The award-winning science journalist Sharon Begley died on January 16, 2021. What a great loss to readers looking for accessible truths from neuroscience. Over a 40-year career, Sharon wrote absorbing articles on complex issues for leading publications, including Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, Reuters, and STAT.
KINDNESS
On a personal note, I met Sharon in 2003. I contacted her to request she write a blurb for my first book, The Richest of Fare: Seeking Spiritual Security in the Sonoran Desert. Even though I was a complete stranger and a first time-author, she treated me like a VIP. We met, and had an enriching conversation. Soon after, she sent along this blurb:
“With its stunning photography and prose that ranges from the teachings of Marcus Aurelius and the Bible to Darwin and Thoreau, The Richest of Fare touches the heart and stimulates the mind.”
BRAINY LEGACY
Sharon leaves behind some great resources that will carry her brainy legacy forward for years to come, including:
Sharon reveals how the most influential researchers dogmatically defended one theory of Alzheimer’s despite thin evidence. For years, they systematically thwarted alternative approaches, resulting in a lack of progress in finding Alzheimer’s treatments.
Sharon explores the role of compulsion in our fast-paced culture, the brain science behind it, and strange manifestations of the behavior throughout history.
Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz and Sharon Begley’s groundbreaking work on how the human mind can shape and control the functioning of the physical brain. Their work has its basis in our emerging understanding of adult neuroplasticity. The brain can be rewired not just in childhood, but throughout life, a trait only recently established by neuroscientists.
Sharon describes neuroplasticity and how the brain can adapt, heal, and renew itself after trauma. She addresses how the brain can compensate for disabilities, rewire itself to overcome dyslexia, and break cycles of depression and OCD.
Farewell Sharon, thank you for your kindness and brainy legacy. Your wisdom lives on!