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A View from Above: A Dying Father's Innermost Thoughts on Life

by Gilles R. LeBlanc

140 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #06-1368; ISBN 1-4120-9612-X; US$17.39, C$20.00, EUR13.56, £8.99

An inspirational book of a dying father's innermost thoughts on life, for when his sons become men.

About the Book

This book is written, not to preach or to influence certain ideologies, but rather to examine life in a simplistic way, as seen through the eyes of a man destined to soon die. In the prime of my life, I had achieved total success in all facets of my being. I did not own a mansion or a Mercedes; I had much more than that. I had total inner happiness within myself as a man, husband and father.

Diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) at 36, I was blessed with a wonderful wife, two young boys aged 4 and 7 and a thriving career. Even with an 80% chance of dying within a five year time frame, I ceased to give-in to the statistics. From my sons perspective, however, chances were good they would never know their Dad as grown men.

About the Author

Gilles LeBlanc was born in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. A Business Administration graduate from Université de Moncton, he previously worked as Director of Material Resources for a Long-term Care group of corporations. He was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in 1998, at age 36.

In health care, his career included roles as President, Director and Member with various health related organizations in New Brunswick. He was also the founding President of the New Brunswick Purchasing Management Institute, served terms as President, Vice-president and Chairman of Professional Development for the local Moncton Branch and represented Atlantic Canada and parts of Quebec at various times at the national level in Toronto.

During his illness, he authored this book A View from Above, served as President of the ALS Society of New Brunswick and founded the Support for Champions Fund for children of ALS families. In 2002, Gilles was one of only 6 individuals in New Brunswick selected to appear before the Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada. In 2004, he became a national award recipient when ALS Canada honored him with the William Fraser Leadership Award.

Gilles is married to Murielle (Landry) and they have two sons, Patrick and Léon. It's important to note, all 199,000 keystrokes in this book were typed in, one at a time, first with a pencil clutched in both hands, and then with a reflective computer head device.

Excerpts