed ruefully, bitterly, at the situation and at myself." Via a number of sources, Cohen ultimately learns that coping is "just a quiet task aimed at emotional well-being, if not survival," and that there will likely be manyjarring moments ahead for everyone. He lays out these lessons in unflappable prose, freely acknowledging that his behavior is not always so even-tempered. A sharp and affecting piece of perspective-setting. Agent: Joann Davis\ \
