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My Stroke of Luck

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Caution: This book contains occasional coarse language, employed for emphasis, that seems justified in how it is applied.

Mr. Kirk Douglas is eloquent, moving, and convincing in this book as he describes how he came to terms with suffering a stroke. The essence of the message is that stroke victims should focus on "helping others" to help themselves. The book abounds in detailed examples of how to do this for stroke victims. The book's message is so fine, delicate, and well-balanced that I suggest that you learn about it from Mr. Douglas rather than from a review.

His account is very candid and powerful. He cites his own vivid and depressing thoughts before he began to recover, and shares many inspiring lessons from others. You will learn about his fears about losing his vocation ("What good is an actor who can't talk?"), experiences with depression (thinking about suicide as described on the dust cover), and the concerns he had about embarrassment (a billion people were expected to watch him talk).

I was most impressed by the examples of what others wrote, said, and did that helped him gain new purpose.

The book is also filled with nostalgic references to his friends and family, almost all of whom are represented in interesting photographs reproduced in the book.

I was especially touched to read what his "Ma" told him as she lay dying, "Don't be afraid, it happens to everyone." He drew much strength from remembering that thought.

As Mr. Douglas says in this book, "Strive to be a Little Hero."

Read MY STROKE OF LUCK by Kirk Douglas, his inspirational
memoir depicting the past few years of his life . . . they have not been healthy ones for the famed actor, in that he first
was in a helicopter crash and then suffered a stroke.

But he has managed to survive both, even managing to
resume his acting career . . . you'll be moved by both his
upbeat attitude and sense of humor as he faced many life
events that have unfortunately gotten the best of many
others . . . I don't know if I would be able to maintain Douglas' grace, but I would make every attempt to do so.

This book is a "must" for anybody who has suffered a
stroke or knows anybody who has . . . in addition, movie
fans will like it for the many reminisces sprinkled throughout.

There were many memorable passages; among them:
What a hard life she [my mother] endured. I kept studying
her face. My mother's eyes opened and she stared at my face,
filled with anxiety. She smiled softly and squeezed my hand
gently. Her eyes, almost black on her white face, seemed to be
looking through me. She whispered, "Don't be afraid, it happens
to everyone." She took a deep breath and exhaled. The air came
out of her mouth like a slowly deflating balloon. She stopped
breathing.

The world is filled with people who have suffered from one misfortune or another. The only thing that sets one apart from the rest is the desire and the attempt to help others. People who reach out beyond their pain, out into the world in a trusting way-they are the ones who make a difference. Nietzsche said, "He who has a why to live for can bear with almost any how."

Why? Because deep down we know that what matters in this life
is more than winning for ourselves. What matters in this life
is helping others win, even if it means slowing down and changing our course. We all want happiness. Life teaches us that we achieve happiness when we seek the happiness and well-being of others.

This majestic little book can be read in one sitting. In it, Douglas exemplifies the courage he so often depicted in characters on screen.
He and I are both survivors of this most horrible of maladies. Douglas, who was eighty years YOUNG when he sustained his stroke, has as his principal residual a severe case of aphasia, He quite properly asks, "how is an actor who cannot speak supposed to work? Wait for the return of silent films?" The severe depression he suffered in the aftermath of his stroke is discussed with remarkable candor. I picked up this book when I was in the midst of a deep depression of some month's standing. After reading it, I find myself able to approach life with redoubled vigor, which is the never ending challenge of the stroke survivor. Douglas posits that life takes on meaning only in the helping of others. His travails have placed him in touch with the Judaism of his youth. He had his second bar mitzvah at age eighty-three, three years after his stroke. In reading the Torah before his family and friends assembled in the synagogue, Douglas,aphasia sufferer, showed all that here is truly a man with the right stuff. Buy this book. You will not be disappointed.

I have much more admiration for Kirk Douglas now than I had previously. He is a courageous man who has weathered the challenges of having a major stroke. I like his stories and his honesty about his condition. He even adds humor from time to time.

I will recommend this book to any friends or relatives afflicted by a stroke. My grandmother had a stroke. Now, thanks to Kirk, I know more about what she might have had to endure.

Kirk Douglas began his career back in the early 1940's and has been with us ever since. He is truly a man of his time, and his accomplishments in the field of acting are outstanding. Now at 84, he has given us a book telling not of his colourful acting career, but his battle with life following a stroke several years ago. The book takes us through his depression, his thoughts of suicide and his recovery. Through it all, and in spire of his personal pain, the humourous side of Douglas always seems to emerge even at times when he is at his lowest.

The book is highly inspirational for anyone who has had to overcome serious health issues. Fans of Douglas who saw him as a great man on screen will see an even greater man in his personal life. This book is highly recommended reading material. Douglas can teach us a valuable lesson about courage, determination, family support and love - they can and do accomplish miracles.

Mr. Douglas chronicles his debilitating stroke, and how it changed his life. He pays tribute to those who helped him, and also tells us of the things he learned along the way.

A must-read book, which shows the REAL Kirk Douglas--an exceptionally brave man, and a wonderful human being.

This quick read (167 pages in the large print edition) reveals the life changing experience for Kirk Douglas when he survived a stroke at age 80. The veteran actor struggled to regain his speech and suffered the overwhelming depression that accompanies stroke.
You get glimpses of his childhood interspersed with flashbacks to his movie and personal experiences with the screen's great stars.
Although spared the swallowing difficulties and paralysis that make a stroke so debilitating, the loss of speech affected his self-worth. Speech is crucial to an actor, so Douglas had to relearn that ability through therapy. His triumphs along the road to recovery include acting in two films in his 80s and giving a speech when receiving an oscar for lifetime achievement in films.
His stroke taught him "to be more compassionate, to work harder at my relationships with my loved ones, to value friendship more, to be aware of the world around me, to slow down and to have a richer spiritual life."
Maybe readers can learn these life lessons without having their own "stroke of luck."

I have always admired Kirk Douglas and bought this book because of that. What I wasn't expecting was how informative and entertaining the book was.

I don't personally know anyone who has had a stroke and so learned a lot about it from the author's personal perspective. He kept a good balance about it - just relating his experience without going into an endless stroke victim advocacy position.

It was also interesting to read about his actor friends. He was not dropping names, but rather was merely mentioning them in the context of his friendships and how they helped him with his condition.

The length of the book was just right.

Will Rogers once said, "The movies are the only business where you can go out front and applaud yourself." This must be what drew Kirk Douglas to the acting profession, for this slight volume (considerably slimmer than one might expect with its small trim size and double spacing), his third memoir after The Ragman's Son and Climbing the Mountain, can barely contain his ego.

Although mostly peppered with the praise he has received over the years for his roles in over 80 films, the stated purpose of the book is detailing the aftermath of the minor stroke Douglas suffered in 1996.

In doing so, he casts many side-glances at the film industry, a profession he advised his sons not to enter because, "The chances of success are so remote; the pitfalls of failure and depression lie hidden along the trail," but, "Alas, they don't listen to me."

The reality of dealing with a stroke made Douglas sit up and take notice of fellow actors who have also had to deal with their own health challenges, among them, Christopher Reeve, Michael J. Fox and Dudley Moore, "who use their celebrity to bring light to the darkness."

In 1996, Douglas was at his home in Los Angeles when he noticed a strange pain that ran from his temple to his cheek, after which his speech was impaired. Not realizing he had suffered a stroke, his cook added insult to injury by slapping him in the face in an attempt to "revive" him. But his wife's swift action - once alerted to the situation - in seeking medical treatment for her husband probably minimized the effects of the stroke, and may have saved his life.

When it came to death, his mother had modeled acceptance, on her deathbed whispering, "Don't be afraid, it happens to everyone," but Douglas was not so sure he was ready to resign himself to such a fate. Upon his release from hospital, he retreated to a hospital bed in his room at home, his "cocoon."

He shares the fear and bewilderment that accompanied his recovery: "Strokes are for elderly people," he writes, "I was only 80...." In the process, he speaks of depression and hopelessness (at one point considering suicide): "Each day I did nothing but lie in this black hole, which only seemed to get smaller and darker."

