TOUR JOURNAL

(March 2, 2006) Afterthought No.2
Just spotted on Eurekalert a new study about the evolution of handedness -- check it out. As for A Left-Hand Turn, this was a week of contrasting reviews. The scathing, borderline hateful review in the Weekly Standard, so I'm told, indicates that I've finally been initiated into the world of authors who've truly been there, done that. (I'd link up to the thing so you could see it, if not for the subscription fee, which I can't help but imagine gets channeled directly into the Dick Cheney hunting equipment fund.) Anyway, the flattering spread published in Delta's in-flight magazine more than makes for the microscopic bummer of a bad WS review. On top of that: word from intrepid reporter and good friend Joshua Davis is that Wisconsin milk delivery men once had a left-handers club of sorts. I'm awaiting further detail, but this was obviously a substantial piece of new information. Lastly, for those of you who picked up on (now) Justice Alito's bizarre comment about left-handedness in relation to a controversial case, I'm just as perplexed as you are. Then again, the guy is, after all, right-handed.

(December 8) Afterthought No.1
Many times this fall I've been asked whether I honestly feel a connection with other people who’re left-handed. The answer is yes, but explaining why this is so trips me up a little more often than it should. The other day I noticed someone reading a good book, and a helpful illustration came to mind. Say you’re reading or recently read a book that you really liked. That same week, in a café, on the subway, or sitting in the park, you overhear someone talking positively about that same book. You may or may not strike up a conversation about it. But because of that shared little something, you have a connection with that person that you didn’t have previously, and that you don’t have with most of the other people in that café, on that train, or in that park. For me, that’s sort of how it feels with left-handedness, although it’s a bit different in that the book we’re reading is temporary, whereas handedness, for the most part, is permanent.

(December 2) Finale
Zipping up my roller suitcase this morning in the Radisson hotel (it should be called the Badisson), I was reminded of yet another lefty inconvenience that, as someone who travels a lot, I find to be pretty annoying. The side handle and zipper of the roller suitcase always faces opposite what I would prefer. When putting the bag in an airplane overhead compartment, I get the un-open-able side facing outward. Likewise, when I park the suitcase in my hotel room and then put it down on its side, invariably I will have the spine facing out and the zipper side facing the wall. I haven’t yet pulled a muscle when leaning over for the big spin, but it’s not an inconceivable outcome and, now that I think of it, doing so, or feigning that I have suffered such an injury, might make for a strong product liability case against those righty-bias roller suitcase manufacturers.

The final reading of the tour – or at least, the final reading of this first go at a tour – went very well. Boulder Bookstore is a terrific place to visit and to read. In an hour, I will be on a plane back to my home on the left coast, looking forward to some more radio interviews, some overdue rest, a latte at Concordia Coffee House, and – as soon as possible – a visit to the mountains. Thanks for keeping an eye on these pages over the past month. It’s been quite a fun, sometimes wild experience. Check back now and then, to this journal or the News page, for added information about A Left-Hand Turn and related laterality stuff.

Until next time: Let your curiosity take you places. -- DW


(December 1) Greetings from the Front Range
Tuesday night’s reading at the Tattered Cover in Denver was great. Next to Powell’s, TC is perhaps the best independent bookstore in the galaxy, and it showed. We had maybe 35 people who all had smart, interesting questions. Meanwhile, my interview on NPR’s Day To Day aired this week, generating some fascinating communiqués, including a note from a guy who has spent a lot of time in Peru. He says people there believe that if you use the left hand, you’ll go deaf. The superstition probably stems from the fact that the word zurdo (leftie) and the word sordo (deaf) are so similar, especially outside of Spain, where “z” and “s” are pronounced the same way.

Meanwhile, I just saw a headline from a Scottish newspaper article that reads: “Being left-handed may increase people's chances of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a conference has heard.” Disregarding the clunky sentence structure, the content is rather provocative and worth reading about: http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2308102005 . I also heard from a U.S Geological Survey researcher who has an upcoming paper about handedness and the direction of one’s hair whorl. (This theory is discussed in the book, but apparently this guy is carrying it further. To my relief, he didn’t have anything blazingly negative to say about my book, or about the NPR interview. On the contrary, he wrote:

One thing that I remember from your interview is that you believe these genes function to generate variability in brain architecture. That's exactly the same conclusion I came to, although I didn't mention it in my paper. It's very obviously a mechanism to generate variability in brain architecture, some people of whom are gifted in mathematics or the arts (and some of whom are schizophrenic, bipolar, gay or autistic).

