CRIPZEN:
A MANUAL FOR SURVIVAL

Lorenzo W. Milam

Over half of the disabled commit suicide in the first few years of their new lives," says the author. "I wrote CripZen to show my brothers and sisters how to survive and in the process find love for others (and themselves.)"

Milam has been described as "a survivor's survivor." (he has been disabled for over sixty years.) With rich humor and a sageness born of so many years in what he calls "the wilderness of the body," he shows his fellow disabled how to deal with their new world of rehabilitation specialists, SSI, wheelchairs, doctors and a new self.

There are several chapters on aspects of sexuality, including "Celibacy," "Gay Love," "Self Love," "Sex Surrogates," and "Fetishes." (Milam wrote a sexuality column for several years for Independent Living, from which these chapters are drawn.)

The heart of the book is the title chapter "CripZen." "Zen Buddhism is a religion that emphasizes spiritual growth and the quiet mind over physical activities and the temporary pleasures of the flesh," he says. "The study and practice of Zen should be a natural for us."

WHAT THE CRITICS ARE SAYING
ABOUT CRIPZEN

CripZen is loaded with love, heart and wisdom, delicious and nourishing...

--- New Mobility/ Spinal Network

CripZen is funny, wise and elegantly written. No one, disabled or not, should miss it...

--- Geoffrey C. Ward, Author of
The Emergence of FDR

One should be careful about throwing around words such as 'wise,' but it seems to be an accurate characterization of much of what Milam has to say...

--- The San Diego Union-Tribune

This is an extraordinary book and the first that deals with the culture of disability...

--- Sylvia Danovitch, Director, Oral History Project, EEOC.

Written with humor and realism, CripZen is a survival text for anyone facing a new world of rehabilitation specialists, nurses, and frightened family members...Milam discusses sex, coping with depression and anger, finding psychological help, and using such spiritual means of survival as meditation. A pithy and honest book...For all collections.

--- Library Journal

...a tough, funny, surprising guide for the newly disabled...

--- The Millennium Whole Earth Catalogue

By turns tough and tender, petulant and witty, always provocative, CripZen challenges stereotypes cherished by the "temporarily-abled" and encourages the disabled to face the mirror unashamed...

--- The Sun

...forces readers to reexamine their attitudes and actions.

--- The Los Angeles Times

... a welcome tilling of the soil or attitudes towards disability. Maybe all the seeds Milam plants don't bear fruit, but he certainly clears the weeds and enriches the top soil.

--- Robert Gorski, Disability Advocate

Written with humor and realism, CripZen reveals a side of the world of disability that is rarely discussed and hopefully its insights will inspire a more compassionate understanding all around...

--- TASH Newsletter

It is the truth about disability and being disabled...It is a book I recommend.

--- Bob Funk, Founder, Disability Rights
Education & Defense Fund

This is more than a book about the pain of disability. It's more than a prescription for survival. It's a how-to-do-it manual written by one of the masters.

--- Hugh Gallagher, Author,
FDR's Splendid Deception

ISBN: 0-917320-03-4 (Softcover) $20.00