Life Prints: A Memoir of Healing and Discovery

Life Prints: A Memoir Of Healing And Discovery is the story of Mary Grimley, who at the age of 6 years became America's first "poster child", dining with President Roosevelt at the Warm Springs rehabilitation center and posing in her wheelchair for publicity shots. Mary went on to became a remarkable scholar in the 1950s and 60s, refusing to focus on her disability and making herself a part of the revolution of ideas. Mason has spent her life struggling against the common cultural prejudice against disabled people, including the sexism of mentors, friends, family, and even herself. It was only after many years of physical therapy and social isolation, that she could emerge from the social and psychological handicaps imposed upon her because of her physical disability to embrace feminism, discover her life's work, and come to terms with herself. Life Prints is a candid, revealing, informative, and exceptionally well written autobiography that is highly recommended for women's studies and disability issues reading lists.

Mason's account of her extraordinarily rich and productive life--traveler, educator, writer as well as wife and mother--makes us question our conventional response to what constitutes a "disability." Despite her inability to walk without crutches, Mason covered more ground than many able-bodied contemporaries. The book is a revelation and inspiration.

This memoir is an inspiring insight into the personal life of a successful professor of English literature at a woman's college in Boston. We gradually discover that her cheerful outward appearance at times masks a deep and profound private pain. The revelations in this book make it a spellbinding read.

The author tells a compelling story of life growing up female and disabled. We read a straightforward account of a child growing up in an era when women were supposed to marry and have children first and if necessary work to help support the family. As a disabled woman, there were no expectations that one could attract a man, physically give birth, raise children, or work in any meaningful way. Mary Mason did all of those things but nowhere in this book does she claim to be a superwoman. She moves through her life making choices, and as a scholar, reviewing them over time and finding her way to a truer sense of self. Her feminist beliefs are unimpeachable. Her move toward an understanding of her place in the turbulent world of the disability movement is honest: feminism came first and more easily in both a personal and political way. The movement toward a place in the world as a disabled person required more thought and analysis because there were fewer contemporaries with whom she could share her stories as a young woman. This book is a welcome addition to the genre of memoirs, but it in no way is a familiar story. It is news, and important news about the experience of living at the intersection of the feminist and disability movements at a time when both political bodies are in flux. You will not be bored by rhetoric though you will be challenged by Mason's manner of analyzing her family life, her work life, and her intellectual life, while staying true to her desire to tell her own personal story.

This wonderful book about healing and discovery should not be missed. It's incredibly well crafted. The story is fascinating, painful and uplifting. Mary Mason, a critically acclaimed author and professor of English Literature bravely examines her own life to give an honest and revealing look at how our culture treats disabilities in particular women with disabilities. I was completely engaged by this compelling story of this little girl growing up in the thirties with polio who overcame this incredible obstacle in addition to other tragedies to achieve success. This book is an inspiration not only for women with disabilities but for all women. It examines the struggles we all face with tough odds to beat.I highly reccommend it. It will touch you deeply.