Mark Vonnegut

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mark Vonnegut (born 11 May, 1947) is an American pediatrician and writer. He is the son of the late writer Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and the brother of Edith Vonnegut and Nanette Vonnegut. He described himself in the preface to his 1975 book as "a hippie, son of a counterculture hero, B.A. in religion, (with a) genetic disposition to schizophrenia." Mark Vonnegut (whom his parents named after Mark Twain.) graduated from Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, in 1969 at the age of 21. He briefly worked at Duthie Books and was also briefly chief of a twenty-man detachment of special state police that provided the security for Boston State Hospital. During the Vietnam War he filed an application with the draft board to be considered a conscientious objector, which was denied. After taking the physical examination, he was given a psychiatric 4F classification and avoided conscription into the U.S. military. He is the author of The Eden Express, which describes his trip to British Columbia to set up a commune with his friends and his personal experiences with schizophrenia, which he attributes in part to stress, diet and heavy marijuana use. "Coffee is nearly always bad for schizophrenics. Grass, hash, and especially the hallucinogens and speed can be real trouble. Good old alcohol, interestingly enough, can be helpful in a pinch. <...> Don't depend on it too much, however, as there are better ways and you could end up with two problems instead of one." The book is widely cited as useful for those coping with schizophrenia. During this period, he lived mainly at the 'commune' at Powell Lake, located 18 kilometers by boat from the nearest road or electricity. On 14 February, 1971, Mark was diagnosed with severe schizophrenia and committed to Hollywood Psychiatric Hospital in Vancouver. Having first attributed his recovery to orthomolecular megavitamin therapy, Vonnegut later came to the conclusion that he had been manic-depressive for hereditary reasons. He subsequently studied medicine at Harvard Medical School and became a pediatrician in Milton, MA.

Trivia

  • During his undergraduate years, he set out to become a Unitarian minister.
  • Mark is a chess player.
  • On a journey through the Amazon, he encountered Russian poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko.


    • Next Page


    This article is based on an article from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and is available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
    In the Wikipedia there is a list with all authors of this article available.