Ginkgos!

Dear Readers,

In early June, Dr. Sacks went to a 100^th birthday party for his cousin Marjorie Kenyon in Jerusalem. She reminisced about his antics as a “young whippersnapper,” and about her own days as a pediatrician in England.

Though he has mainly been working on his autobiography this year, Dr. Sacks has also written two short articles. One is a reminiscence of libraries he has loved, which you can read in the current issue of Threepenny Review.

The other is a piece about the ginkgo tree and its unusual leaves, which will appear in next week’s New Yorker magazine, on newsstands November 17.

In other news, the documentary film Alive Inside, which features Dr. Sacks, is about the incredible power of music to help people with dementia and other neurological problems. It’s on a couple of shortlists for an Academy Award nomination, and it won the Audience Award at Sundance earlier this year. Bravo!

Alive Inside features Connie Tomaino, who was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Association Music Therapy Association for her pioneering work at the Institute for Music and Neurologic Function. Connie is Dr. Sacks’s chief advisor on music therapy, and he dedicated Musicophilia to her.

Congratulations, Connie, and Happy Birthday, Marjorie!