Mark O'Brien (poet)
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Mark O'Brien (July 31, 1949 – July 4, 1999) was an American journalist, poet, and advocate for the disabled. He has been the subject of two films: '' Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien'', which won an
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
in 1997, and '' The Sessions'' in which he was portrayed by John Hawkes, a film that won the audience award in the U.S. Dramatic category at the
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
in 2012. ''The Sessions'' was based on his essay, "On Seeing a Sex Surrogate",Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...
'' magazine in 1990. The sex surrogate was
Cheryl Cohen-Greene Cheryl Cohen-Greene (born September 9, 1944) is an American sexual surrogate partner, speaker, and author, known for her work with American poet Mark O'Brien in 1986, before his death in 1999. She was portrayed in the film '' The Sessions'' by ...
. They remained friends until his death.


Personal life

O'Brien contracted
polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...
in 1955 and spent the rest of his life paralyzed and requiring an
iron lung An iron lung is a type of negative pressure ventilator, a medical ventilator, mechanical respirator which encloses most of a person's body and varies the air pressure in the enclosed space to stimulate breathing. It assists breathing when Musc ...
. In the iron lung he attended
UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...
, produced his poetry and articles, and became an advocate for disabled people. He co-founded a small publishing house, Lemonade Factory, dedicated to poetry written by people with disabilities. He was featured in two segments of the radio program "
This American Life ''This American Life'' is a weekly hour-long American radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and is ...
" where he spoke about the occasional opportunities he had to leave the iron lung for short periods of time, trying to find love, and sex. O'Brien was the author of several volumes of poetry, including ''Breathing'', and an autobiography entitled, ''How I Became a Human Being: A Disabled Man’s Quest for Independence'', written with Gillian Kendall. O'Brien began seeing a sex surrogate at the age of thirty-eight to lose his virginity. That and the later meeting of him and his life partner, Susan Fernbach, is depicted in the film ''The Sessions''. The sex surrogate was named
Cheryl Cohen-Greene Cheryl Cohen-Greene (born September 9, 1944) is an American sexual surrogate partner, speaker, and author, known for her work with American poet Mark O'Brien in 1986, before his death in 1999. She was portrayed in the film '' The Sessions'' by ...
. They remained friends until his death.


Education

O'Brien received a bachelor's degree in English literature and a master's degree in journalism, both from the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
.


References


External links

*
This American Life - The Drama Bug
Act 3, "From the Audience Seats"
This American Life - Defying Sickness
Act 3, "Iron Man"


"Breathing" (poem)Mark O'Brien
at Poetry Foundation {{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Mark University of California, Berkeley alumni Poets from Boston Journalists from Boston 1949 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American poets American male journalists 20th-century American journalists American male poets 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers Polio survivors