Floyd Skloot

He dwells in the quiet woods an hour outside of Portland, Ore. The life he knows now moves at a fraction of the speed he used to travel. Travel. In a former existence, he routinely criss-crossed coasts in his work as a senior public policy analyst. He racked up medals as a runner. He had a busy family life. He covered a lot of ground.

Now travel is a metaphor for all the things he used to do with ease. It must be carefully planned and its consequences questioned as a very real risk/benefit proposition. For Floyd Skloot, every day is a marathon -- even those he spends at home in thoughtful reflection.

Fifteen years ago chronic fatigue and immune dysfunction syndrome ( CFIDS ) seized sudden control over Floyd’s body and mind. The disabling physical symptoms were matched by an equally aggressive attack on his intellect and emotional well-being. It took months to get diagnosed, and although he had help from a knowledgeable and understanding physician, treatment failed to restore Floyd’s health. It took years to craft a new life from what was left of the old one. Ultimately, though, Floyd found a way to uncover himself in the process.

He turned to the familiar to make sense of the painful, isolating experience of being chronically ill – began writing about it. “My first essays, which I had hoped might be educational as well as confessional, produced an astonishing response: calls and letters came from people all over the world saying that my experience was their experience,” Floyd recalls. “Discovering this sense of community had value beyond measure. It helped me begin the process of healing.” His words have brought hope to others sidelined by CFIDS .

Dozens of published essays and eight books later, Floyd still writes about the experience of living with CFIDS. He focuses on the difficult and challenging neurological problems, an odd irony since he uses the very faculties that have been so diminished by CFIDS to describe what life is like for him. It takes weeks to write short passages. He struggles for words and fights for concentration. Balance problems and lack of stamina force him to break his day into short work periods. Persistence, and perhaps some stubbornness, enable him to prevail.

Floyd’s latest book, In the Shadow of Memory, has received universal critical acclaim. A review in Publisher’s Weekly calls it, “An unusual and engrossing memoir written with intelligence, honesty, perception and humor.” Another review reads, “Combining the author’s skills as a poet and novelist, this book finds humor, meaning and hope in the story of a fragmented life made whole by love and the courage to thrive.”

Skloot is amused by some of the accolades. One declares him to be “a great new writer,” despite the fact that he’s been included in “Best of American Essays” and “Best of Science Writing” anthologies for years. Still, it’s gratifying, he shyly admits.

He’s tailored a “book tour” to accommodate his physical limitations, making a series of short trips each followed by many days of rest back home in rural Oregon . He’s turned down more appearances than he’s made. But after years of living in the shadow imposed by CFIDS , Floyd is enjoying his time in the limelight. Even if it does require careful planning, and worst of all, travel.