The cover story in today’s Chicago Tribune is about a young, budding opera singer, Sandra Marante, who had a seizure during a rehearsal. According to the article, “in the part of the brain that controls language, a mass of tangled blood vessels had started to bleed, triggering the seizure.” And, to make matters worse, at the hospital that night doctors “…told her that left untreated, it could be fatal.” And, “surgery, however, risked damaging her ability to memorize lyrics or ever sing again.”
In reading this I was immediately struck by how closely this paralleled the Grant Achatz story. If you’re unfamiliar with his story or book – Life on the Line – it’s about one of the most famous and accomplished chefs in the US getting life-threatening tongue cancer.
The Tribune story is another case of truth being both stranger than fiction and more ironic. The story’s interesting, provocative and, in the end, heart-warming.
Here’s a link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/education/ct-met-opera-brain-20120309,0,777325.story?page=3
I also thought that Life on the Line was a great read. It combines insights into the restaurant business, with a Horatio Alger story and then ends with life-threatening cancer. While I’m sure you can find it at your local library, here’s a link to the book on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Life-Line-Chasing-Greatness-Redefining/dp/1592406971/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331315873&sr=8-1
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