I’m not sure much of anything is “obvious” in this murky and often contradictory world of laterality research, but I’m curious to learn more. Incidentally, I half-jokingly asked what the hell a USGS person was doing writing about behavioral psychology and the genetics of handedness. He said that USGS has a policy of encouraging outside, non-geosciences pursuits, as long as doing so doesn’t cost any money. That sounded pretty cool to me, although I was still tempted to skip away from the laterality discussion and ask him some questions about Mount St. Helens and gas hydrates under the seafloor. I held back, though, at least for now.


(November 23) Inside the Tribune Tower
I’m zooming off to the airport now, but do check back soon; I’m eager to share some amusing tidbits from Chicago, especially about my two hours on Milt Rosenberg’s radio show on WGN. We had this zany guy who does beautiful and hilarious impersonations of presidents (in the ’92 debates it was Clinton, Bush senior, and big-eared Ross Perot, all lefties), as well as a bizarre question about how handedness might play a role in, eh, amorous activities, for lack of a more precise but equally diplomatic term. More later. Happy Thanksgiving.


(November 20) Hometown Advantage
The monster week ended in marvelous fashion with a handful of media appearances with Boston/New England television stations as well as radio programs such as: NPR New Hampshire’s The Exchange, The Jordan Rich Show on CBS Radio Network, WBNW’s Pages to People, and NPR’s Day To Day. Thursday night’s reading at The Attic in Newton and hosted by Newtonville Books was the biggest event to date – perhaps 70 or 80 people – no doubt because of the hometown crowd factor. Better still, it was great fun.

A small but profound side note: while driving around on Thursday to find some more books to sign, I ended up on Needham St. in Newton, following a car with the license plate, STHPAW. I couldn’t believe it, and was tempted to follow the person home. Up next: Powerhouse interviewer Milt Rosenberg in Chicago tomorrow (Mon.), followed by a reading at 57th Street Books in Hyde Park. If you know people in Chicago, be sure to spread the word.

PS: I saw John McEnroe signing autographs in a downtown jewelry store yesterday. I popped in to give him a copy of the book, but the guy was astonishingly unfriendly. He grunted an attempt at a thank you, and, despite myself, I walked away feeling like a dejected six-year-old who has just learned that his NFL hero is a greedy, doping, cheating, cursing moron.

(November 16) Vindication
Thanks much in part to the event-planning acumen of my sister and brother-in-law, we had excellent turnout last night at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, New Jersey. It was followed by a great party back at Sarah’s house, complete with wine, cheeses, strawberries, and a cake decorated to match the book jacket.

Anyone who’s read the book or heard my talk will know that A Left-Hand Turn doesn’t fit neatly into a particular category of nonfiction writing (memoir, science, humor, etc.). I’ve recently been thinking a lot about this genre-jumping character of the book, and one of the most vindicating aspects of these early weeks of promotion has been the varied responses from various fields. There’s interest in the quirky stuff, as expected, from a lot of newspaper-type publications and call-in radio programs; I have an up-coming review in Science News and mention and/or review in other science publications as well; and just the other day I was invited to attend a book festival in April, during which I will sit on a panel of travel writers. Meanwhile, different bookstores shelve the book in different areas – most notably travel, cultural studies, or psychology – depending on the store and (it feels) the day of the week. A Powell’s staff review recently said the book read like a Dava Sobel or Mary Roach title. That is good company indeed.

The fact that this book can’t be tidily pegged is precisely what I was after. For one thing, I don’t want to be pigeon-holed as just a science writer, just a travel writer, or just anything. More important (for readers anyway) is that most people have varied interests; a curiosity about science doesn’t mean a bankrupt sense of humor or a lack of interest in travel. Likewise, a degree in art history and a passion for jazz doesn’t require ignorance about or disinterest in science. My own brain bounces around like this, and I’m sure I’m not special in this regard. That’s why I felt a book written in this hybrid style would be appreciated, and that the topic of handedness was a good match for this risky, or at least unusual, approach.


(November 15) Beginning the Reverse BosNyWash Marathon
It was interesting to hear from interviewer John Tegler of “Capitol Conversations” in Annapolis that many people with twins believe that twin position in the left or right side of the womb corresponds with handedness later in life. I’d never heard this one and, although I’m almost certain it’s false, identical twins with discordant (i.e. not the same) hand dominance remain an integral part of the whole handedness puzzle.

