Limping Through Life
A Farm Boy’s Polio Memoir
Jerry Apps
A deeply personal story of a debilitating disease and overcoming the obstacles—physical, mental, and emotional—with the support of friends and family.
248 pages, 5.5 x 8.25, 45 b&w photos
Hardcover: $22.95 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-580-4
Ebook: $15.99 | ISBN: 978-0-87020-587-3
Publication Date: 4/24/2013
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Description
Polio was epidemic in the United States starting in 1916. By the 1930s, quarantines and school closings were common, as isolation was one of the only ways to fight the disease; the vaccine developed by Jonas Salk would not become available until the mid-1950s. In his most personal book, Jerry Apps, who contracted polio at age twelve, reveals how the disease affected him physically and emotionally, profoundly influencing his education, military service, and family life and setting him on the path to becoming a prolific writer.
A hardworking farm kid who loved to play softball, young Jerry Apps would have to make many adjustments and meet many challenges after that winter night he was stricken with the debilitating, sometimes fatal illness. In Limping Through Life he explores the ways his world changed after polio and pays tribute to those family members, teachers, and friends who helped along the way.
Author Bio
Jerry Apps
Celebrated storyteller and rural historian Jerry Apps was born and raised on a central Wisconsin farm. He was a former county extension agent and professor at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Apps authored more than fifty fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books, including Every Farm Tells a Story: A Tale of Farm Family Values, The Quiet Season: Remembering Country Winters, When the White Pine Was King, and Barns of Wisconsin, all published by the Wisconsin Historical Society Press.
Discussion Guide
Whether you're enjoying Jerry Apps's Limping Through Life on your own or as part of a book club or discussion group, this companion discussion guide will enhance your reading experience. Use our discussion questions to dig deeper and explore new perspectives on Apps's story and the challenges of living with disability.
Discussion Guide
Limping Through Life
A Farm Boy’s Polio Memoir
Jerry Apps
248 pages, 5.5 x 8.25, 45 b&w photos
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