In Ian’s Ride, Karen Polinsky tells an inspiring story of Ian Mackay learning ways to approach life after he had been paralyzed from the neck down. One of the things I especially liked about the story was how it focused on the process of finding solutions rather than dramatizing a negative view of the situation. This is emphasized by the book’s subtitle: A Long-distance Journey to Joy. Furthermore, it portrayed not just Ian’s efforts, but it put them in the context of his family and friends acting as a team to help find and realize solutions. Much like an ecosystem?

And as Ian began to regain basic communication and mobility skills, he used those skills to re-connect with his desire to spend time traveling outdoors.

He took that even further by using his people skills to help grow a bigger group of people who are collaborating to make ordinary life, and even outdoor travel, more accessible to people with physical challenges. (see The Here and Now Project)

Normally, I read and review content about non-human aspects of nature, and I leave the human stories to others. But in this case, I saw this story as a metaphor for nature. It’s not unusual to view nature through the lens of evolution or the lens of ecosystem interrelationships. But in this case, I saw Ian evolving methods to regain functionality and meaning in his life, and as he was doing it, he was leveraging strength of community.

As I finished the book, I realized that it had educated me so that I could have more informed empathy with people who have disabilities. That opened up a whole new dimension to my view of the world.

If you’d like to hear more about the book and meet Ian and the author, Karen Polinsky, there will be book launch events at Eagle Harbor Books on Bainbridge Island at 6:30 p.m. on May 29, 2025 and at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park at 7 p.m. on June 10, 2025.