Some people are better at the daily discipline of keeping a journal
than others. But for our next guest, discipline isn't really an
issue. Oliver Sacks, a writer and a neurology professor at NYU's
School of Medicine, says that, for him, putting pen to paper is
a compulsion.
One
of his journals became the "Oaxaca Journal," the latest of many
books that Sacks has written. You may know some of them: "The
Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat," "An Anthropologist on Mars"
and "Awakenings." Sacks is a prolific writer -- and that includes
his lifelong passion for keeping a journal.
From
history to archeology to botany to neurology to the wonders of
chocolate, this man puts his keen mind into such a wide array
of subjects. Sacks has hunted for fossils in Australia and studied
strange neurological conditions in Guadeloupe.
"Oaxaca
Journal" comes out of his most recent trip. In Mexico, Oliver
was fascinated with scorching chili peppers, the power of chocolate,
and more than anything else, 700 varieties of ferns.