KEYS TO THE KINGDOM: Reflections on Music and the Mind Kathleen L. Housley
Keys to the Kingdom:
Reflections on Music and the Mind charts
the course of an unusual odyssey. For nearly a decade, Kathleen Housley played
piano with Katrina Withey, a gifted musician partially paralyzed from a stroke.
To understand those times in their playing when disabilities disappeared in a
shimmer of grace, Housley wrote brief reflections, turning to neuroscience and
history for deeper insight. Some are as complex as a fugue. Others are as
simple as a finger exercise on the C scale. For example, the playing of
Beethoven's Fur Elise leads to an
exploration of memory. A Bach prelude opens a window on neural networks. Even
the search for a pair of mittens to keep Katrina's hands warm turns into a
meditation on serendipity. Yet sounding throughout the reflections is a sublime
theme - the importance of friendship. 81 pp.
I
am certain I will return to this book many time - to prevent music from becoming
solely intellectual, friendship simply casual, and life experiences reduced to
a progression of day-to-day events. Each chapter is a fresh and enlightening
look at the power of music throughout time, and a moving glimpse into evoking
the eternal power between friends.
Pamela
J. Perry, D.M.A., Professor of Music, Central Connecticut State University
Kathleen
Housley has written a sensitive account of friendship, courage, and the power
of music to unite and heal. Her observations are sealed with a light touch of
metaphors, never too much, always growing from the real experience.
Richard
T. Lee, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus Philosophy, Trinity College
Keys to the
Kingdom is more than an inspirational story. It brilliantly connects neurology,
music, language, and the overall sense of being. All rehabilitation specialists
should read this book to appreciate the holistic nature of recovery and
well-being.
Mary Purdy,
Ph.D., Department of Communication Disorders, Southern Connecticut State
University
