Christmas Gift Guide David Tabatsky

This is a review for In Spite Of . . . How I Survived Abuse, Cancer, and a Giant F@#%ing Stroke, as told to David Tabatsky which I was sent a copy of in exchange for a review and a spot in this years Christmas Gift Guide. I would like to let you know the thoughts in this review is mine and mine alone.

I would like to let you know I will be back after Christmas to share my thought with you on this new Novel as I will not have a chance to read it until then because I want my sister to read the novel with me since our father has had a Stroke and we lost our mom to Cancer a while ago. I believe it may answer questions we have.

Gripping Memoir Details Life Before And After Debilitating Stroke

Trevose, PA, August 22, 2018 ― For Mary Reid-Hill, the word “no” means surrender. It means life on the couch. It means dying a slow death. So never tell Mary that she can’t do something. Because she’ll do everything in her power to prove you wrong.

Mary entered “adulthood” with a load of problems to unpack, including a twisted, abusive childhood; a misguided teen marriage; and a cancer diagnosis at the tender age of 22. Somehow, in spite of it all, she used her skills as a visual artist to carve out a career in the male-dominated world of sign design and installation.

But life wasn’t done testing her. At age 38, at the peak of her success, she suffered a major stroke which left her with essentially half her brain and body capacity. For more than 15 years, she has defied doctors, therapists, and even friends and family to stubbornly and relentlessly find her own equilibrium and happiness, “in spite of” all of her health challenges, psychological roadblocks and spiritual upheaval.

But that’s just Mary.

And now, she’s sharing her remarkable story in her inspirational memoir, In Spite Of . . . How I Survived Abuse, Cancer, and a Giant F@#%ing Stroke, as told to David Tabatsky—author, co-author and/or editor of more than thirty books, covering a vast range of subjects. For more information on David, please visit his website at:www.tabatsky.com.

Mary’s approach is refreshingly candid and infused with humor as she chronicles a series of life events that would emotionally cripple most people, including her messed- up childhood, two bad marriages, the devastating stroke, her battles with weight and insurance companies, and the death of her husband. Through it all, her no-nonsense prose underscores why she’s become a living example of what the human spirit is ultimately all about and how, in spite of it all, she’s still here.

Mary was born and raised in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and still lives there today, on the corner of Hope and Humor. For the past 17 years, Mary has been unable to hold down a job, due to a disability stemming from her stroke. However, she remains as active as possible, renovating her home, refinishing furniture and continuing her main passion––drawing. Her memoir includes 15 original drawings, some of which she created before the stroke, and several after, when she had to teach herself to draw all over again, this time with her left hand. On top of that, Mary cares for two dogs and occasionally her two closest sisters.

For more information, please visit the website at: www.inspiteof.life.

About David Tabatsky

David Tabatsky is a writer, editor, teacher, director and performing artist. He received his BA in Communications and an MA in Theatre Education, both from Adelphi University.

David is the coauthor of The Cancer Book: 101 Stories of Courage, Support and Love and editor of Elizabeth Bayer’s It’s Just a Word, both published by Chicken Soup for the Soul Publishing in 2009. He is the coauthor, with Bruce Kluger, of Dear President Obama: Letters of Hope from Children Across America also published in 2009. David wrote The Boy Behind the Door: How Salomon Kool Escaped the Nazis (2009). With Dr. Mark Banschick, David co authored The Intelligent Divorce–Books One and Two (2009 and 2010) and The Wright Choice: Your Family’s Guide to Healthy Eating, Modern Fitness and Saving Money (2011), with Dr. Randy Wright.

David was the consulting editor for Marlo Thomas and her New York Times bestseller The Right Words at the Right Time, Volume 2: Your Turn (2006). He has published two editions of What’s Cool Berlin a comic travel guide to Germany’s capital, and has written for The Forward, Parenting and Sesame Street Parent, among others.

David has worked professionally in theatre and circus as an actor, clown and juggler, at New York City’s Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theatre and throughout the United States and Europe, most notably at the Chamäleon in Berlin, New End Theatre in London, Folies Pigalle in Paris and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where THE STAGE wrote, “He is a supremely skillful performer and a fine actor, reaching levels no other comics have matched at this Fringe.” David also directed Kinderzirkus Taborka at the renowned Tempodrom in Berlin.

David has taught for the American School of London, die Etage in Berlin, the Big Apple Circus School, The United Nations International School and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. He served on the theatre faculty at Adelphi University and The Cooper Union and as a teaching artist for The Henry Street Settlement with a focus on special education. He teaches circus arts at Sunrise Day Camp, America’s only dedicated day camp for children with cancer and their siblings.

Please visit www.tabatsky.com and www.writeforlife.info

Inside this post are my affiliate links and if you click on the links and make a purchase I will make a small percentage of the items you purchase.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates