A Measure of Endurance: The Unlikely Triumph of Steven Sharp

If ever there were a story of ultimate courage in modern-day life, this is it. Steven Sharp lost both his arms in a farming accident when he was just a teenager, and years later he sued the Case farm equipment company and won. It was an accident that should not have happened. Steven was very careful about safety while doing farm work. The machine with which he was bailing hay suddenly started up and both of his hands were pulled in. He managed to sever both of his arms in one of the most courageous acts that one can imagine, then he walked back to a farm house for help. The agony is difficult to imagine. This is a story not just about Steven, but also about a company which deserved to be sued. Steven moved on with his life without feeling sorry for himself. This is a true story of bravery written by William Mishler, who died in December, 2003 following a brief illness. It's sad that Mishler could not have lived to write more stories of real life events. I can't say enough about the pleasure I got from reading this book. The pleasure came from knowing that there are still good people in this world such as Steven Sharp.

If ever there were a story of ultimate courage in modern-day life, this is it. Steven Sharp lost both his arms in a farming accident when he was just a teenager, and years later he sued the Case farm equipment company and won. It was an accident that should not have happened. Steven was very careful about safety while doing farm work. The machine with which he was bailing hay suddenly started up and both of his hands were pulled in. He managed to sever both of his arms in one of the most courageous acts that one can imagine, then he walked back to a farm house for help. The agony is difficult to imagine. This is a story not just about Steven, but also about a company which deserved to be sued. Steven moved on with his life without feeling sorry for himself. This is a true story of bravery written by William Mishler, who died in December, 2002 following a brief illness. It's sad that Mishler could not have lived to write more stories of real life events. I can't say enough about the pleasure I got from reading this book. The pleasure came from knowing that there are still good people in this world such as Steven Sharp.

This is an extraordinary narrative in its subject matter and in its writing. As the author, William Mishler, says, it is "a contemporary American story well worth telling, " and he relates this true drama with a sympathy and an energy that do full justice to the enduring courage and resilience of its hero. We are carried along vividly from a quiet, small town in Oregon to a contentious courtroom in Wisconsin, where a dramatic trial takes place. Steven Sharp lives in aptly named Eagle Valley in Eastern Oregon, where the rhythms of country life and hunting and fishing form his character and his destiny. He suffers a horrendous accident with a defective tractor and baler, in which he loses both arms in an attempt to clear some hay from the baler. His agony is described in stark detail as he desperately yet deliberately uses razor-sharp metal in the machine to sever both arms that are being mercilessly pulled into the baler; he then finds the courage to cauterize the stumps on one of the red-hot rollers. Steven tells his story to the author and in the courtroom with a calm and modest conviction that he did what had to be done to save his life and his sanity. He earns our immense admiration and empathy for this act of bravery and for his persistence in helping his team of lawyers bring a successful lawsuit against the Case Corporation of Wisconsin. Case brought all their wealth and power in an attempt to deny Steven his due, but owing to a committed team of Minneapolis lawyers and Steven's and his family's perseverance, Case lost in court and in subsequent appeals. A note at the end of the book indicates that three years after the final verdict, Case has done absolutely nothing to warn their customers of the life-threatening dangers of their machine. William Mishler, a fine poet and writer, becomes deeply involved in the human and legal aspects of the drama, which he describes with a superb attention to detail in an intensely absorbing narrative of great imaginative power