Mark obrien poet biography

Mark O'Brien (poet)

American disabled journalist and poet (–)

Mark O'Brien (July 31, &#;– July 4, ) was an American journalist, poet, and advocate for the disabled. He has been the subject of two films: Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien, which won an Academy Award in , and The Sessions in which he was portrayed by John Hawkes, a film that won the audience award in the U.S. Dramatic category at the Sundance Film Festival in

The Sessions was based on his essay, "On Seeing a Sex Surrogate",[1] which appeared in the Sun magazine in The sex surrogate was Cheryl Cohen-Greene.[2][1] They remained friends until his death.[3]

Personal life

O'Brien contracted polio in and spent the rest of his life paralyzed and requiring an iron lung.[4] In the iron lung he attended UC Berkeley, produced his poetry and articles, and became an advocate for disabled people.[4] He co-founded a small publishing house, Lemonade Factory, dedicated to poetry written by people with disabilities.[5] He was featured in two segments of the radio program "This American Life" where he spoke about the occasional opportunities he had to leave the iron lung for short periods of time, trying to find love, and sex.

O'Brien was the author of several volumes of poetry, including Breathing, and an autobiography entitled, How I Became a Human Being: A Disabled Man’s Quest for Independence,[6] written with Gillian Kendall.[7]

O'Brien began seeing a sex surrogate at the age of thirty-eight to lose his virginity. That and the later meeting of him and his life partner, Susan Fernbach,[8] is depicted in the film The Sessions. The sex surrogate was named Cheryl Cohen-Greene.[2][1] They remained friends until his death.[3]

Education

O'Brien received a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's degree in journalism, both from the University of California, Berkeley.[9]

References

  1. ^ abcO'Brien, Mark (May ). "On Seeing a Sex Surrogate". The Sun Magazine, issue . Archived from the original on 9 May Retrieved 16 November
  2. ^ abSchwarzbaum, Lisa (). "Sundance 'The Surrogate': A story of sex and the single guy with polio makes for a hot crowd-pleaser of a movie". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 16 November
  3. ^ abGuthmann, Edward (January 10, ). "Surrogate sex partner inspires story, film". . Retrieved 10 March
  4. ^ abSmith, Wesley J (December 28, ). "Mark O'Brien's Triumph (It Wasn't About Sex)". First Things. Retrieved 29 December
  5. ^"Mark O'Brien, 49, Journalist And Poet in Iron Lung, Is Dead", The New York Times, July 11,
  6. ^Horn, John (). "Sundance A year-old takes on disability and sex in 'The Surrogate'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved
  7. ^O’Brien, Mark; Kendall, Gillian (). How I Became a Human Being. A Disabled Man's Quest for Independence (paperback&#;ed.). University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN&#;. Retrieved 29 January
  8. ^Cinema review.
  9. ^Honan, William H. (11 July ). "Mark O'Brien, 49, Journalist And Poet in Iron Lung, Is Dead". The New York Times. Retrieved

External links