Humbled. No, this post has nothing to do with rapper Kendrick Lamar, although I wanted to cleverly employ a few lyrics from his song “Humble” but I couldn’t find words suitable (clean enough) to incorporate in this post! It has been a year since my last post. The journey chronicled in White Man’s Disease did not end upon publication in June ‘16–it will continue for the rest of my life. In some ways the leg of the journey that took place in the year since I last posted was as meaningful a part of the White Man’s Disease story as any discussed in the book.

In the last year I have received validation, over and above the many wonderful sentiments received from many of you that I have blogged about in the past and reflected in this website’s gallery. This validation came in the form of recognition from literary professionals by way of several writing contests. I am humbled and honored.

​In June ‘17 I received a note from Max Rodriguez, Founder, Harlem Book Fair, that White Man’s Disease was selected as a Finalist within the Debut Nonfiction category of The Phillis Wheatley Book Awards. Harlem Book Fair is the nation’s largest African-American book fair and flagship Black literary event. The Harlem Book Fair has given Wheatley Awards to authors including Maya Angelou, Gordon Parks, and Terry McMillan—obviously not in the Debut Category! Notable authors participating have included Cornel West, Sonia Sanchez, Amiri Baraka, Walter Mosley, Terry McMillan, and Touré. Just to be mentioned in association with Harlem Book Fair is an accolade I will always hold on to. I was honored to be selected as a finalist and in July was awarded Honorable Mention, First Nonfiction, sharing the top prize in the category with another author.

In August, White Man’s Disease was chosen by 2017 New Apple Summer E-Book Awards for Excellence in Independent Publishing as an "Official Selection" in the Autobiography/Biography/Memoir category. One other Author won the top prize and White Man’s Disease was the runner-up.

Culminating this period of recognition, last month I received the following from The North Street Book Prize: “It gives me great pleasure to announce that you are the memoir winner of the 2017 North Street Book Prize! Our judges read 378 books and debated long through the fall and winter to determine the best.” The letter went on to mention a cash prize and marketing goodies; I am wearing my Winning Writer’s polo shirt award as I write this. Winning this competition was special; it was wonderful to be recognized for the other awards but there is just something about being the top prize winner. The North Street Book Prize judge’s commentary is here: winningwriters.com/past-winning-entries/white-mans-disease

Three years ago at my first meeting with James Abraham, owner of Book-Broker Publishers, I told him about the book I was writing: a true story of a life-changing event, and the 30-year journey that followed. Then I told him I already had chosen a title. “It’s a provocative title, but not a provocative book. You are probably going to try to change my mind. It is called White Man’s Disease...” I paused, studying James’s face for some reaction. “...despite the title, it is not about race.” I continued. James stated he thought the title was fine, and noted that “A memoir written by a Black man in America is inevitably about race”. I had never looked at things that way. That pearl of wisdom helped me decide right then that Book-Brokers is who I wanted to publish with; that James gets it. James told me something else that day. I had lamented that with the publication of White Man’s Disease that I would feel a void in my life from no longer writing. James chuckled; he told me that completing writing was not the end. He was right. With marketing, events, pursuing opportunities to share my story and perhaps inspire others dealing with trauma, and yes, entering writing competitions in search of that validation, the journey continues.

And hey, I might even win. I am humbled.

Edit 5/16/18: Congratulations! Your book has been named a Finalist in the 2018 Next Generation Indie Book Awards (NGIBA)



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Let me address the “elephant in the room”. That is, the title of my book: White Man’s Disease. Do a search online for White Man’s Disease and you will get millions of results. For a book titled with such a seemingly common phrase—at least according to search results—it sure generates a lot of “raised eyebrows”, and sometimes worse reactions. Yes, it is a provocative title, but White Man’s Disease is not a provocative book. The book is neither about White men nor is it about a disease. The title is metaphorical.

The phrase is used only twice in the book. On page one I recount the first time I heard it, although it gives no hint as to why the book has that title. The second time it is used is in the middle of the book as a tongue-in-cheek reference to the book’s subject matter.

White Man’s Disease is not about race (although a wise man, my editor—told me a memoir written by a Black man in America is inevitably going to be about race.) White Man’s Disease is a story about resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity.

You’ve heard the maxim: don’t judge a book by its cover. Hopefully prospective readers won’t judge this book by its title. In this highly racialized environment we find ourselves in, I acknowledge that is a risk I incur with that title. That would be too bad; readers of all races, from all over the country have shared some wonderful sentiments about the book with me. Page

Long ago I first heard the phrase White Man’s Disease uttered on national TV by, surprise, a well-known White man. Though I damn near fell out of my chair when I heard it, it was unquestionably used in a clever, amusing way. Little did I know at the time that I would appropriate the phrase for my own use many years later.

Furthermore—and this is not about defending or rationalizing the title, but just for perspective—White Man’s Disease contains several depictions of what I saw as heroic acts. All but one of these heroes are White men—including one I credit with saving my life, and another I credit with single-handedly resurrecting my promising professional career that had been derailed by a traumatic event. (I said all but one: the African-American hero in the book was Muhammad Ali, who touched my life in a small but poignant way.)

