Rage keeps you breathing

March 7, 2024 8:50 PM

The man in the iron lung (The Guardian). Paul Alexander interviewed during the COVID pandemic about surviving polio for a long life with his yellow iron lung, and his life as an angry activist. An invigorating and inspiring interview - and I checked, he’s still with us!
posted by dorothyisunderwood (9 comments total)

Great post!
posted by librosegretti at 9:08 PM on March 7 [1 favorite]

Iron lungs previously, and one more post. Some of these feature Mr. Alexander as well. This is really an interesting topic from several angles.
posted by TedW at 4:54 AM on March 8

Oh, this is fabulous. Got a nice belly laugh at the story about the eggs. I also loved this prescient bit (note that this article is several years old):

But Paul was right that most people have largely forgotten about the terror of polio, just as we have forgotten the terror of other diseases we now routinely vaccinate against – diphtheria, typhus, measles and mumps. And that could be fertile ground for their return if we do not remain vigilant. It’s hard to imagine, in the middle of this pandemic, that we’ll forget Covid-19, too. But we might. It’s hard to remember our nightmares the day after. The lesson of polio – and of every time we are confronted by our own terrible fragility and survive – is that sometimes we need to remember.

Thanks for posting.
posted by eirias at 9:22 AM on March 9 [2 favorites]

Sadly, it appears he died on March 11th after contracting COVID.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 5:51 PM on March 12

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posted by puffyn at 7:01 AM on March 13

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posted by TedW at 12:42 PM on March 13

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posted by eirias at 4:15 PM on March 13

What a great article. Such an accomplished man, against *all* odds!
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 1:04 PM on March 14

Related thread: Polio Paul Has Died.
posted by demi-octopus at 5:49 AM on March 17