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The Academy Award-winning Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien, a documentary by filmmaker Jessica Yu, explores the unique world of Mark O'Brien, the poet-journalist who lived for four decades paralyzed in an iron lung. Incorporating the vivid imagery of O'Brien's poetry and his candid, wry, and often profound reflections on work, sex, death and God, this provocative documentary asks: What is a life worth living? By presenting O'Brien's life from his point of view, the film provides an intimate window into the reality of a life of severe disability, as well as an illuminating portrait of a remarkable artist.
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Jessica Yu talks about her motivations, intentions, and experiences making "Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien" in this exclusive interview. (Length: 17 min.)
Download the MP3 (12.9MB)
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An advocate of the "independent living" movement and an ardent opponent of euthanasia, O'Brien emphasized the universal need for human beings to have a measure of control over their own lives. "The two mythologies about disabled people break down to one: we can't do anything, or two: we can do everything," he said. "But the truth is, we're just human."
Mark O'Brien (1949-1999) was a poet, journalist and inspirational voice in the movement of disabled people to lead independent lives. Born in Boston and raised in Sacramento, Calif., O'Brien was six years old when he contracted polio, which left him paralyzed from the neck down. At the time of his death, he was one of some 100 polio survivors in the United States who still used an iron lung to breathe.
In Breathing Lessons, O'Brien expressed profound gratitude to his parents, Helen and Walter O'Brien, for the care and love they gave him. In 1978 he moved to Berkeley, Calif., after being accepted as a freshman at the University of California. He became a familiar figure on the streets of Berkeley, navigating his motorized gurney between the campus and his tiny apartment that housed his iron lung. O'Brien received his BA in English literature in 1982 with the support of note takers, home health-care attendants and the then-fledgling Center for Independent Living. After repeated efforts, O'Brien gained admission to UC's Graduate School of Journalism, helping to set a precedent for severely disabled applicants to state universities.
He began his career as a journalist in 1979. Initially, he composed his pieces by dictation, and then learned to type with a mouth stick, first on an electric typewriter and later on a word processor. His volumes of poetry include "Breathing," "The Man in the Iron Lung," and "Love and Baseball." At the time of his death, O'Brien was completing an autobiography.
A long-time editor of Pacific News Service, O'Brien published essays, book reviews and news stories for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Examiner, and the National Catholic Reporter. He wrote about sports, religion and the culture and politics of being disabled. He was also a contributor to NPR. O'Brien died in his home in Berkeley.
Breathing Lessons is produced by Jessica Yu. Co-produced by Pacific News Service.
(1995, 35 min.)
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Jessica Yu won the 1997 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short for Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien. Yu also directed the award-winning 
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