The late Howard Engel remained a prolific writer, even when he could no longer read
One morning, Howard Engel picked up his morning paper and thought someone had played a prank. The words looked like gibberish. It took a while to realize he'd had a stroke. He later learned he was dealing with a rare condition called alexia sine agraphia – meaning he could still write, although he could not read.
Engel died on July 15th in Toronto at the age of 88.
He was best known as the author of the acclaimed series of novels about detective Benny Cooperman. And he was a long-time producer at the CBC, for programs such as Assignment, Sunday Supplement, The Arts in Review, Booktime and Anthology.
In 2010, the late neurologist Dr. Oliver Sacks wrote an article about Engel that was published in The New Yorker. The two remained friends.
The Sunday Edition's Michael Enright interviewed Engel in 2005, about how he managed to write another book even though he had lost the ability to read.
Click "Listen" above to hear that conversation.