Article by David Silver
In August of 1962, Norman Shapiro was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. Ten years later, he wrote a book—a truly unique first person account of his experiences with both classical medicine and orgone therapy in the treatment of his illness.
Thanks to the generous donation of the manuscript to the Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust by Ann Shapiro, daughter of Norman Shapiro, we hereby announce the publication of this fascinating, detailed, historical record of one man’s life and death struggle to navigate his way through the emotional and physical consequences of a cancer diagnosis in the year 1962 using all means available to him at the time.
Especially poignant, given that the story took place in the years just after Dr. Reich died in federal prison, where he found himself as a result of a legal morass initiated by the United States Food and Drug Administration’s accusation that his experiments with the orgone energy accumulator on patients constituted "peddling" of a fraudulent medical device.
Norman Shapiro was not a "Reichian" zealot. In fact, he was quite pessimistic about his fate and did not really believe that orgone therapy or the orgone energy accumulator would benefit him. Rather, he was urged by his wife to fight for his life by giving this form of treatment a chance after the harsh cobalt radiation treatment he received weakened him without producing any improvement in his condition.
Whether Shapiro’s recovery resulted, in fact, from his use of the orgone energy accumulator, or whether he was simply a "miracle case," as he was described by his cancer doctor, we can never know for certain. But it is not a matter of belief. Only conscientious and bona fide scientific research can provide answers relevant to this question.
Regardless of what one believes, this story is like a time capsule which serves the function of giving a human voice to critically important feelings and attitudes about cancer and its treatment which are as relevant today as they were a half-century ago.
Love, work and knowledge are the well-springs of our life. They should also govern it.
