Ronnie Botwinick Londner's son Michael entered the world eleven weeks premature. At three days old, Mikey suffered bleeding in his brain, further threatening his already-tenuous grasp on life.
But Mikey survived to grow into a bright and cheerful boy with physical disabilities. His life pushed Londner and her family into difficult emotional, medical, and ethical terrain-but also enriched them with joy and love. Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, Mikey died at the age of eight.
Now, thirty years after Mikey's birth, Londner shares her son's story to comfort families facing similar tragedies-and raise important questions about how we view issues of life and death.
Londner tackles tough topics with grace, compassion, and even humor. She uses her personal experience as a mother and a medical researcher, writer, and lecturer to explore issues including premature birth, infant surgery without anesthesia, disability, the death of a child, the death of a spouse, organ donation, lawsuits, decisions about having more children, and the impact that educational, religious and medical institutions have on our choices, decisions and lives.
About the Author: Ronnie Botwinick Londner is a medical writer and researcher. She has coauthored several books on disability issues and written for many national and local publications on science and medical topics.
Londner teaches two popular courses at the University of Miami and other venues: Helping Yourself or Others Through Life's Tragedies, and A Caregivers Guide: How to Do the Job Well While Preserving your Own Well-Being.
The founder of two parent support groups, she has spoken at medical conferences, hospitals, and the University of Miami Medical School on ethics in neonatology, organ donation, parents' rights, and what physicians can do to avoid being sued
In 1972, she was the first female motorcycle courier to work for a national television news network. She was thrilled when Walter Cronkite gave her the nickname, "Sparky."
Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Londner earned her master's of education in counseling psychology from the University of Miami. The widow of a popular news reporter, Londner lives in Miami and has two surviving children and two grandsons.
