HOLLYWOOD and SPINAL CORD INJURY before CHRISTOPHER REEVE

Imagine laying paralyzed on the battlefield. Stone cold fear grips you like nothing you've experienced before! Your only thoughts are of survival. Nothing else matters. The questions, "Will I ever walk again?" and "What am I going to do for the rest of my life?" will come to mind sometime later --- if you live long enough!

Prior to World War II, Americans who suffered a spinal cord injury had a life expectancy of one and a half years. After the war, antibiotics and modern medicine combined to keep many fallen heroes alive long enough to actually be discharged from military and veterans' hospitals.

Before Hollywood actor Christopher Reeve's tragic injury, most Americans - most people worldwide - probably had little understanding of the ramifications of paralysis --- not to mention the terms "Quadriplegic" and "Spinal Cord Injury (SCI)".

Hollywood movie makers first touched upon these issues in The Men (Marlon Brando, 1950). Others, Coming Home (Jon Voight/Hanoi Jane, 1978) and Born On The 4th Of July (Tom Cruise, 1989), would focus on paralyzed survivors of the Vietnam War.

QUADALAJARA --- The Utopia That Once Was tells the story of a number of brave souls, among them veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam who ventured into uncharted territory, leaving behind family, friends, the safe confines of institutions, and a life expectancy of seven to however many years in search of a second chance at life. They discovered paradise South of the Border in --- Quadalajara.

Follow the author on his journey from Qui Nhon to Quadalajara. Find out whatever happened to The Men!

(Coming "soon" to a theater near you?)

Hardcover 394 Pages

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