Beryl: The Making of a Disability Activist

By: Dustin Galer

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Synopsis: Beryl Potter was a reserved working-class mother of three living a decent life, or so it seemed, when a harmless slip and fall marked the unravelling of everything that she had known about herself and the world around her. Over the course of six years, she endured unimaginable pain. As doctors raced to save her life, her limbs and eyesight were taken from her one by one. In the span of a few years, she lost nearly half her body, her financial security, her home, her husband, and any semblance of a recognizable future. A survivor of more than one hundred surgeries, a dangerous opioid addiction, and multiple suicide attempts, Beryl Potter devoted herself to bettering the lives of other people with disabilities and made a tremendous contribution to disability awareness from the 1970s to 1990s. In this unparalleled biography, Dustin Galer demonstrates how Beryl Potter seemed to crack the code of the social system that oppressed her. By wading into the weeds of her complicated life before and after her accident, Galer leaves readers with a complex portrait of a woman who defied and challenged gender and disability norms of her time, paving the way for disability justice.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
Book Size:: 324 Pages
ISBN-13:: 9781771136389
Related ISBNs:: 9781771136372
Publisher:: Between the Lines
Date of Addition:: 04/16/24
Copyrighted By:: Dustin Galer
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Disability-Related, Biographies and Memoirs, Social Studies, Politics and Government
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.
Foreword by:: Judy Rebick