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In this episode of Medieval Death Trip, we acknowledge the recent passing of neurologist Oliver Sacks and horror writer/director Wes Craven with stories of compulsive behavior and monstrous encounters from the Lanercost Chronicle.
This week’s text:
- The Chronicle of Lanercost: 1272–1346. Trans. Sir Herbert Maxwell. Glasgow: James Maclehose and Sons, 1913. (Available at archive.org.)
References:
- Beecroft, Nicholas, Laura Bach, Nigel Tunstall, and Robert Howard. “An Unusual Case of Pica.” International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry 13 (1998): 638-641.
- Sacks, Oliver. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat: and Other Clinical Tales. Audible, Inc., 2011. (Available from Audible.)
Image: 14th-century medical manuscript from the Bibliotheque Mazarine (via Sexy Codicology)
I was a fan of Oliver Sacks’ books. They were fascinating and I learned so much from them!
My then-husband and I moved to NYC in 1994, city Island in the Bronx, specifically. We were surprised to see Oliver Sacks on our little street early one morning! He lived in a little house right across the street from us. He had an apartment in Manhattan but he spent weekends and holidays in his City Island house. We often see him in the early mornings. Our paths crossed frequently. We were basically on nodding and “Hello!” terms.
It wasn’t until years after we moved back to Canada and learned that he didn’t recognize faces. He was just so nice that even though he didn’t recognize us, he always greeted us as if he actually did.
I was so sad when he passed away. I was looking forward to reading more of his books.