FeedRIP Cecil Helman
Cape Town-born author and medical doctor Cecil Helman (above left) died earlier this week in his home city of London, UK, of complications arising from motor neurone disease. He was perhaps best-known for his 2006 memoir, Suburban Shaman, published by Double Storey, which won the Medical Journalists Association Book Award. It was described by Oliver Sacks as “a beautifully written, devastatingly honest, and often very funny account of an audacious and adventurous life”.
Helman was also a noted author of prose poetry (see below for links to his non-medical books). He was a frequent visitor to South Africa and, when he was in Cape Town, often paid a visit to Hugh Hodge’s Off the Wall poetry evenings. Hodge sent out an email this week about Helman: “Cecil read at OTW on several occasions on his annual pilgrimage to his home country… He wrote prose poetry of humour and passion. A lovely man. I shall miss him so.”
Hodge is not alone:
Cecil specialised in medical anthropology. His textbook ‘Culture, Health and Illness’ has seen numerous editions, and he wrote many other seminal books and papers. But he also turned his hand to poetry, philosophy and fiction. ‘Suburban Shaman’ is a witty and profound memoir of his training and experiences as a GP. Cecil was never anything less than forthright. He managed to tread on quite a few toes as a consequence of his scepticism of institutional processes. But alongside his individualism, he was profoundly interested in the welfare of communities and individuals. He was fascinated by people and their stories and he had a real gift for passing those stories on, through his lectures and writings.
Helman leaves a daughter, Zoe – and perhaps others, but we haven’t found any further names; nor do we know Helman’s age. His personal website remains online; it contains plenty to remind us of just how active and effective he was in life. Visit CecilHelman.com.
Book details
- Suburban Shaman: A journey through medicine by Cecil Helman
EAN: 9781919930787
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- Culture, Health and Illness by Cecil Helman
EAN: 9780340914502
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- The Body of Frankenstein’s Monster: Essays in Myth and Medicine by Cecil Helman
EAN: 9781931044837
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- Medical Anthropology by Cecil Helman
EAN: 9780754626558
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Other books by Cecil Helman
- Irregular Numbers of Beasts and Birds
- The Other Half of the Dream
- The Golden Toenails of Ambrosio P
- Further works at CecilHelman.com
Aug
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