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The Polio Years in Texas: Battling a Terrifying Unknown 1st Edition

by
Heather Green Wooten (Author)
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Heather Green Wooten (Author)
4.4 out of 5 stars 14 customer reviews
ISBN-13: 978-1603441650
ISBN-10: 1603441654
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 264 pages
  • Publisher: Texas A&M University Press; 1 edition (October 25, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1603441654
  • ISBN-13: 978-1603441650
  • Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 0.6 x 9.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #975,573 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsCaretaker
By Imogene Pulleine on November 27, 2009
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
Heather has written a book that is well researched and has many interview records with people who weathered the effects of the disease themselves or helped a child or other relative to recover.
Our eldest daughter contracted polio when she was five years old and unlike some parents I was able to stay with her during her time in isolation. This was in January of 1950 and a hospital in Beaumont, TX was in the process of opening a designated ward for polio patients. She and I spent three weeks alone on an otherwise vacant floor. The therapist who was to begin treatments was contacted and arrived expeditiously. There was the huge Hubbard Tub for the water therapy and the agonizing hot packs which were a part of the therapy at that time.
Later funds for March of Dimes were low, our insurance had been used to the limit, and her grandfather who had had polio when he was twelve (about 1900) sent supplemental funds to help cover expenses. I became the care taker at home who gave the painful exercises to my child and she saw the therapist at intervals for evaluation. After several months the stiffness gradually was worked out of all areas except her left leg. Several surgeries followed at growth intervals to enable the growth and use of the leg. Over the years I have been rewarded by hearing her tell someone what her mother had helped to accomplish during her recovery.
Thank you, Heather, for your subject choice and hard work.
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4.0 out of 5 starsA Good And Much-Needed Work On Polio
By F. R. Wuensche on December 29, 2013
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I lived in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas as a child and adolescent from 1947 to 1958. Polio outbreaks were frightening annual events,
Ms Wooten's book is a thorough treatment of the many facets of polio outbreaks in Texas.

I had to smile about the reference to some people not wanting to speak on the telephone because they thought polio could be spread over telephone lines. I remember hearing that a few times

The interview with Gene Nelson was touching for me. I knew him as a High School Choir director in Edinburg. Although not treated in the book, I am still touched by the care and devotion that "Prof" Palmer of Mcallen showed for his beloved wife, who lived at home in an Iron Lung.

A minor disappointment for me was that the author seems to dwell heavily on West Texas sources, when the most severe outbreaks were in other locales. Also it would have been good if the Texas Lions Camp For Crippled Children in Kerrville had been mentioned.
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5.0 out of 5 starsAnswered so many of my questions
By DJ on May 20, 2011
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
This book was so good for me, and answered many of my questions. My father was one of 75 children who were diagnosed with polio in the San Antonio epidemic in the fall of 1942 (described in this book). I plan to write the author and personally thank her for the information she so capably organized and put into writing. This is a story that needed to be told. My father benefited from the zeal felt in Texas that the children with polio needed to go to college - this is described in the book. His expenses were paid to go to Texas A&M College as a "rehabilitative student" in 1944. Currently we have 3rd generation Aggies in my family attending Texas A&M. I could say more, but I especially encourage anyone who had a family member affected by polio to read this book.
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4.0 out of 5 starsEnlightening book on polio in Texas
By Divascribe VINE VOICE on August 3, 2010
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
As a polio survivor who grew up in Fort Worth in the '50s, I was very interested in the topic of how polio was handled in Texas. I was 2 years old when I had the disease, so I have only a few very hazy memories of being in the hospital and of physical therapy afterward. This book discusses the medical aspects of polio treatment and also its impact on those who had the disease, and their families. There's also a psychological component -- how those who had the disease were treated by others, from their family to people in public. All in all, I found this an enlightening book. Certainly it's of more interest to me because I went through the experience, but I think it's worthwhile reading for anyone who is interested in how a terrifying epidemic was handled in the years before the vaccine was developed.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThe metaphor of War is correct
By Bernard M. Patten on January 31, 2010
Format: Paperback
The subtitle tells the truth about the scourge that brought calamity to so many lives. Battling is what the victims did, battling is was what the doctors did, battling is what the mothers did when they marched against this dread disease. Each year during the polio times my mother and her friends met in the kitchen, stood around drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes, and planned their battle strategy: They were going to go out into that cold night into that poor Queens neighborhood and wring as much money as possible from whoever answered the door. They were sure that sooner or later the money that they raised would conquer the small RNA virus that was plaguing their families. And, in theirown way, they did help win the war. So here we have the authentic history of the polio years in Texas, the real quill, told in fast, clear, language with much detail and a deep understanding of the human heart. Heather spent plenty of time and energy getting the facts straight and then using her great skill as a writer in getting the story told in an interesting and satisfying manner. Her book is recommended to those who want to know what happened, who helped (most of the clinical studies of the vaccine were done in Russia), who did't help and why. The problem got solved eventually by the cooperative efforts of many people. If only we could have similar cooperation in health care reform!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

great book

Published 13 months ago by johnny hutson
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

enjoying

Published 15 months ago by Lois S.
5.0 out of 5 starsGood Read

Such a sad and heroic look back on Polio. This was a good read.

Published 16 months ago by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsInteresting history

This isn't exactly a page turner, but a good compilation of a very scary time in our history. I was a little kid back then, born in 1952 and my parents must have been very afraid. Read more

Published 23 months ago by Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 starsOne of the best polio history books

Wonderfully written and includes lots of substantiated never-before-provided facts regarding the polio era. Read more

Published on March 18, 2014 by sole proprietor
1.0 out of 5 starsnegative

old book not what they had advertised how ever they were able to get it in enough time for me to finish my assignments

Published on April 2, 2013 by roger huerta
5.0 out of 5 starsThe Polio years in Texas: Battling a Terrifying Unknown

This book is informative as well as being interesting. This is not an easy subject to read about, but Ms. Read more

Published on August 3, 2010 by Bee
5.0 out of 5 starsThe polio years

The best book I have read in years!!! As a polio survivor, I learned SO MUCH!!!

Published on June 15, 2010 by Mary L.McCown
5.0 out of 5 starsWell written and enlightening

Dr. Wooten's book is an excellently written account of the history of polio in Texas. She captures not just the facts, but also the gestalt of the state and the country at the... Read more

Published on March 2, 2010 by Dr. K

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