I forgot to mention how impeccably cool some of the booksellers I’ve met along the way have been. The independent bookstore people, I suppose, are expected to be so, but I’ve also found the staff at all the Barnes & Noble stores to be quite a good lot, and I don’t say so just to ingratiate those who hold my book’s fate in their hands. (Something tells me B&N corporate is not carefully reading these journal entries.) With Google Maps print-outs on the passenger seat of the rental/borrowed car, I have been driving to a handful of these big box stores in each city, running inside, and asking to sign the copies of the book they have in stock (usually 4 -6, 8 on occasion). Although one or two on-duty managers have been a bit prickly, the rest have been welcoming and gracious. I can’t recall if her name was Maggie, Margo, or some similar M-type name, but the woman at the B&N on the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica was especially likeable. We had a great, albeit short, chat about Joan Didion, who M was lucky enough to meet recently.

Last night’s reading at Barnes & Noble in Arlington, Virginia was not very well attended, but some attentive listeners and a few good questions saved the evening. I just left DC’s Union Station bound of New York City, a bunch of Barnes & Noble, and a reading in Brooklyn. Hope to see you there, or back here sometime soon.


(November 11) The Jewel
Last night’s reading at Warwicks in La Jolla was terrific. We had a strong turnout, thoughtful questions, some bizarre anecdotes, and an Ethiopian couple with their 5-year-old, left-handed son. The added bonus was having the chance to see my wife’s aunt and grandmother, dear family friends Ben and June, as well as some old friends, who made for great post-reading dinner company. I’m off now, driving north to LAX to catch a flight home for a brief respite, before jetting to the right coast on Sunday. See you soon.


(November 10) Left Coast State of Mind
Hello from the “green room,” a.k.a the waiting room, of KPBS, San Diego’s NPR affiliate. Driving down from LA yesterday, I passed an amusing billboard for a progressive radio program. It read: “We like it on the left” and was accompanied by a red image of the U.S with California colored blue and – as if designed by “Assembling California” author John McPhee – separated from the rest of the country.

The KPBS interview with These Days host Tom Fudge went well, and we had some interesting call-ins. WILL in Illinois had me on Afternoon Magazine a few days ago. The station isn’t too far from the Decatur home of John Evans, who is the focus of the book chapter called “All Star.” The host of that program, Celeste Quinn, was terrific. She really GOT IT, as far as the tone I was gunning for with this book, and our conversation – together with many great questions from callers – was one of my most enjoyable to date.


(November 8) Black Oak in Berkeley and the Acid Tripper
Just a quick note from not-so-sunny L.A. I’m out the door in a few minutes for yet another round of stock copy signings at Barnes & Noble stores, but the highlight of the past two days was definitely the Berkeley event at Black Oak Books. We had some 40 people, many great friends but a number of new faces as well. The strange and slightly pungent-smelling fellow who came up to me at the end of the event to describe his indisputable and most assuredly R-rated understanding of left-right, north-south, up-down, male-female, sex and more sex, thanks to “15 pages of notes I wrote after an acid trip 36 years ago” was bizarre – and stereotypical Berkeley of old – to say the least, but funny nonetheless.

Also, look for an up-coming review of the book on something called Shelf Awareness, as well as a bloggish ditty I wrote about left-handed authors for Beatrice.com. Tonight: Book Soup part 1.


(November 5) A Brief Respite
A few recent highlights: Before my interview on "AM Northwest" on KATU television here in Portland, a security guard shared an interesting tidbit about M-16 rifles. Left-handers need an extra piece of material on the gun to block the ejecting shells from hitting the shooter in the face. For right-handers, the burning-hot shells are discharged off to the right and therefore pose no problem. Not so for Southpaws. Meanwhile, I'm regretting that I gave the hosts stickers from the Australian National Association of Left-Handed Golfers and from the Left Hand Brewery. They were nice people, but they just didn't seem to fully appreciate these little treasures.

Speaking of interviews, I enjoyed my conversation with Dave Beck of “The Beat” on KUOW, the Seattle NPR affiliate. But around the 18-minute mark of our 20-minute session, I completely lost my voice. No water on hand, I had to bail out completely. Beck covered for me with the skill of a seasoned radioman, but it was still pretty funny.

At both readings in Seattle I met people who have had partial paralysis at some point in their lives, due to a stroke or another condition. Although their interest makes sense in retrospect, I didn’t anticipate how intensely curious these people would be about the topic of handedness and laterality in general. Their questions have been terrific, though, as were many other questions from interested audience members.

