Synopses & Reviews
Gibs Odyssey is the true story of an extraordinary man, Gib Peters, and his solo journey along the Intracoastal Waterway from Key West to New York and back while suffering the ravages of Lou Gehrigs disease.
During his six-month voyage aboard his boat, Ka-Ching, Gib encounters numerous obstacles. He meets an incompetent sailor who wraps his tow rope around Ka-Chings propellers and accidentally stabs himself as he tries to cut it loose. Navy and Coast Guard Zodiacs rush to stop Gib from entering a naval bombardment zone. He searches for his two kittens, brought along as companions on his trip, when they go AWOL. All the while he is forced to cope with increasing levels of paralysis, steering the boat home with his feet and unable to speak.
Authored by the neurologist who treated him, this remarkable book is told in Gibs own voice through a series of e-mails to family and friends and articles he wrote for the Key West Citizen. Part travelogue, part soul-searching meditation, it is an uplifting and sometimes hilarious story of one mans conquest of death and his profound insights into life.
Review
"Travel often inspires deep reflection on themes like resilience, familiarity, and resolve. All three of those threads are artfully explored in Gib's Odyssey...
Synopsis
Gibs Odyssey is the heart-rending story of a man who defiantly resisted the encroachments of a fatal degenerative disease. The odyssey of Gib Peters is a story of a man who left a lasting mark on his community by conquering despair and choosing a life of adventure with the precious time he had left.
Synopsis
“Marcia kissed me goodbye, ceremoniously tossed off the lines, and I eased my vessel off the seawall. It was May 19, 2004, at 10:30 a.m. And so it began. An odyssey to somewhere—maybe the Bahamas, New York, the Great Lakes, then down the Mississippi to the Gulf, or maybe none of these. If my boat and I hold together, maybe all of these and more. . . .
In February of 2003 I was diagnosed with Lou Gehrigs disease, or ALS. . . . As simply as I can tell it, I want to provoke my ALS to a fight. A solo trek in a small boat provides the adventures, challenges, and solitude needed to test me. . . . This voyage is simply pure provocation of my disease and a way to face its devastation and brag about how I did it.”
About the Author
Walter G. Bradley, DM, FRCP, is the emeritus chairman of the Department of Neurology at the Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami. He is the author, most recently, of Treating the Brain: What the Best Doctors Know.