Susan R. Barry

Published to celebrate the life of Oliver Sacks, 10 years after his death 'A must-read for all the people who loved Oliver Sacks's books. The ending made me cry' Temple Grandin"Dear Dr. Sacks . . . You asked me if I could imagine what the world would look like when viewed with two eyes. I told you that I thought I could . . . But, I was wrong."When Susan Barry first wrote to Oliver Sacks, she never expected a response, let alone the friendship that blossomed over ten years of letters.Sue, herself a neuroscientist, wrote to share an extraordinary development in her own medical history. Born with problems with her vision, Sue had been told she would never acquire the ability to see in 3D - and yet she did, a development at odds with decades of research. Within days, Oliver replied, "Your letter fills me with amazement and admiration."Sharing an interest in visual perception and a deep love of science, Sue and Oliver began exchanging letters, delving deeper into the mysteries of sight and marvelling at the adaptive capacity of the human body. But in a painful twist of fate, as Sue's vision improved, Oliver's declined, and his characteristic typed letters shifted to handwritten. Sue later recognised this as an early sign of the cancer that ultimately ended his extraordinary life.A funny and intimate glimpse of the great Oliver Sacks, Dear Oliver is also a love letter to scientific inquiry, and a testimony to the power of friendship at any time in life.

'A must-read for all the people who loved Oliver Sacks's books. The ending made me cry' -- Temple Grandin"Dear Dr. Sacks . . . You asked me if I could imagine what the world would look like when viewed with two eyes. I told you that I thought I could . . . But, I was wrong."When Susan Barry first wrote to Oliver Sacks, she never expected a response, let alone the deep friendship that blossomed over ten years of letters.Sue, herself a neuroscientist, wrote to share an extraordinary development in her own medical history. Born with problems with her vision, Sue had been told she would never acquire the ability to see in 3D - and yet she did, a development at odds with decades of research. Within days, Oliver replied, "Your letter fills me with amazement and admiration."Sharing an interest in visual perception and a deep love of science, Sue and Oliver began writing back and forth, delving deeper into the mysteries of sight and marvelling at the adaptive capacity of the human body.But in a painful twist of fate, as Sue's vision improved, Oliver's declined, and his characteristic typed letters shifted to handwritten ones. Sue later recognised this to be an early sign of the cancer that ultimately ended his extraordinary life.A funny, fascinating, and intimate glimpse of the great Oliver Sacks, Dear Oliver is also a love letter to scientific inquiry, and a testimony to the power of friendship at any time in life.

To the world, he was Dr. Sacks, the brilliant neurologist behind bestselling books like Musicophilia and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. To professor Susan Barry, he became Dear Oliver--her mentor, friend, and confidant over the course of their unlikely, engrossing ten-year correspondence.It begins with a letter that Sue almost doesn't send. Dear Dr. Sacks . . . You asked me if I could imagine what the world would look like when viewed with two eyes. Sue's unheard-of case history--as a "stereoblind" patient who acquired 3D vision in adulthood--so fascinates Dr. Sacks that he immediately asks to visit her. As "Stereo Sue," she becomes the subject of one of his indelible New Yorker pieces--and, as a fellow neuroscientist, his sounding board for every kind of intellectual inquiry.Their shared passions--from classical music to cuttlefish, brain plasticity to bioluminescent plankton--spark a friendship that buoys both of them through life's crests and falls: as Sue becomes an author in her own right, as she supports her father in his decline, and as Oliver becomes a patient himself--battling cancer that, in a painful twist, robs him of his own vision.Dr. Sacks's letters to Sue offer his devoted readers an unprecedented glimpse of the man himself--from his legendary compassion and insight to his love of the periodic table (which he kept in his wallet). Throughout Dear Oliver, we are reminded that true friends help each other see the world a little differently.