KEYS TO THE KINGDOM: Reflections on Music and the Mind Kathleen L. Housley
Keys to the Kingdom: Reflections on Music and the Mind charts the course of an unusual odyssey. For nearly a decade, Kathleen Housley played piano with Katrina Withey, a gifted musician partially paralyzed from a stroke. To understand those times in their playing when disabilities disappeared in a shimmer of grace, Housley wrote brief reflections, turning to neuroscience and history for deeper insight. Some are as complex as a fugue. Others are as simple as a finger exercise on the C scale. For example, the playing of Beethoven's Fur Elise leads to an exploration of memory. A Bach prelude opens a window on neural networks. Even the search for a pair of mittens to keep Katrina's hands warm turns into a meditation on serendipity. Yet sounding throughout the reflections is a sublime theme - the importance of friendship. 81 pp. ISBN 978-0-9827262-0-4
I am certain I will return to this book many time - to prevent music from becoming solely intellectual, friendship simply casual, and life experiences reduced to a progression of day-to-day events. Each chapter is a fresh and enlightening look at the power of music throughout time, and a moving glimpse into evoking the eternal power between friends.
Pamela J. Perry, D.M.A., Professor of Music, Central Connecticut State University
Kathleen Housley has written a sensitive account of friendship, courage, and the power of music to unite and heal. Her observations are sealed with a light touch of metaphors, never too much, always growing from the real experience.
Richard T. Lee, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus Philosophy, Trinity College
Keys to the Kingdom is more than an inspirational story. It brilliantly connects neurology, music, language, and the overall sense of being. All rehabilitation specialists should read this book to appreciate the holistic nature of recovery and well-being.
Mary Purdy, Ph.D., Department of Communication Disorders, Southern Connecticut State University
