An Angel At My Table

I just watched this 1990 movie by Jane Campion about New Zealand novelist Janet Frame, who spent 8 yrs of her 20s in a loony bin mis-diagnosed with schizophrenia. Stories about mental illness make me uncomfortable. They strike too close to home! Janet Frame was voluntarily hospitalized at the Avondale mental facility, near which I grew up. The loonies used to walk past my friend’s house and they’d always be listening to radios. I figured that because they were loony, I could take advantage of them, so I tried to swap my undies for their radios, but they weren’t loony enough to go for this deal.

About Luke Ford

I've written five books (see Amazon.com). My work has been covered in the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and on 60 Minutes. I teach Alexander Technique in Beverly Hills (Alexander90210.com).
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