'I'm an old Jewish atheist'

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Loving the rituals of Judaism

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'I'm an old Jewish atheist'

Oliver Sacks Scientist

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I’ve adopted a phrase which Jonathan Miller once used. Jonathan did a wonderful production, The Matthew Passion, at BAM [Brooklyn Academy of Music]. It was... you didn’t just have singers who sat in one place and bawled out the words, it was acted, it was theatre. And there were many people including probably deeply devout people, who were moved to tears or to raptures and Jonathan was tickled by this and he said, 'Not bad for an old Jewish atheist'. And I’ve... I've adopted that phrase. I feel I’m also an old Jewish atheist, although when I said that to one friend of mine at Cornell, he said, 'I’m an older Jewish atheist'.

Oliver Sacks (1933-2015) was born in England. Having obtained his medical degree at Oxford University, he moved to the USA. There he worked as a consultant neurologist at Beth Abraham Hospital where in 1966, he encountered a group of survivors of the global sleepy sickness of 1916-1927. Sacks treated these patients with the then-experimental drug L-Dopa producing astounding results which he described in his book Awakenings. Further cases of neurological disorders were described by Sacks with exceptional sympathy in another major book entitled The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat which became an instant best seller on its publication in 1985. His other books drew on his rich experiences as a neurologist gleaned over almost five decades of professional practice. Sacks's work was recognized by prestigious institutions which awarded him numerous honours and prizes. These included the Lewis Thomas Prize given by Rockefeller University, which recognizes the scientist as poet. He was an honorary fellow of both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and held honorary degrees from many universities, including Oxford, the Karolinska Institute, Georgetown, Bard, Gallaudet, Tufts, and the Catholic University of Peru.

Title: 'I'm an old Jewish atheist'

Listeners: Kate Edgar

Kate Edgar, previously Managing Editor at the Summit Books division of Simon and Schuster, began working with Oliver Sacks in 1983. She has served as editor and researcher on all of his books, and has been closely involved with various films and adaptations based on his work. As friend, assistant, and collaborator, she has accompanied Dr Sacks on many adventures around the world, clinical and otherwise.

Tags: Brooklyn Academy of Music, St. Matthew Passion, Cornell University, Jonathan Miller

Duration: 57 seconds

Date story recorded: 19-23 September, 2011

Date story went live: 02 October 2012