Gary Presley's "Seven Wheelchairs" is rolling right along~

IWW administrator Gary Presley has written the book of his life. Literally. His memoir details, in "painful, powerful, and poetic detail," Gary's life after contracting polio from the very immunization designed to protect him from the disease.

Seven Wheelchairs: A life Beyond Polio will be published by University of Iowa Press this October, and it's already creating buzz.

Writing a book is hard work, getting it published even harder, and the PR push can be toughest of all. Gary completed the first two and is already rolling along on the third, and I don't just mean in his seventh wheelchair.

Seems a friend of Gary's told him that her husband pointed to an advertisement in Poets and Writers magazine, and asked, "Isn't that your writing buddy from Missouri?" It sure was.

Then there's a Seven Wheelchairs review in Kirkus Reviews. You need a subscription to read the full review, but here's the teaser blurb:

Now in his 60s, Presley got a booster shot of the Salk attenuated polio virus vaccine in 1959 at age 17. Designed to enhance immunity, the virus instead produced major paralysis, which required the boy's removal to an iron lung and then to a series . . . Aug 15, 2008 - Kirkus Reviews - Presley, Gary

Gary is also scheduled to sign books at the Prairie Lights, an independent book store in Iowa City, on October 3rd.

I've preordered my copy and look forward to its delivery the way my kids waited for Harry Potter. Seven Wheelchairs can be preordered from Amazon.com or the University of Iowa Press.