LIVING WITH RP AND WRITING HER OWN REMEDY

Dallas, Texas – (June 9, 2009) – A chuckle, a grin, or maybe even a belly-popping laugh might be your response to Gail Greenberg’s new children’s book. This uncontrollable sensation might also take control while watching one of her comedic plays. Greenberg is an author and playwright who fervently believes that keeping a good sense of humor is the key to dealing with tough situations, particularly her life-long battle with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a blinding eye disease she inherited at birth.

“There needs to be a lot more visibility because most people haven't even heard about RP,” Greenberg expressed.

There are few who share Greenberg’s rare genetic disorder. According to eMedicine from WebMD, only 1 in 4,000 Americans or 0.03% nationwide are currently diagnosed with RP.

People with RP experience a gradual loss in vision as a result of the death of vital photoreceptor cells in the retina. These photoreceptors affect peripheral and night vision as well as color perception and central vision.

Ultimately, the result of their degeneration is blindness and, in most cases, patients with RP become legally blind by the age of 40.

“It’s a very scary, robbing disease and no one had prepared me for this,” she said. “There needs to be a lot more research. For me, to be honest, I wish that they had the cure today.”

Gradually losing her sight, Greenberg decided to focus on living her life to the fullest. “I can sit around feeling sorry for myself and sit in the house all day,” she said. “But if you are a person with RP it is important that you make the most of your life. You’ve got to focus on your abilities.”

Greenberg is definitely committed to doing all that she has ever wanted to do. Despite having significant vision loss at a very early age, she went on to become the first female student manager of the football and wrestling teams at the University of Nebraska and the University of Oklahoma. After receiving her MBA and realizing that she didn’t enjoy working in the corporate world, Greenberg went on to pursue writing, a passion she developed early in life.

“The best writing advice I ever got was write what you know,” so she took a daring step and began a writing career as a sports writer. She took writing courses and thereafter began writing short stories, articles, poems, screenplays, books and plays. Among these accomplishments, Greenberg recently published her first children’s book, No Pig’s Brain Soup, Please!, a fiction story loosely based on the experience of her daughter Hayley who was adopted from China.

The book tells the story of a young girl who believes that she “has to choose between the Jewish culture of her adoptive family and her Chinese heritage.” The character’s dilemma takes place when her friend offers her a popular Asian dish called pig’s brain soup. However, the girl cannot eat the soup because of her religious beliefs.

The story has appealed to people of a variety of cultures and ages, claiming first runner up in the ABC’s Children’s Picture Book Competition in 2004. Finally, after five years and 35 rejection letters later the book was published in January 2009.

Although writing is one of her unmistakable talents, it’s not her only interest. Greenberg has done a number of things that most would only dream of accomplishing in their lifetime. After describing an adventurous trip she took alone to Finland and Scandinavia, it became even clearer that her inner sensibility has grown stronger over the years.

“Because of the RP I couldn’t see, but it didn’t stop me,” she emphasized. “It never stopped me from going and doing everything that I wanted to do, and I still do everything that I want to do.”

Her writing really demands perseverance not only because of the daunting task of gaining publication, but also because of the debilitating effects of RP. As a blind writer, Greenberg uses a scanner to scan page after page of material in order to hear the words spoken aloud by her computer. This is a very slow and tedious method she must use in order to research her topics.

“We need more programs and equipment that will help us do our jobs better, faster.”

Fortunately, the challenges of RP have not slowed down her drive to pursue her aspirations and interests. She is currently developing material for new books and plays. She hopes to travel more and would love to take part in today’s politics.

The Retina Foundation of the Southwest is diligently seeking out the cure for RP with groundbreaking clinical trials and studies. Yet, Greenberg clearly knows another remedy. “I always tell people that most people with disabilities focus on their abilities not their disabilities,” she said. “One of my goals with my writing is to educate, entertain, and inspire people…I want to get out there. I want to experience life and do everything that I can.”

To learn more about Gail Greenberg and her new book No Pig’s Brain Soup, Please! visit www.gailegreenberg.com. To find out how to get your copy, contact Greenberg at gailgreenberg@sbcglobal.net.