To cope with being confined to bed, Douglas relived some of his most cherished memories in his mind. "When I found a good memory, like a dog I hid my favorite bone, to be chewed on later." Those memories included his mother telling him as a child that snow comes from "the angels sweeping the porch of heaven," and memories of getting ice cream with his father.

Here, he shares the trials and travails of his rehabilitation. When he'd had enough of self-pity, anguish and despair, he turned his thoughts to doing something to help others. Inspired by how Ronald Reagan had "the courage to write a letter to the world when he knew he had Alzheimer's disease," Douglas established the Motion Picture Relief Home's Alzheimer's Unit in 1997.

Douglas fans won't be disappointed since the book has its share of stargazing nostalgia. He recalls how he walked actor Patricia Neal home after the premiere of The Fountainhead, how he "kissed her good night, passionately, as I remember, and often. A jealous Gary Cooper was watching from across the street." Neal has had three massive strokes herself but was able to recover and resume work.

Outside the acting profession, Stephen Hawking is hailed for dealing with Lou Gehrig's disease, as are Tipper Gore and Mike Wallace for their frank admissions about suffering from depression, and the message is clear: "Sometimes God gives us obstacles in life to overcome to make us stronger."

Douglas borrowed the inspiration for the book's title from his friend Jim MacLaren, who, despite losing a leg in a motorcycle accident persevered as an actor and a triathlete. When MacLaren - unbelievably - was paralyzed by a further accident involving a truck, he later told Douglas, "I consider it a stroke of luck," adding, "it changed me. I didn't like the guy I used to be."

As for Douglas's own experience, he reports he has "developed an appreciation for language" after being left with a speech impediment as a result of the stroke. But on a happier note, he relates his son Michael says he's noticed improvement in his father's golf game since he plays less aggressively now. Of Michael, Douglas once quipped, "If I knew he was going to be that famous, I would have been nicer to him when he was young."

My Stroke of Luck also includes Douglas's advice on love and a tribute to his wife Anne, who herself had to endure breast cancer and whom he has been married to for 48 years.

Since his stroke, Douglas has spent much of his time helping other stroke survivors and their families deal with the aftermath of a stroke. Now he offers further advice.

Referring to his acting career, Douglas says, "For years, I was so busy, I had no time to think about anyone but me, me, me," and "How time flies when you're thinking only of yourself." That hasn't really changed here, given his constant references to the flattery he's received over the years, but still he is to be congratulated for his attempt at shedding light on this common affliction.

Also admirable is Douglas's drive and determination. Post-stroke he has starred in a movie and made a guest appearance in a television series, and at the time of writing - at the age of 83 - he is anxious for more parts, still waiting for the phone to ring, hoping it's his agent.

MY STROKE OF LUCK By Kirk Douglas

This is a case where a huge ego with character comes in handy. It let him help others and it helped him become one of the best actors in his time. Additionally, he wrote this book about a stroke he had in his 80s-and this is one of several books he wrote. I hope my ego is large enough to keep me going for that long. It's not big enough to even to start what he has done is one lifetime. So he couldn't talk. I know just how he felt. I couldn't either.

A brain attack is a strange experience, especially if you have aphasia. You are trying to talk to the doctor and he hears nothing but strange sounds. At least Kirk Douglas could walk which was wonderful at his age and after what he had already put his body through.

They have medicine for depression which some times does not help as Kirk found out. Thank God for an ego and a wonderful sense of humor, which he had to have. He has a very good memory and the things he did, and is still doing for his friends and strangers will always be remembered by the world.

I got a good laugh out of his thoughts of death where he appeared in front of an old man and asked him if he was in heaven. The old man roared, "THAT'S WHERE YOU CAME FROM, don't you like what I gave you on earth, this is a RECYCLING PLANT, where humans are made of dust and in the end return to dust!" For some of us it is our heaven, the Earth! That why we are in no hurry to leave.

It's wonderful that a man of Kirks age can write a book while he is recovering from a stroke. And, not just a book, but also an excellent book, which will help anyone with any kind of disability problem who reads it. For others it's just an excellent book.

Roger L. Lee