In 1950, with a new Ph.D. in theoretical physics, but no job, Mort Gordon was going blind from retinitis pigmentosa. Bernice Rubinstein walks with a limp from spina bifida and isn’t expected to earn a living. In All the Ways You Taught Us, A Memoir of Ability, Disability and the Pursuit of Meaning, Janet Gordon explores her parents’ love story. Soon, with Bernice as his dedicated reader, Mort overcomes barriers to becoming a professor and designing particle accelerators. His calculations help physicists “see” the atomic nucleus and understand the largest forces in the universe.
The book probes how Bernice and Mort succeed as parents and give the author the commitment to pursue meaning in literature, in Jewish culture and ritual, in science, in political action. As they age, when they can no longer manage alone, Janet moves closer — with consequences for the whole family. This memoir explores what we can do for each other and what we gain from the doing.
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Nonfiction
All The Ways You Taught Us: A Memoir of Ability, Disability, and the Pursuit of Meaning
- From the Publisher
September 1, 2023
Discussion Questions
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