Oliver Sacks, renowned neurologist and author of the best-selling book, "Awakenings," will speak at 11:05 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 30 in the Marriott Center for a Brigham Young University forum assembly.
Live broadcasts of the forum will be available on KBYU-TV (Channel 11) and KBYU-FM (89.1) as well as on campus in the Joseph Smith Building auditorium and the Varsity Theatre.
Rebroadcasts will be Sunday, Dec. 5 on KBYU-TV at 6 a.m. and 11.a.m. and KBYU-FM at 8 p.m. Audio archives will also be available at www.byubroadcasting.org. It will not be broadcast live or rebroadcast on BYU-Television, BYU-Radio or at byubroadcasting.org.
Sack's best-selling book, "Awakenings," was made into a 1990 Hollywood movie starring Robin Williams and Robert De Niro.
In 1966 Dr. Sacks encountered a group of survivors of the "sleeping sickness" epidemic that killed millions in the 1920s. Frozen like human statues for decades, these men and women were the victims of a forgotten disease that had long since been considered untreatable. After administering the experimental drug L-dopa, Sacks saw them awaken with "an explosive quality, as of corks released from a great depth." The patients became the subjects of his book.
Sacks also wrote another bestseller, "The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," which brought public attention to the stories of patients whose perceptions were altered by various neurological conditions.
In 1958, Sacks received his medical degree from Oxford University, and today works as a clinical professor of neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.
For additional information, visit www.roycecarlton.com/speakers/sacks.html.
Writer: Devin Knighton
