Selected individual autobiographies about the polio experience are showcased on this page. The selection will be added to on an ongoing basis so check back here often. You can also click the buttons below to browse our other polio book collections.
I Can Jump Puddles – Alan Marshall
The value of the novel is not only in its characterisation of the time period, but it is also a poigant reflection on the treatment of the disabled, that still resonates with its audience today. It is constantly reflected in the novel that being a cripple is very much a mindset; the young Marshall does not think of himself as disabled and is quick to take offense when it is dared mentioned by anybody else, whether intended to be used against him or in his defense.
Read More ▷Walking Isn’t Everything: An Account of the Life of Jean Denecke
Jean Denecke’s account of her encounter with polio and her subsequent life dealing with permanent disabilities emphasizes the ordinariness of her experiences. As she puts it, “except for my physical condition, I feel that I lead a perfectly normal life” (p. 16). Denecke wrote the book in the mid-1950s, approximately eight years after contracting polio in 1946 when she was twenty-nine.
Read More ▷Coming soon
A Life not with Standing: a memoir
All on One Good Dancing Leg
Full Circle
Over My Dead Body
Over My Dead Body: Forty Years On