In the past couple of years, we have seen a number of books with racially provocative titles become national bestsellers, although they have the power of major publisher marketing campaigns and/or celebrity authors behind them: What’s the Matter with White People; White Trash; and, White Rage, are a few that come to mind. Oh and don’t forget that politically incorrect international hit, Don’t Call Me Nigger, Whitey. (Just kidding; that is a song by soul/funk icon Sly and the Family Stone released almost 50 years ago. My how times have changed!)

Ironically, though the title of my next book, Mommy What Are We Going to Do, is a lot more innocuous and pleasant sounding, its content touches on the political/cultural environment we find ourselves in. I suspect Mommy What Are We Going to Do will be far more squirm-inducing to readers than What Man’s Disease ever was. Don’t judge a book by its title!

This is an excerpt from a talk I gave 3/8/17 at the Punta Gorda Literary Fair:
…trauma is an unpleasant emotional or physical experience that causes someone to have recurring difficulties for a long time. Let’s imagine you want to write a compelling novel, a thriller, even non-fiction about trauma; what are some ingredients you must make a decision on, or that you might consider including in your book...
 
…so what’s the purpose of this little exercise? The first advice I want to share regarding writing about trauma is that no matter how dramatic the plight you overcame; your story needs to be part of an interesting narrative if you expect readers to buy it. No, you are not writing a novel, but if your story about trauma is not enveloped by an engaging, captivating story line it will be hard to break through the thousands of other stories that readers are willing to expend their limited time on. Without a compelling story line, you risk your story about trauma being reduced to just a tale of “woe is me”, and readers don’t want to read just that. And that would be too bad because your story is precious, and you have chosen to share it with the world…
 
…with respect to this workshop—Writing About Trauma—I’m no expert, but I can tell you what worked for me in helping to make White Man’s Disease accessible, informative, relevant, and interesting to readers.
 
1. Compelling Narrative: as was illustrated with our little exercise. At the beginning of this talk, I passed out some quotes from readers that I have on my website. I’m always flattered, moved and motivated by them and comments like them that I receive. You may pick up a theme. Any idea what I am referring to? Answer: “couldn't put it down” That's what I mean by compelling narrative.
 
2. Humor: may seem incongruous to use humor and trauma in the same sentence, but it worked for me. Some may wonder about finding humor in a story about brain surgery but there were some laugh out loud anecdotes in the book. And, the book discusses how a conscious effort to maintain a sense of humor once hospitalized went a long way in preventing me from falling into feeling sorry for myself, and helped me maintain a positive outlook up to and after surgery (at least while in the hospital; unfortunately, post-discharge was a very different story!) Humor and trauma can certainly co-exist; I recently joined a writer’s group and one of the members has an award winning book called “Thank God I Got Cancer…I’m Not a Hypochondriac Anymore.”
 
3. Purpose: have a reason for sharing your plight. Readers don’t just want to read a memoir about someone else’s trauma—after all, if you live long enough eventually everyone will experience their own trauma at some point in their life. Readers want to be inspired, influenced, or informed.
 
4. Empathy: even though you are writing about your own journey, ironically, it is not just about you. I felt it was important to acknowledge others going through their own challenges—often much more daunting than my own. There is an anecdote in the book about the point at which I began the transition from rock bottom to the climb out of the abyss of despair. It was the influence of another person—I did not know him. In fact, I saw a feature on CNN about him during my convalescence (where I felt like a prisoner in my own home; all I did was watch the only cable news channel, which in the 80’s repeated stories every 40 minutes or so). Cancer had resulted in the loss of essentially the bottom third of his face. The 29 y.o. me before surgery would not have been able to look at him. The 29 y.o. me after surgery—in the frame of mind I was in when I saw the feature—could not take my eyes off him. His positive demeanor had a life changing affect on me.
 
5. Lasting message: finally, leave readers with some lasting message. No need to hit them over the head with it—it doesn’t have to be direct or express. What would you like readers to walk away with after reading your book? For me, the message was that the key to overcoming a trauma event, was to stop seeing yourself as a victim, start seeing yourself as a survivor, and, that ultimately leads to seeing yourself as a victor.
 

I am always moved, encouraged, empowered when readers make comments like below. So much so I prominently feature them at book signings and created a slide show http://www.whitemansdisease.com/gallery.html

​Concise and eloquent. No, I'm not bragging about anything I wrote. I wish; I am an aspiring writer after all. That describes reflections shared by my colleague, Dr. Russ Sabella. I thought Russ' words perfectly captured the spirit I hoped to convey with White Man's Disease. And alleviates misgivings I have of exposing so much of myself that I had kept "closeted" for 30 years. So along with the pithy reader quotes below, I will read Russ' comments over and over whenever I need to "recharge my batteries" as an aspiring writer:

Inspirational!
By Russ on November 27, 2016
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Just finished reading this, hard to put down. White Man's Disease, A Memoir by Dr. Paul Thornton. Paul Thornton you did a fantastic job telling this story. I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. I enjoyed the balance between being sad, surprised, inspired, relieved, humbled, and even entertained. Your resilience and attitude has been remarkable. I also feel privileged to get a glimpse into your amazing career and especially beautiful family. Really enjoyed both what you told and how you told it! You covered persistence, personal triumph in the face of adversity, the human spirit, and humility -- all of my favorites. Anyone, especially those struggling with tough challenges, would find your story uplifting, motivational, and encouraging.