Rupert Isaacson, author of The Horse Boy: A Father's Quest to Heal His Son talks about taking his son with autism to Mongolia, his willingness to go to the ends of the earth to help their son, and of a boy learning to connect with the world for the first time.By Up to Date, April 30, 2009
Kansas City , Mo. –
When his son Rowan was diagnosed with autism, Rupert Isaacson was devastated, afraid he might never be able to communicate with his child. But when Isaacson, a lifelong horseman, rode their neighbor's horse with Rowan, Rowan improved immeasurably. Isaacson was struck with a crazy idea: why not take Rowan to Mongolia, the one place in the world where horses and shamanic healing intersected?
In his new book titled The Horse Boy, Isaacson tells the story of his adventure in Mongolia where his family found undreamed of landscapes and people, unbearable setbacks, and advances beyond their wildest dreams. Today Steve Kraske talks with Isaacson about his willingness to go to the ends of the earth to help their son, and of a boy learning to connect with the world for the first time.
Additional Information:
Rupert Isaacson was born in London to a South African mother and a Zimbabwean father. He is an former professional horse trainer and founding director of the Indigenous Land Rights Fund, a non-profit organization that helps threatened and displaced indigenous tribes obtain tenure of their ancestral land.
Isaacson is the author of The Healing Land: A Kalahari Journey (Grove Press) which was a 2004 New York Times Notable Book. His journalism and travel writing has appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Esquire, National Geographic, Independent on Sunday, Conde Nast Traveller, Daily Mail and The Field. He has traveled extensively in Africa, Asia, and North America for the British press and now lives in Austin, with his wife, Kristin, and their son, Rowan.