Society for Medical Anthropology

A section of the American Anthropological Association

Academic Resources: Research Tools

  • Databases: Films Database

Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien

  • Topics: quadriplegia, independent living movement, polio, iron-lung, poetry
  • Brief Summary: An award-winning documentary about Mark O'Brien, stricken by polio in his youth, who lived in an iron lung while completing college and publishing articles and poetry on disability related issues, baseball, sex, and other topics.
  • Date of Release: 1996
  • Length: 35 minutes
  • Where to get it: Fanlight Productions