Terry Pratchett, the British grandmaster of 'Britain's most shoplifted novels' and widely known for his Discworld novels, donated a million dollars toward Alzheimer research yesterday. It was last year that Pratchett revealed that he was suffering the "embuggerance" of Alzheimer's, and by going public about his suffering he hoped to bring in more funding toward Alzheimer research.
Novelist Terry Pratchett donates $1 million to Alzheimer's research
LONDON — British novelist Terry Pratchett said Thursday he is donating $1 million to fund research into Alzheimer's, the incurable brain disease he was diagnosed with last year.
The best-selling fantasy writer announced in December that he had early-onset dementia, a rare form of the disease. Pratchett said it was "a shock and a shame" that less money was spent on Alzheimer's research than on fighting cancer.
He said the donation of about 500,000 pounds would go to the Alzheimer's Research Trust, a British charity.
"There's nearly as many of us as there are cancer sufferers, and it looks as if the number of people with the disease will double within a generation," Pratchett told the group's annual conference.
He said Alzheimer's was "a nasty disease, surrounded by shadows and small, largely unseen tragedies."
Pratchett is best known for his satirical "Discworld" fantasy saga. More than 55 million copies of his books have been sold around the world.
The writer said he had reacted to his diagnosis with "a sense of loss and abandonment (and a) violently coherent fury that made the Miltonic Lucifer's rage against Heaven seem a bit miffed by comparison."
"That fire still burns," Pratchett said, but reassured fans that he planned to continue writing.
The Canadian Press
4 comments:
It's scary disease and all the more scary because the rest of the world remembers evrything thats escaping your mind. I have watched a couple of movies on the same theme. It's not just you, but the one's around you are also in pain.
:-) Someday, the name will not mean so much dread.
As he said, he "Ate'nt dead"
It's sad that someone so brilliant like Terry Pratchett would one day be taken away by Alzheimer's. However, right now, it's a joy to see Pterry alive, and still writing the Discworld novels that are so full of wit and humour. Just goes to show that despite the disease, one can still live and be happy about it.
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