November 4, 2005

A Shattered World; Cataclysmic Climate Change

In early December 1988, at the age of 41, I boarded a plane in Portland, Ore., and during the flight to Washington, D.C., contracted a virus that targeted my brain. It was probably a common virus, according to my doctors; the most likely suspect is a human herpes virus carried on the plane's recirculated air. But my immune system was unable to stop its assault on my brain.

By the time I flew back to Oregon, three days later, I was a changed man. I knew I was very sick, but didn't