Cyclops Awakes: a Newspaperman Fights Back After a Massive Stroke

John Mantle, a self-described "opinionated, slightly obnoxious, successful businessman, avid motorcyclist and pilot," thought he had the world by the tail. He was running his own community newspaper, the Fort Mill Times, and, after years of losses and constant worry, he was finally making money and having fun.

Then, in the flash of a second - "An active man's worst nightmare." He was felled by a catastrophic stroke, nearly died, and woke up unable to speak, paralyzed, dependent on his wife for everything from "bowel movements to entertainment."

Mantle's compelling narrative, written from the perspective of a "working stiff," is as impossible to put down as any thriller. It describes his struggle for survival and his search for sanity in the labyrinthine half-world of a hospital stroke floor.

A veteran newspaperman and long-time foreign correspondent in countries spanning the globe, Mantle takes us inside the world of small-town journalism and allows us a rare peek into the mindset of a conservative South Carolina community that rallied around its curmudgeonly, liberal publisher and refused to let him die.

Anyone who has ever watched a loved one, relative or friend attempt to beat the odds of a major stroke, and struggle to regain their independence, will want to read this book.

John Mantle is 59 and a veteran writer, photographer and newspaperman. He spent 26 years at United Press International, including long stints in such places as Moscow and Buenos Aires, before moving to Washington, DC as the agency's executive vice president for newspapers. He left UPI to become president, publisher and chief operating officer of The Alexandria Gazette in Alexandria, Virginia.

In 1987, Mantle and his wife Carol bought the Fort Mill Times, a weekly newspaper in Fort Mill, South Carolina. They owned the Fort Mill Times for ten years, turning it into one of the most successful and prestigious community newspapers in the country and winning dozens of state and national first-place awards for journalism, photography and design in the process.

After writing Cyclops Awakes, Mantle began work on his next book, a novel, based loosely on his experience growing up in London during World War II. The British Are Best will be published by Lucky Press in 2001.

John and Carol divide their time each week between homes in Fort Mill, South Carolina and Little Switzerland, North Carolina. They have three spoiled and fat cats. John has two daughters from a previous marriage.