James is a New Zealander. He was a teacher, actor, musician and music director, a journalist and event manager - as well as a husband, father and grandfather. He was a voracious reader, a fluent writer and confident speaker. In 2015, he suffered a hemiparesis, a middle cerebral artery territory infarct. In a word, a stroke. He collapsed, paralysed on his right side, and couldn't speak or write. The hospital intervention was rapid and his limbs were free but his speech was absent. He had/has aphasia.Aphasia is the loss of a previously held ability to articulate ideas or comprehend spoken or written language, resulting from damage to the brain caused by injury or disease - in this case, a stroke. With expert therapists in speech, music and eurhythmy he has re-invented himself. He has a positive and optimistic outlook, electing to view his stroke as a 'stroke of luck'. But his speech is still - suspect."My aphasia forced me to look at my life differently. My expected biography has changed. Now, I am an author - apparently."
