From
The Miami Hurricane, student newspaper at the University of Miami:
David Leal (pictured), who lost the ability to walk when he was 8 years old, lives through the characters in his graphic novel.
Leal, 31, teamed up with UM alumna Corinne Nicholson, a freelance
editor and writer, to finalize his manuscript. For two years, Nicholson
has helped him revise and polish the story he conceptualized.
“She’s my hands,” said Leal, who uses a ventilator to speak and can articulate an average of three words at a time.
Leal has muscular dystrophy, a degenerative disease that has disabled
the use of his arms and legs. However, already 30 chapters into his
manuscript, he hasn’t let the disease stop him.
The novel “Eternal Radiance of Romance” will be published in six
parts. It is about a man, a character based on Leal himself, who is
stuck in a love triangle with a maid and a singer in modern-day Japan.
Leal hopes to finish the first part by May.
“I decided to write the story so I could live through my characters
and do things I would have done in my life, like swimming, walking and
doing things a normal person would do,” Leal said.
Leal remembers a time when he could walk but would frequently fall.
Then, one day in elementary school, he couldn’t get out of his chair.
“I can’t let that get to me. That’s why I always move forward,” he
said. “I just keep moving no matter what. If I fall down, I get back up
again.”
The improbable bond
Thirty-six-year-old Nicholson, who graduated from UM in 1998 with a
bachelors degree in business administration, was supposed to help Leal
with the novel’s character and plot development for six weeks – but
she’s been working with him for two years.
“My profession – my passion – saves my life,” Nicholson said. “It preserves my livelihood.”
Nicholson runs a referral-based business and sees up to 14 clients on
a regular basis, several of whom are UM students. She helps with
graduate school applications, edits dissertations, writes grants and
also considers herself a writing arts therapist.
Nicholson said she does the work for herself and her clients, but never for the money.
“I learned a long time ago that even in business in this world, there always has to be a heart,” she said.
Nicholson dropped her fees for Leal because she knew it was going to
be a labor of love. At the same time, however, she made a conscious
effort to treat him like her other clients.
“My main concern was not his disability,” she said. “It was his ability to write.”
From words to art
Five nurses who provide around-the-clock home care helped Leal transcribe his work even before he met Nicholson.
“We used to be his voice, but David’s learning to be his own voice,” said Maria Barroso, one of his nurses.
Soon, Leal met artist Alfonso Garcia, 24, at an anime convention and
hired him to convert the piece into a graphic novel. Garcia uses pencil
and marker, and most of the illustrations are in black and white.
However, some will be in color to highlight significant scenes.
“He draws what I see in my mind,” Leal said.
Garcia, who has a slight learning disability, said he feels he was meant to meet Leal and Nicholson.
“We all have something in common: We’re all artists,” Garcia said.
Finding faith
Although Leal was only expected to live to 21, he said there’s still a
lot he wants to accomplish in his life. These goals include studying
creative writing in college, being in a Pitbull video and giving back to
the world.
“I want to be like Jesus, to help people so they never give up in
life, no matter what happens,” Leal said. “I want to do something, make
an impact on the world. I want to do more.”
Religion has always played an important role in Leal’s life. He
believes God brought him his voice. His speech has improved since he
began working with Nicholson.
Leal is currently garnering support for his novel through the Facebook group “David’s Anime Otakus.”
“If anybody deserves to walk and jump up and down, he does,” Nicholson said.
2003,
says the Palestinian-American Maysoon Zayid, was a dark time. The World
Trade Center attacks and the launch of the Iraq war meant that, as an
Arab in America, she felt completely vilified. And Zayid wasn't just
troubled socially. She was an actress, but noticed that roles for Arabs
had almost completely dried up - "unless you wanted to portray a
terrorist". Meanwhile, the parts depicting disabled characters she
thought she might have a chance with (Zayid has cerebral palsy) almost
always went to able-bodied actors.
"There's
a long way to go in the casting of actors with disability," she warns.
"Actually, I find it a bit obscene that there are still so many
able-bodied actors in these roles." Still, Zayid decided to do something
about it and turned to stand-up comedy, in which she confronts cerebral
palsy head-on. Of course, she had to deal with being patronisingly
called "brave", but it was actually the rest of the routine - detailing
Arab life in the West - that began to win her acclaim. "It's strange,"
she says of her popularity. "I mean, I'm not a traditional observational
comedian - I'm more of a storyteller. It's just that I tell very
personal stories about my life as an Arab."
Encouraged by
like-minded Arab talent, Zayid founded the New York Arab-American Comedy
Festival in 2003 and her inclusion on the wryly titled
Axis of Evil comedy tour alerted the likes of Adam Sandler, who wrote a part for her in
You Don't Mess with the Zohan. Her comedy career began to take her across the world and on to television and, at the end of this week, she brings her
Funny Arabs
show to London and Liverpool. But Zayid doesn't just restrict herself
to English punchlines: her shows in the Middle East (in Palestine, she's
helped to set up disabled-access playgrounds) are performed in Arabic.
"And
that's really different again," she laughs. "The stand-up comedy scene
there is starting over in some ways because of the security and
political situation, but it's great to tell jokes in Arabic. The
language is much more flowery and musical - which is a relief. It means I
can take more short-cuts to jokes!"
Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/on-stage/maysoon-zayid-is-taking-her-show-on-the-road#ixzz2CjMv4WPV
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook
2003,
says the Palestinian-American Maysoon Zayid, was a dark time. The World
Trade Center attacks and the launch of the Iraq war meant that, as an
Arab in America, she felt completely vilified. And Zayid wasn't just
troubled socially. She was an actress, but noticed that roles for Arabs
had almost completely dried up - "unless you wanted to portray a
terrorist". Meanwhile, the parts depicting disabled characters she
thought she might have a chance with (Zayid has cerebral palsy) almost
always went to able-bodied actors.
"There's
a long way to go in the casting of actors with disability," she warns.
"Actually, I find it a bit obscene that there are still so many
able-bodied actors in these roles." Still, Zayid decided to do something
about it and turned to stand-up comedy, in which she confronts cerebral
palsy head-on. Of course, she had to deal with being patronisingly
called "brave", but it was actually the rest of the routine - detailing
Arab life in the West - that began to win her acclaim. "It's strange,"
she says of her popularity. "I mean, I'm not a traditional observational
comedian - I'm more of a storyteller. It's just that I tell very
personal stories about my life as an Arab."
Encouraged by
like-minded Arab talent, Zayid founded the New York Arab-American Comedy
Festival in 2003 and her inclusion on the wryly titled
Axis of Evil comedy tour alerted the likes of Adam Sandler, who wrote a part for her in
You Don't Mess with the Zohan. Her comedy career began to take her across the world and on to television and, at the end of this week, she brings her
Funny Arabs
show to London and Liverpool. But Zayid doesn't just restrict herself
to English punchlines: her shows in the Middle East (in Palestine, she's
helped to set up disabled-access playgrounds) are performed in Arabic.
"And
that's really different again," she laughs. "The stand-up comedy scene
there is starting over in some ways because of the security and
political situation, but it's great to tell jokes in Arabic. The
language is much more flowery and musical - which is a relief. It means I
can take more short-cuts to jokes!"
Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/on-stage/maysoon-zayid-is-taking-her-show-on-the-road#ixzz2CjMv4WPV
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook
