In the Shadow of POLIO :: A Personal and Social History

• Hardback book with Dust Jacket by Kathryn Black
• Over 305 pages
• Copyright © 1996 by Kathryn Black

" In 1954 Kathryn Black's mother became one of the millions of people worldwide stricken with polio. The disease left her paralyzed from the neck down, laboring through each breath with the help of what would become an icon of this era- the iron lung. "

" In the Shadow of Polio offers a penetrating look at this tragic and intense period in American life. The author began her inquiry as a deliberate search for information about her mother, who was never spoken of after she died. The book is Black's effort to create not only a history for herself, but to give voice and face to all who played their parts, however unwillingly, in this significant drama. She alternated chapters that explore the lethal progression of her mother's illness and its devastating emotional impact upon her family with chapters that broaden into the social and historical context of this nation in the 1940s and 1950s. "

" Ironically, the means to prevent polio's devastation arrived just as Black's mother began her private, horrific struggle with the disease. A few weeks before she fell ill, two million schoolchildren across the country participated in the national field tests of the Salk vaccine. By 1956 the vaccine was widely available, and the disease that had held the nation hostage for more than a decade was conquered. The country heaved a collective sigh of relief, and promptly buried its memories along with its dead. "

" Rich with anecdotes from Black's years of interviews and correspondence, In the Shadow of Polio is a journey into the homes and hospitals, the lives and memories of millions of Americans. For a nation struggling with the AIDS epidemic, it is a story sadly familiar today. "

Contents includes:

" ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PROLOGUE

CHAPTER ONE Backache

CHAPTER TWO Epidemic of Fear

CHAPTER THREE Waiting

CHAPTER FOUR Hot Packs, Exercise, and Prayer

CHAPTER FIVE Life Immobile

CHAPTER SIX Weathering Reality

CHAPTER SEVEN Forgetting and Remembering

CHAPTER EIGHT Answered Prayers

CHAPTER NINE Silences

CHAPTER TEN Aftermath

EPILOGUE

APPENDIX

NOTES

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INDEX "

This book is in very good to excellent condition with only minor wear, but the dust jacket has a few creases and wear.
No torn or ripped pages.
No markings or writing.

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