Fully Alive: Discovering What Matters Most By Timothy Shriver Cover Image

Fully Alive: Discovering What Matters Most (Hardcover)

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On a quest for what matters most, Timothy Shriver discovers a radically different, inspiring way of life.

At a time when we are all more rudderless than ever, we look for the very best teachers and mentors to guide us. In Fully Alive, an unusual and gripping memoir, Timothy Shriver shows how his teachers have been the world's most forgotten minority: people with intellectual disabilities. In these pages we meet the individuals who helped him come of age and find a deeper and more meaningful way to see the world.

Shriver's journey begins close to home, where the quiet legacy of his aunt Rosemary, a Kennedy whose intellectual disability kept her far from the limelight, inspired his family to devote their careers to helping the most vulnerable. He plays alongside the children of Camp Shriver, his mother's revolutionary project, which provided a space for children with intellectual disabilities to play, and years later he gains invaluable wisdom from the incredible athletes he befriends as chairman of the organization it inspired, Special Olympics. Through these experiences and encounters with scholars, spiritual masters, and political icons such as Nelson Mandela, Shriver learns how to find humility and speak openly of vulnerability and faith.

Fully Alive is both a moving personal journey and a meditation on some of the greatest wisdom and the greatest contradictions of our society. Is disability to be feared or welcomed, pitied or purged? Shriver argues that we all have different abilities and challenges we should embrace. Here we see how those who appear powerless have turned this seeming shortcoming into a power of their own, and we learn that we are all totally vulnerable and valuable at the same time.

About the Author


Timothy Shriver is a social leader, educator, activist, film producer, and business entrepreneur. He is the third child of Eunice Shriver, founder of the Special Olympics. As chairman of the Special Olympics, he serves more than three million athletes in 180 countries. He cofounded and currently chairs the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), the leading research organization in the United States in the field of social and emotional learning. Shriver earned his undergraduate degree from Yale University, a master's degree from Catholic University, and a doctorate in education from the University of Connecticut. He lives in Maryland with his wife and five children.

Praise For…


“Sincere, profound and deeply satisfying.” —Kirkus (Starred)

“Bursting with life energy. Profound and inspiring. A must-read.” —Deepak Chopra

“Timothy Shriver has written a lovely, honest, and inspiring book that draws on his own wisdom, life experiences, and pioneering work as a champion of the intellectually disabled to offer important lessons for all of us.” —Michael Beschloss, author of Presidential Courage

“Timothy Shriver is not only a gifted writer but a profound intellect and a genuine seeker of the deep truths that make any human life worth living. To read this book is to have your own experience illuminated by an immensely compassionate being, to embrace your own limitations, and to move on with a warmer heart, a more peaceful mind, and a joyfully uplifted spirit.” —Martha Beck, author of Finding Your Way in a Wild New World

“This is a beautiful book about love, meaning, and the Kennedys. It is about Joseph and Rose's life with Rosemary, their daughter with an intellectual disability, who was a tragedy, yes, but also an amazing and precious person, a blessing to her family, challenging and beloved, a radical teacher of the value of each human life. This is the story of Rosemary Kennedy's role in leading the family to its force as advocates for the disabled all over the world, of her sister Eunice Shriver's founding of Special Olympics, of her nephew Timothy's dedication to this great cause. I was lifted, edified, riveted.” —Anne Lamott, author of Small Victories



Coverage from NPR



Product Details
ISBN: 9780374280918
ISBN-10: 0374280916
Publisher: Sarah Crichton Books
Publication Date: November 11th, 2014
Pages: 304
Language: English