Book description
Interweaving cutting-edge medical science with a poignant family
chronicle, The Thousand Mile Stare is the true story of one family's
discovery that it carries a unique gene for Early Onset Alzheimer's.
When most members of the Reiswig family reach their 40's, something in
their demeanor changes. A normally responsible father assigns a
dangerous farm chore to a much-too-young son. A vigilant grandfather
drives in front of an oncoming train. And they all develop what the
author calls "the thousand mile stare" -- a blank, wistful
gaze off into the distance, as though they are trying to locate some
vital piece of themselves that has been lost. From the author's story
of his ancestral roots in a small German town, to Dr. Alois
Alzheimer's discovery of the disease, to the Reiswig's triumphs and
tragedies on their Oklahoma farm, to a modern-day medical research
lab, to a Congressional hearing room in Washington, D. C., this book
offers profound insight into the devastating world of Alzheimer's, and
hope for the development of a cure.
Gary Reiswig has been a farmer, a preacher, a community organizer, an
innkeeper, a real estate agent, and an Alzheimer's activist. He is the
author of the novel Water Boy.
