WORDS AND IMAGES : Whole Man : A noted neurologist will discuss ‘The Human Will and the Power to Survive’ in a Camarillo lecture.
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Dr. Oliver Sacks, the distinguished neurologist and best-selling author of “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “Awakenings,” will make a rare appearance in Camarillo. He will lecture under the auspices of the Pleasant Valley Hospital Foundation at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Bill Esty Community Center, 3701 E. Las Posas Road.
In his lecture, “Awakenings: The Human Will and the Power to Survive,” Sacks will describe how people deal with extraordinary hardships and challenges.
The 1991 movie “Awakenings,” starring Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams, was based on Sacks’ book, which detailed experiments made on patients with the drug L-dopa in 1969. The drug, Sacks claimed, had an “explosive awakening” effect on catatonic survivors of a sleeping sickness epidemic.
Sacks was born in England in 1933 and came to the United States in 1960 after completing medical training at Oxford and Middlesex Hospital in London. He lives in New York and is professor of neurology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.
In his medical essays, lectures and books, which include “A Leg to Stand On” and “Seeing Voices,” Sacks stresses the need to treat disease by looking at the patient as a whole person. In calling for a neurology of the soul, Sacks pleads for deeper and more humane health care and the humane application of science.
Tickets are $15 each. Call Community Services at 389-5176.
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The bombing scenes in the World War II epic “Tora! Tora! Tora!” were filmed over the harbor in Port Hueneme in 1969 and Theodore Taylor, one of the producers of that movie, will make two appearances in Ventura County. Taylor’s credits include screenplays for television and films, histories and children’s books, including “Air Raid-Pearl Harbor.”
He will sign his new book, “Maria: A Christmas Story,” at 10 a.m. today at Adventures for Kids, 3457 Telegraph Road, and at 7 tonight at the Oxnard Public Library, 251 S. A St.
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Bring the whole family, picnic under the trees and enjoy the jazz rock and folk music at Oak Grove School’s open house and book fair beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at 220 W. Lomita Ave., Meiners Oaks. For details, call 646-8236.
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The Arcade Poetry Project will feature Carla Martinez and Maia, who will read their poetry at 8 p.m. Saturday (followed by open readings) in the Momentum Gallery, 34 N. Palm St., Ventura.
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“Mediterraneo,” winner of the Academy Award for best foreign film in 1991, screens at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Ojai Playhouse, 145 E. Ojai Ave.
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The annual Dorothy Daniels Honorary Writing competition sponsored by the Simi Valley Branch of the National League of American Pen Women is open to all writers over 18 years of age. Cash prizes will be awarded for short fiction (no longer than 2,000 words), poetry (50 lines) and nonfiction (limited to 1,500 words). Entries must be original, unpublished and postmarked on or before Dec. 15. For complete rules, send a SASE to NLAPW-SVB Contest, P.O. Box 6682, Thousand Oaks 91359, or call 495-2026.
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