Great Lives

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Factual: Life Stories

Biographical series in which guests choose someone who has inspired their lives.

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Great Lives: Suzanne O'Sullivan on Oliver Sacks

Suzanne O'Sullivan on Oliver Sacks

BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Suzanne O'Sullivan on Oliver Sacks

Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks is Suzanne O'Sullivan's hero, she tells Matthew Parris

Scientist and writer Suzanne O'Sullivan chooses fellow neurologist and author, Oliver Sacks. With Matthew Parris. From 2019.

Matthew Parris meets Suzanne O'Sullivan to discuss her medical and literary hero, Oliver Sacks.  

She first came across his work on a beach in Thailand, reading his famous collection of case studies, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.  Joining the discussion is Sacks' partner, the writer and photographer Bill Hayes. Together they discuss the career of a gifted medic and writer who also loved motorbikes and wild swimming. Sacks wrote another extraordinary book, Awakenings, which was made into a film starring Robin Williams and Robert de Niro.

Suzanne O'Sullivan is an Irish neurologist and award winning author.

Producer: Chris Ledgard

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2019.

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