Flying Without Wings
Personal Reflections on Loss, Disability, and Healing
“Give yourself a gift and read Flying Without Wings. You will be kinder, wiser, and more compassionate for having read it. I am.”—Abigail (Dear Abby) Van Buren
At twenty-four, Arnold Beisser was a recent medical school graduate and a nationally ranked tennis player. But overnight a devastating bout of polio left him permanently paralyzed from the neck down and dependent on an iron lung to draw his next breath. Polio robbed Arnold Beisser of his strength, his athletic ability, and almost his life. Yet he discovered in this unthinkable trap not only the expected sadness and despair, but wonder, delight, and the pleasure of everyday living.
This is the wise, deeply moving, and warmly humorous account of Arnold Beisser’s search for a…
Arnold Beisser was a graduate of Stanford University and its medical school. He was a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, a Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a recipient of its Gold Achievement Award. He published over 100 articles, reviews, book chapters, and books, including Madness in Sports and Mental Health Consultation. Arnold Beisser died in 1991.
