Sunday, March 24, 2013

Susan Spencer-Wendel's six favorite books

A journalist for over twenty years, Susan Spencer-Wendel left her job as courts reporter for the Palm Beach Post when she was diagnosed with ALS. Her new memoir is Until I Say Good-Bye: My Year of Living With Joy.

One of her six favorite books, as told to The Week magazine:
Alone by Adm. Richard E. Byrd

I am frozen in a wheelchair these days by ALS, so books are divine escape. I treasure those that offer an extraordinary sense of place, as this 1938 classic does. Alone is Byrd's account of the six months he spent researching in Antarctic darkness, slowly dying from carbon monoxide poisoning, witnessing phenomena denied most mortals. The book prompted me to travel from Florida to the Yukon in winter to try to see the glorious aurora he describes so well.
Read about the other books on Spencer-Wendel's list.

Visit Susan Spencer-Wendel's website.

--Marshal Zeringue