Book Launch for "My Degeneration" Tonight!

One night only! Laughter, tears, tremors, ogres, true love, software, life's bitter realities and moments of transcendence, all in one laff-riot, tear-fest, a wrenching roar of the imagination, a cold, hard look at reality, the "My Degeneration" book launch at blue.hollomon gallery is tonight! 6:00 to 8:00at the Olympic center, a Zamarello mall near you, 36th and Arctic Boulevard to be exact. And yes, I will personalize your copy working boldly, without spell-check. Please come, see you there!

"My Degeneration" My book About Coping With Parkinson's Disease is Now Available

My advance copy of "My Degeneration"

Finally, after what seems like, and actually was years in the making, The Penn State University Press has released my "graphic narrative" of what it's like to be forced to deal with Young-Onset Parkinson's Disease. What's more, you can order it at a sale price right now. I hope that this book will be a comfort and inspiration to my fellow people with Parkinson's. And I hope it will be a provocation to consider how best to respond to this indefatigable disease that affects all parts of life as well.

So please read it and let me know what you think. Otherwise I'll be forced to rely on the words of people like Bill Bell, co-founder of the Northwest Parkinson’s Foundation, who was kind enough to write “Peter Dunlap-Shohl once again brings his unique art to the table to help educate, illustrate, and demonstrate life, hope, and strength on his journey with Parkinson’s. Creative and insightful, this book reflects all of Pete’s greatest qualities, including his constant work to help and educate all those in the PD community, patients and care partners alike.” Or Tom Kizzia, Author of the riveting "Pilgrim's Wilderness" who had this to say “The world made fresh by a Parkinson’s patient with a wonderfully sensitive and cocked eye. He tells the tale of his fast-changing reality with compassion and wicked humor, leaping from one crazily inventive work of art to the next. Never more acute than when examining his own mind-set, Peter Dunlap-Shohl leads us from diagnosis and despair to the high ground where he could compose this lucid, moving book. A miracle, in a way—and a triumph.” Heck, you could read this book for the blurbs alone!

As far as I can tell, this is the only book of its kind on Parkinson's available in the known universe. Here is a sample page from the second chapter "Learning to speak Parkinson's "

Two Contrasting Pages From a Work in Progress

These two pages occur in separate chapters, but make an interesting contrast. The first is from a passage about the shock of diagnosis, and how professional healers can compound the pain of disease. The second is about the gratitude due to those from all walks of life who step up and help carry the burden. There are many thoughts to tease out of this contrast, one could write a book...
(Click images to enlarge)

Parkinson's Comic Manuscript Completed. Now For the Hard Part

I put on a burst of unparkinson's-like speed yesterday and finished the manuscript of "A Mixed Cursing" That was fun. Now begins the task of finding a way to get it published. There are a number of avenues as the publishing industry writhes and convulses with the changes wrought by that unbottled genie the World Wide Web. "Come into my parlor", said the spider to the fly... I will post news of the progress of the book-to-be as it develops.

In the meantime, this blog will return to its old self, albeit with (I hope) occasional excited notes about the progress of the manuscript to finished form and publication. Below are the three pages of the post-script for your feedback. Critical comments welcome! Bonus points to those who identify the references to Albert Einstein and Douglas Adams (click on images to enlarge.)

High Country: Whacked on Anesthesia, DBS Patient Has Visions

Yes folks, it's another panel from the yet-unfinished-or-sold-blockbuster-graphic-memoir. In this thrilling episode, our protagonist has visions. But visions of what?... or should that be whom? Find out when you read the entire thrilling narrative of one man's adventures with Parkinson's Disease. Not sold in stores, or anywhere else. Yet.

Reworked Page, Trying to Get Blockbusting, Brawling , Sprawling Parkinson's "Graphic Novel" Right

What was the problem with the page I posted yesterday? Too much talking and too little showing. We graphics novel author wannabes are supposed to trust the picture as a narrative tool. And besides, bouts of dyskinesia aside, drawing is fun. So I went back, took out some words and put in some pictures. Et voila! One page became two. Then I showed them to Pam who had some constructive criticism. So I went back and reworked them again. I'm trying to bear in mind the words of economist J.K. Galbraith, who said (quoting from memory here) "The note of spontaneity that people praise in my writing always emerges in the fifth draft."

Zap! Pow! FZZZZZT!! Daring UFO rescue of Parkinson's Patient. Pushing Ahead With the PD Graphic Novel

If Parkinson's Disease does nothing else, it certainly adds drama, No? Click on the image to enlarge.

Thar She Blows: Another Peek At My Graphic Novel Manuscript

Here is a page that owes a debt to the stark illustrations that Rockwell Kent created for an elegant edition of Moby Dick. An artist with wanderlust, Kent actually spent some time in South Central Alaska. He lived for a period on Fox Island in what is now Kenai Fijords National Park. It's hard to imagine someone with a greater ability to strike the proper tone for Melville's novel than the rugged Kent, who would have felt right at home with the rigors of a whaling voyage. As it turns out, there is inspiration for those of us that have PD in Melville's book as well.

Comic Sonogram, Another Exclusive Look at a Book Stuggling to be Born

Here is yet another snippet from the proposed Great Parkinson's Graphic Novel currently in pre-beta mode at PDS Labs. These are two panels abstracted from a passage on Parkinson's vocabulary. These illustrate the form of depression which I suffered, known as "Emotional Incontinence". Depression is way more common in Parkinson's Patients than in the population in general, but the incidence in both populations is expected to spike dramatically higher if this project ever sees print.