On the Southern Literary Trail discussion

Yesterday , May 23, 2015 , I wanted to note that Princeton Mathematician John Nash and his wife Alicia were killed in a car accident coming home from an awards benefit. If you all may remember John Nash was the subject of a biography called A BEAUTIFUL MIND written by Sylvia Nasar . John Nash and his genius came from Bluefield , West Virginia and he attended Princeton . He was considered genius by the age of thirty when he slipped into the madness of Paranoid Schizophrenia. Thanks to his wife and the belief and support of the mathematical community , John eventually and miraculously overcame this adversity and went on to win the Nobel Prize on Game Theory. Later , he and another mathematician shared another prize . He remained a popular Professor at Princeton . He was 86 and she was 82 . They left behind two children . I know that the first son was born with Schizophrenia and I believe he had to be institutionalized. I am not sure about the other child .

I wanted to mention this book A BEAUTIFUL MIND , although not a Southern Read , but a GREAT READ !!! This was one of those books I considered a " Life Changing " book ! Every thing after this book was read was different for me. This book brought hope and showed me the power of love and knowledge. The story was about a REAL LIFE which made it that much more intense . God's Grace touched this man and woman and everyone around them . If you have not read this book it is so inspiring that I compel you to let this story touch you.

The movie followed the book very well . Russell Crowe played John Nash with appropriate intensity. The movie centered mainly on the strength and love of the marriage of 60 years and the loyalty and support of a community of genius in the mathematical world .

Beautiful minds, hearts, and determination can bring miracles to our lives .

Sincerely ,
Dawn Copley

Randolph wrote: "Dawn wrote: "Yesterday , May 23, 2015 , I wanted to note that Princeton Mathematician John Nash and his wife Alicia were killed in a car accident coming home from an awards benefit. If you all may ..."Yes, thank you Dawn I was stunned to hear about this

So sad, he was amazing.

Terrible news, but such lives. Before Princeton, he went Carnegie Tech (now Carnegie Mellon) in Pittsburgh.

Yes , Robert , Carnegie in Pittsburgh was closer to home in West Virginia. My Daddy was born and raised in West Virginia before joining the Air Force and later working for the FAA as an electrical engineer . He was stationed in Columbus , MS when I was small and finished out his degree at Mississippi State ! He always joked that he could have gone to Princeton . The real joke is we now live in my Mama's home town of Oxford , Mississippi and home of my Alma Mater Ole Miss !!! HA! I have both an MS and an MA and have been working on my MFA in creative writing at Ole Miss. KNOWLEDGE IS POWER !!! John and Alicia Nash had both powers LOVE AND KNOWLEDGE!!! A rarity in these days to see these qualities last now in this ME GENERATION ! I do not understand how others can love seeking knowledge and not want to share it with others. I suppose that is why I taught for so long and I still would be teaching if I was not needed to help with my loving parents . They always taught me how important it was to have a good mind and a good heart . I do my best .
Have a good Memorial Day !
Dawn

Dawn wrote: "Yesterday , May 23, 2015 , I wanted to note that Princeton Mathematician John Nash and his wife Alicia were killed in a car accident coming home from an awards benefit. If you all may remember John..."

Thanks Dawn! As the mother of a son with schizoaffective disorder since age 9 I ofcourse have a soft spot for John Nash and I loved the movie. I really believe his ability to overcome his illness so successfully was due in a large part to his genius mind. He was a lucky man, and must have had a wonderful wife also. The movie touched so many, and I think it helped dispel the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Dawn,

The paths we travel .,. I grew up in Greensboro, but I did an MA at Pittsburgh, so I learned how close it was to West Virginia. Just struck by that detail in Nash's bio, tho he was a genius -- he finished his diss at, yes, Princeton at 21!! The stuff of which was as important as figuring out DNA. An incredible journey. As for paths, I was born in Boston because my father was stationed there on a sub. Which means my Mom was alone and pregnant while the Boston Strangler was on the loose. But my parents got back to NC, because that is where my father got in to do his MBA. Also his alma mater as well as mine and and my mother's (after 2 years at Converse). So southern geography can sometimes act like gravity, since they are still (46 years and counting) in Greensboro. I myself am out in the nether of Seattle, which is where I landed after Pitt. But I feel the pull especially on holidays like this. Good luck with the MFA and enjoy the day. Robert

My first husband and his family were affected by schizo disorders. It was a wild 20 yrs. People with schizoaffective disorders are known to be very smart. However, even with good people around you, you can plummet in life and take others with you. I didn't like the movie much. Yes, it showed his life… but it makes it seem that this disorder, this disease can be overcome.
I can guarantee you that it's one of the most difficult of all: those with it look and act normal in most company.
He is still active and well liked by most in his crowd: they are all drinkers and carousers. They may even know that he has attempted suicide but I doubt if any know how many times. The gas alone probably affected his mind. I met with him 20 yrs after, and could see what he could not-- that he'd killed much of his intelligence with drugs and alcohol and bad behavior.

I'm very sorry for the loss of this man and his wife. He is to be held in great respect. However, his life was very unusual and it should always be mentioned at the same time.

Meran,
My son has intellectual disabilities as well as schizoaffective- his illness is severe and he lives in a facility. There are degrees of severity as you know and I am sorry you had to deal with this in your family too. John Nash was very unusual, as you said, and not many can recover the way he did.

I am a little slow on commenting on the topic at hand, okay so I am very slow, but I concur with Dawn that A BEAUTIFUL MIND was a spellbinding book, and the book is very good at presenting some light on the work that Nash did to earn that Nobel Prize on Game Theory. Of course mathematics is the showcase science for the intelligential doing their best work at an early age. Nash did his groundbreaking work on game theory by the age of 32. His other specific work in differential geometry, and partial differential equations along with significant advances in other math theory was completed before he was 40. As a matter of interest (to me if no one else) I did my best differential geometry and partial differential equations work at the age of 20. I made a "B" in both courses at Georgia Tech.