“Awakenings” author, famed neurologist Oliver Sacks dies at 82

PanARMENIAN.Net - Famed British neurologist and author Oliver Sacks, whose 1973 book “Awakenings” inspired an Oscar-nominated movie by the same name, has died. He was 82, TheWrap reports.

Sacks died Sunday, August 31 at his home in New York City after a long battle with cancer, his assistant Kate Edgar told the New York Times.

Sacks was a best-selling author who wrote several nonfiction books including “The Island of the Colorblind” and “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat.” But he was best known for penning “Awakenings,” an account of how he brought a group of patients “back to life” after they spent years in “frozen states” after an illness.

The movie version of the book starred Robert De Niro and Robin Williams, and was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in 1991. DeNiro said Sunday that he was saddened by Sacks’ death.

“He was a remarkable doctor who made extraordinary contributions to medical science and to society. Oliver looked into the human mind and found beauty He shared his insights with the world and made the world a better place. There is no one to take his place,” the actor said in a statement.

Sacks was born in London on July 9, 1933 and moved to New York in 1965.

He is survived by his longtime partner, writer Bill Hayes.