With the possible exception of the chance to catch up with some friends in these various cities, meeting new people and hearing about their experiences – and doing my best to field their questions – is by far the most enjoyable part of the tour. Driving around in the pouring rain to Barnes & Noble stores everywhere to sign stock copies of the book isn’t quite as much of a thrill, but even then, when I meet the on-duty store manager, most have expressed a keen interest in the book and often mention that they have a left-handed (insert family member descriptor here) and provide a snippet of a story as well, which makes the whole thing worthwhile.

Southpaw Sir Paul McCartney has practically been following me around this week. Someone mentioned him at my University Bookstore reading in Seattle; he was due to appear at Third Place Books in Seattle the day after I read there, and he flew here to Portland to perform at the Rose Garden last night.

Off to the Bay Area tomorrow morning…


(October 27) It's Official
Last night’s launch party at Every Day Wine could not have been better. Great people, good eats, and Sinister Hand wine from Owen Roe winery. Throughout the evening, I heard from Southpaws and righties alike sharing interesting tales of handedness and life’s asymmetries, including rumor of a Texas-based, one-armed ophthalmologist, who somehow does eye surgery with his one good hand – don’t know which one that is – and a prosthetic hook on the other. Then a gentleman named Ralph taught me a secret to tying shoes – I never knew this before! – that explains why my looping efforts always produce bows aligned with my leg and foot, whereas righties (and lefties in the know about knots) tie their shoes in a way that makes the loops perpendicular to the foot. Thanks Ralph! It was a great night, and now, although a bit hung over and tad hoarse, I’m excited for the tour to get underway. Off to Eugene…


(October 22) Southpaw Science: Credible or Clumsy?
Everyone is asking me about this recent news of a possible connection between left-handedness and breast cancer. Dutch researchers reported a few weeks ago in the British Medical Journal that left-handed women are more than twice as likely as right-handed women to develop breast cancer in their pre-menopausal years. The BBC, MSNBC, the Washington Post, and scores of other news outlets quickly relayed the findings to the public.

For centuries, southpaws have been faced with stereotypes and pseudoscientific assertions that a natural preference for the left hand is a telltale mark of the devil (then) or a byproduct of a pathological otherness that makes them something less than perfectly healthy (now). One infamous study from the 1980s suggested that left-handers die younger. This hypothesis was later refuted – eviscerated, really – by more credible investigations. Yet the initial results were reported with such hoopla that the idea of a shortened life expectancy for left-handers became an entrenched urban myth.

So what are we to make of this latest installment in the annals of southpaw science? On the one hand, it may be the age-old story of experimenters fishing for evidence indicating that left-handers are damaged goods. British laterality scholar Chris McManus put it this way to Discover magazine in 2002: “The real question is why everyone wants left-handers to be defective.” On the other hand, it’s doubtful these Dutch epidemiologists were motivated by prejudice. They may have tripped up, however, by relying on the outdated notion of a clear lefty-versus-righty dichotomy.

Identifying shared traits among sick or healthy populations can lead researchers to new understanding of disease. The Dutch team used handedness as one such trait – along with measures such as age, reproductive history, and smoking – to subdivide the sample population and search for patterns. The assumption was that handedness represents a legitimate dividing line between individuals. Unfortunately, this behavioral asymmetry is not nearly as straightforward a trait as it appears.

The hand used for writing or throwing may be an adequate litmus test for handedness in non-research settings, but most people actually have mixed preferences, depending on the task at hand. According to Canadian researchers, 30 percent of self-identified left-handers write with the left hand yet throw with the right. Scores of other studies have shown that many people use their “non-dominant” hand in dominant-hand roles more often than they realize, whether striking a match, unscrewing a jar, or brushing their teeth. Most laterality experts today believe that individual handedness falls on a global continuum, one made up of many strongly right-handed people, many mixed-handers, and, strangely, a small group of strongly left-handed individuals.

The epidemiologists paid little or no heed to this fact. They determined handedness by simply asking subjects whether they were left- or right-handed, a crude, if not misleading, methodology. Instead of a research population neatly divided into a subset of lefties and a subset of righties, what they probably had were two jumbled groups of mixed- and strong-handers. That slip calls into question any of their observed differences between righties and lefties—including an increased risk for breast cancer.

Yet in a twisted sense, I’m delighted by this new study. Not by the somber subject of cancer, obviously, but by the wider, if not humbling reminder that a topic as seemingly simple as handedness can turn out to be surprisingly complicated and mysterious.

***

Thanks for checking out A Left-Hand Turn Around the World. During my fall tour, I plan to steal a few minutes wherever and whenever possible to post notes, brainstorms, reactions, news, revelations -- anything remotely related to southpawdom and the human handedness puzzle.