This person died in 2015 at age 82. When he moved to California in the early 1960s, he befriended the poet Thom Gunn, began entering weight-lifting competitions, and joined the Hells Angels on motorcycle trips to the Grand Canyon. As a medical doctor and a writer, he achieved a level of popular renown rare among scientists. He first won widespread attention in 1973 for his book “Awakenings”, about a group of patients with an atypical form of encephalitis or “sleeping sickness” who experienced a partial rebirth. In the film adaptation, his character was played by Robin Williams. Today’s dead celebrity is Oliver Sacks.

Famous & Gravy is created and co-hosted by Amit Kapoor and Michael Osborne. This episode was produced by Evan Sherer, and features guest co-host Nicholas Weiler. Visit our website at famousandgravy.com and also enjoy our free mobile quiz game at deadoraliveapp.com

If you enjoyed this episode, you may also like Episode 26 “Wild Thing” (Maurice Sendak) and Episode 52 “Electric Vanities” (Tom Wolfe)

LINKS:

Transcript of this episode

New York Times Obituary for Oliver Sacks

Live interview with Radiolab’s Robert Krulwich

From Our Neurons to Yours podcast from Stanford Neuroscience

1989 PBS Newshour Profile of Oliver Sacks

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Famous & Gravy official website

This Famous & Gravy episode uses structured conversation to reflect on Oliver Sacks's enduring narrative as part of a celebrity obituary podcast and known for rethinking celebrity legacies, by spotlighting values, performance, and transformation. This episode offers a layered look at how we remember — and reinterpret — famous lives. This legacy podcast explores legacy podcast and contributes to biographies from a different point of view.

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