When Dave Davey was just twelve years old he contracted polio. It was a bad epidemic year for the disease and he was one of many children in the hospital. Imprisoned in an iron lung and forced to endure painful treatments, Dave found strength in his relationship with God and the love of his mother. He was one of the fortunate ones who survived the dreaded illness, but he would never walk again.
Dave’s confinement to a wheelchair opened his eyes to the needs of the handicapped and the problems of accessibility. After attending college he went to work for Goodwill, an organization dedicated to helping the less fortunate. He spent his life working to improve the lives of others and make the world as barrier free as possible. BEYOND BARRIERS book chronicles his life and struggles and his marriage to the love of his life, Anne. A memoir, his story is told mostly through her eyes, but there are also chapters that were written by Dave before his death. Their love for each other shines through their words and the photographs that document their life together and their family.
Anne Davey Koomans has put her heart into this book about her beloved husband and she clearly writes with real love and emotion. But there are just so many details and so much information included without any real planning that it gets confusing. Somehow there also seems to be information missing and things left out. The mother of Dave’s daughter, Susan, for example, does not seem to have been Anne. But there is no mention of anyone else. It’s a pretty glaring omission. The writing and phrasing also need work. They are often repetitive and a little stilted. The quality of the writing and the overall readability of the book would be greatly improved by some good editing and it needs some real polishing up to add professionalism and clarity to the love and warmth with which Koomans has infused her work.
BEYOND BARRIERS is a biography full of lovely memories, a real diamond in the rough that with some solid editing could easily be made into a great book.
~Heather Stockard, for IndieReader