By Terry Ryan A scary face is acceptable at Halloween time, in fact expected, and the scarier the better according to most children. But what happens to the child that still has a “scary” face after Halloween when they take their Frankenstein or Dracula masks off? I’m talking about children who suffer from cleft lips. They can never take off their facial deformities or scars from the many operations they have had to endure to correct their smiles. These children have to tolerate the stares … [Read more...]
Praise for Cleft Heart from Kirkus Reviews
Here's an excerpt from first my first Big League review: "[After Schonborn’s] first day of kindergarten, he complained that no one seemed to understand him when he spoke. His mother, wise beyond her years, reassured him by saying that the other children ‘needed to be better listeners.’ The author writes charmingly of his childhood, particularly when he describes the many ways his birth defect affected his young parents and siblings. For example, while Schonborn’s 2-year-old sister watched … [Read more...]
Official Back Cover Blurb for Cleft Heart: Chasing Normal
Karl Schonborn’s silver tongue is locked away for years by a birth defect that makes his speech unclear and his face asymmetrical. Bullies target him for this and even for being restricted from PE and sports. But with courage, humor, and his family’s love, he overcomes shame, handicaps, and personal losses that might have defeated others. Skilled doctors, speech therapists, and his own determination allow him a shot at his dream of becoming a debate star and attending an elite … [Read more...]
Live, Love, and Laugh with Author of Cleft Heart
A baby announcement: Born today, October 15 A ruddy-looking, one pound, three ounce . . . book. Midwife - Wayman Publishing Since my two kids aren’t even married yet, Cleft Heart: Chasing Normal is the closest thing to a grandchild I’ll be seeing for a while. You can catch a glimpse of the Schonborn newborn at: AMAZON copy n paste to browser … [Read more...]
Battle Royal over Richard III’s Remains.
In my recent blog "Deformity, Heroes, Repulsion, and Love," I mentioned Richard III as a classic example of storytellers like Shakespeare demonizing someone with a deformity.* Even Disney --the current most trusted storyteller for children--has been caught doing it lately, as I pointed out in my blog about Johnny Depp's The Lone Ranger demonizing a villain with a cleft lip. Some academics, by the way, claimed Shakespeare was just taking literary license by giving his mean, murderous king in … [Read more...]
Disney Demonizes Cleft Lips
So, the latest Lone Ranger movie tries to do justice to the oft stereotyped Tonto. It may succeed, but I haven't seen the movie since the trailers depict it as another violent action movie geared for young people. But therein lies the rub. Disney has created a cleft-lipped villain who is bound to influence children and youth for a generation (DVDs last a long time). The Lego Corporation is guilty, too, as it has created a figure for the villain. As the Lego ads say, "Butch Cavendish is a … [Read more...]
Deformity, Heroes, Repulsion, and Love
It may startle some, but people in a few countries still banish cleft lip and palate kids to back rooms due to beliefs, like those espoused in the Old Testament, that clefts have been touched by Satan and made imperfect and impure. Even in more recent times, great writers have promulgated backward beliefs regarding deformities. Shakespeare’s ruthless protagonist in Richard III, for example, convinced audiences for centuries that Satan had touched deformed people. A while ago I came across … [Read more...]