On the Move: A Life is the second autobiography written by Oliver Sacks in 2015. [1] [2]
Oliver Wolf Sacks was a British neurologist, naturalist, historian of science, and writer. Born in London, Sacks received his medical degree in 1958 from The Queen's College, Oxford, before moving to the United States, where he spent most of his career. He interned at Mount Zion Hospital in San Francisco and completed his residency in neurology and neuropathology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Later, he served as neurologist at Beth Abraham Hospital's chronic-care facility in the Bronx, where he worked with a group of survivors of the 1920s sleeping sickness encephalitis lethargica, who had been unable to move on their own for decades. His treatment of those patients became the basis of his 1973 book Awakenings, which was adapted into an Academy Award-nominated feature film in 1990, starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro.
The Village Voice is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, The Voice began as a platform for the creative community of New York City. It ceased publication in 2017, although its online archives remained accessible. After an ownership change, The Voice reappeared in print as a quarterly in April 2021.
Jonathan Henry Sacks, Baron Sacks was an English Orthodox rabbi, philosopher, theologian, and author. Sacks served as the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1991 to 2013. As the spiritual head of the United Synagogue, the largest synagogue body in the United Kingdom, he was the Chief Rabbi of those Orthodox synagogues but was not recognized as the religious authority for the Haredi Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations or for the progressive movements such as Masorti, Reform, and Liberal Judaism. As Chief Rabbi, he formally carried the title of Av Beit Din (head) of the London Beth Din. At the time of his death, he was the Emeritus Chief Rabbi.
Michael Anthony Strahan is an American television personality, journalist, and former professional football player. He played his entire 15-year professional career as a defensive end for the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL). A dominant pass rusher, Strahan is currently tied with T. J. Watt for the most NFL single-season quarterback sacks, and helped the Giants win Super Bowl XLII over the New England Patriots in his final season in 2007.
William Lee McGinest Jr. is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football at USC and was selected fourth overall by the Patriots in the 1994 NFL draft. During his 12 seasons with the team, he was named to two Pro Bowls and won three Super Bowl titles. McGinest also holds the record for postseason sacks. For his accomplishments in New England, he was inducted to the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2015.
Mary Jane Oliver was an American poet who won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. She found inspiration for her work in nature and had a lifelong habit of solitary walks in the wild. Her poetry is characterized by a sincere wonderment and profound connection with the environment, conveyed in unadorned language and simple yet striking imagery. In 2007, she was declared to be the country's best-selling poet.
Tobias Picker is an American composer, pianist, and conductor, noted for his orchestral works Old and Lost Rivers, Keys To The City, and The Encantadas, as well as his operas Emmeline, Fantastic Mr. Fox, An American Tragedy and Lili Elbe, among many other works.
John William Oliver is a British and American comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. Oliver started his career as a stand-up comedian in the United Kingdom. He came to wider attention for his work in the United States as Senior British Correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart from 2006 to 2013. Oliver won three Primetime Emmy Awards for writing for The Daily Show and he became the guest host for an eight-week period in 2013. He also co-hosted the comedy podcast The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman, with whom Oliver had previously worked with on the radio series Political Animal. From 2010 to 2013, Oliver hosted his stand-up series John Oliver's New York Stand-Up Show on Comedy Central. He has also acted on television, most prominently in a recurring role as Dr Ian Duncan on the NBC sitcom Community, and in films, including voice-over work in The Smurfs (2011), The Smurfs 2 (2013), and the 2019 remake of The Lion King. He became a US citizen in 2019.
Awakenings is a 1973 non-fiction book by Oliver Sacks. It recounts the life histories of those who had been victims of the 1920s encephalitis lethargica epidemic. Sacks chronicles his efforts in the late 1960s to help these patients at the Beth Abraham Hospital in the Bronx, New York. The treatment used the new drug L-DOPA, with the observed effects on the patients' symptoms being generally dramatic but temporary.
Elizabeth Strout is an American novelist and author. She is widely known for her works in literary fiction and her descriptive characterization. She was born and raised in Portland, Maine, and her experiences in her youth served as inspiration for her novels–the fictional "Shirley Falls, Maine" is the setting of four of her nine novels.
Ric Burns is an American documentary filmmaker and writer. He has written, directed and produced historical documentaries since the 1990s, beginning with his collaboration on the celebrated PBS series The Civil War (1990), which he produced with his older brother Ken Burns and wrote with Geoffrey Ward.
Beginners is a 2010 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. It tells the story of a man reflecting on the life and death of his father, while trying to forge a new romantic relationship with a woman dealing with father-issues of her own. The film is based on the coming out of Mills' own father at the age of 75, five years before his death.
Leonard Austin Williams is an American football defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the New York Jets with the sixth overall pick in the first round of the 2015 NFL draft. He played college football at USC.
This article contains information about the literary events and publications of 2015.
Lilian Kallir was a Czech-born American pianist. Born in Prague in 1931, she moved to New York in 1940, where she studied the piano under Isabelle Vengerova and Herman de Grab, and composition and theory under Hugo Kauder. She made her debut with the New York Philharmonic in 1957, and in 1959 married fellow pianist Claude Frank, with whom she frequently performed together in her career. In 1975, Kallir became a teacher at the Mannes School of Music, where she was once a student. She toured frequently and collaborated with a wide range of orchestras and musicians, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for a performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 17.
Edward Oliver is an American football defensive tackle for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Houston, and was drafted by the Bills in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.
Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me is a 2017 memoir by writer and photographer Bill Hayes, primarily recounting his life in New York City and his romantic relationship with neurologist and writer Oliver Sacks over the last seven years of Sacks' life. The book is composed of vignettes narrated in prose, interspersed with poetry and diary entries, and is illustrated with Hayes' photographs.
William Brooke Hayes is an American non-fiction writer and photographer. He has written five books – Sleep Demons, Five Quarts, The Anatomist, Insomniac City and Sweat – and has produced one book of photography, How New York Breaks Your Heart. His freelance writing has appeared in a number of periodicals, most notably The New York Times.
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life is a 2019 American biographical documentary film directed and created by Ric Burns about Oliver Sacks, a British neurologist and science historian, based on his autobiography, His Own Life. Produced by Zeitgeist Films, the film contains extensive interviews with Sacks and features commentary from friends and colleagues such as his publisher Roberto Calasso, his editor Kate Edgar, writer and doctor Atul Gawande and artist Shane Fistell. Sacks discusses his professional life and his personal difficulties such as substance abuse and internalized homophobia. The book, titled On the Move: A Life, was published six to seven months before his end-stage terminal cancer was diagnosed.
Awakenings is an opera in two acts composed by Tobias Picker, with a libretto by Aryeh Lev Stollman. Based on Awakenings, Oliver Sacks' 1960's chronicle of his efforts to help the victims of an encephalitis epidemic, the opera was commissioned by the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and premiered on June 5, 2022. The East Coast premiere of Awakenings was performed by Odyssey Opera in partnership with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, conducted by Gil Rose and directed by James Robinson, on February 25, 2023, at the newly renovated Huntington Theater.