On Turning 80

The last few weeks have been exciting!  Hallucinations just came out in paperback in the US and UK, and is already on the New York Times bestseller list.

Dr. Sacks turned 80 on July 9, and celebrated with family and friends. Element 80, quicksilver, was much in evidence. His friend Joanne gave him a brilliant mercury t-shirt, his publisher sent a statue of winged Mercury for his desk, and his friend Theodore Gray delivered a flask of liquid mercury—satisfyingly heavy, and it makes a great sound when swirled, rather like a superthick milkshake. For photos of these and more mercury madness, check our Twitter and Facebook feeds.

How does Dr. Sacks feel about entering his ninth decade? He had this to say in an essay for the New York Times.

Looking for summer reading? Try The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, a beautiful meditation on the meaning of life (both human and snail) by Elisabeth Tova Bailey. Dr. Sacks loved this book so much, he bought a dozen copies to send to friends.

Finally, thanks to Robert Krulwich and our friends at Radiolab for this podcast, in which Dr. Sacks explains how thousands of worms and a motorbike accident led to where he is today.

PS: Recognize any of these people? Dr. Sacks visited them last week during a rehearsal of their new play:

Billy Crudup, Shuler Hensley, Oliver Sacks, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Sean Mathias