Hal Lever

Foreword

This is a story which must be read!

It is an inspiring account of a man's refusal to be destroyed by an

accident which shattered his body, distorted his sight, blanked his memory and all but obliterated his capacity for speech. But it is more than that. It is also the story of a man's self-belief and persistence in the face of constant misunderstanding, humiliation, and even insult. It reveals how insensitive many of us can be to the problems of the disabled: some of the passages in which Hal Lever records reactions to his attempts to speak normally are almost unbearably moving. Nor is the insensitivity and impercipience confined to the lay public. I suspect some of the medical profession have cause to feel deeply ashamed about their response to their patient's pain. The writer's exposure of their limitations is the more powerful because it is presented without malice or bitterness.

And running beneath the story of what must be seen as an almost miraculous recovery is another just as poignant - Hal Lever's desire to become a writer. The autobiography, written without the aid of 'ghosts', is neither his only nor his first struggle to pin meanings and feelings with words. There is a novel in manuscript and numerous attempts at plays; there is undoubtedly more work to come.

Because this story is Hal Lever's own and not some 'as told to' version of a life, it has, rough edges not withstanding, authenticity and pace, and also allows the man himself to come across strongly in all his admirable individuality - quirky; stubborn; often irritating in his persistence; irrepressible; endlessly optimistic; unflaggingly brave and, in the end, loveable. Here is the stuff of the island's survival in the Second World War. Here is the heroism of the ordinary person - too seldom sung, too seldom celebrated. Here is the victim who refused to be a victim and who defeated the corrosiveness of self- pity by will and wit. Here is hope for us all.

David Evans University of Liverpool