THE WAY IT ISby William Stafford There’s a thread you follow. It goes amongthings that change. But it doesn’t change.People wonder about what you are pursuing.You have to explain about the thread.But it is hard for others to see.While you hold it you can’t get lost.Tragedies happen; people get hurtor die; and you suffer and…
Tag: transplant
Today is the 10th anniversary of my transplant!
Everyday, for the past ten years, I have quietly celebrated the joy of a human life. When, on February 18th 2007, I was wheeled into the operating room at King’s Hospital for a liver transplant, my life was saved. Two years earlier I had been diagnosed with liver cirrhosis and had increasingly come…
Madrid Lectures
Thanks to all the good folk at Madrid, Here are some nice photos. My handout can be found at:Lectures in Madrid, November 2016
Nine Years On: A Transplanted Life
This week marks the ninth anniversary of my liver transplant; I have had nine more years of life than could have been expected in past times. I remain in awe at this life saving procedure and in permanent gratitude to my donor. But still there are many problems. There aren’t enough organs: up to 1,000…
Transplants and the Total Life Experience: On the 10th Anniversary of ‘Becoming Ill’
Today, March 9th, marks the 10th anniversary of my ‘illness’. It is this day in 2005 I was rushed to hospital in Santa Barbara, diagnosed with ‘alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver’, told to give up drink or die. It was also the day I first heard the word ‘transplant’ It…
I recently presented this little ditty at the start of a presentation on Cosmopolitan Sexualities in Amsterdam (for the full summary click here)
Today, being a difficult day, I thought I would put it on the web site.
Is That All There Is?
(this can be cheerily sung along with Peggy Lee to the song by Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller and inspired by a short story by Thomas Mann: Disillusionment).
When I was fifteen, I discovered homosexuality.
They said it was a crime.
And a sickness, a sin, a shame and a sadness.
And I said to myself: is that all there is?
When I was twenty-five, I discovered liberation.
It was GLF; we were out and proud; we made demands.
We were modern homosexuals out to change the world.
And I said to myself: is that all there is?
When I was thirty, I discovered research.
Transvestites and paedophiles and sado-masochists and more:
The conflicting meanings of the whole damn thing!
And I said to myself: is that all there is?
When I was thirty-five, I discovered AIDS and feminism.
I knew the tragedy of AIDS: twenty five millions dead and still counting
And the tragedy of feminism: its interminable divides.
And I said to myself: is that all there is?
When I was forty-five, I went global and postmodern.
Queer had come around again;
And rights was on the world agenda.
And I said to myself: is that all there is?
When I was sixty, I nearly died: but I didn’t.
Starry starry nights and the incorrigible plurality of snow.
The multiplicities of life, of death, of suffering.
And I said to myself: is that all there is?
So life goes on as I look to seventy.
The inevitability of disappointment and the importance of hope.
And I say to myself: is that all there is? So let’s keep dancing.
Narrative Research on Sickness
Announcement: Narrative Research on Sickness and Illness SORRY: THIS COURSE HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THIS YEAR Friday June 13th 10.00 -4.15 Note: plenty of places at present and it might be cancelled because of lack of interest Constable Building, Seminar Room 3 Ken Plummer Course Overview: Telling stories about our illnesses has become a…
Altered life: illness as disruption and uncertainty
It is seven years since I had my liver transplant – an act of skill and love that that saved my life in February 2007. I stand in amazement and thankfulness everyday at the miracle of this. I have already had seven years of life that previous generations throughout history would simply not have been…
One day course on illness
A one day course will be run by Ken on illness stories on Friday June 14th Stories of Health and Illness: An Introduction: (Essex Short Courses in Social Research) Professor Ken Plummer from Department of Sociology, University of Essex At 09:30 in Seminar Room 3, Constable Building, Essex University, Colchester Campus . Course overview Telling…
Transplant Hallucinations
6th Anniversary of My Transplant: Time for Hallucinatory Stories Today, February 18th, is the 6th Anniversary of my Liver Transplant. I remain full of daily gratitude to my donor – and her family. I have had six years of extra life so far! It is a true scientific and human miracle. Any point in history…