A Mighty Response from Readers

For anyone looking for more understanding of disabled persons, this is the book to read.
His vivid descriptions of all the preparations made for day-to-day activities was truly eye-opening to my ignorant mind.
..the book's surprise is how much it is about love, and well, goodness. Real love, not the kind that is used to sell things, or even to get things. The basic goodness that the author has experienced is abundant, invigorating, and reassuring.
Matt Sterling has written an excellent memoir. No one can say Matt got too many good breaks; in fact just the opposite. His life has been full of hardship and challenges. In some cases, after overcoming a major obstacle, Matt was knocked down again. He was determined however and with strong will, positive spirit and true grit, he achieves more than most of us, in addition to writing this great compelling book.
Read it. You will be happy you did and you will learn a great deal about one man’s incredibly strong desire to live and do things that most of us take for granted.
This book needs to be adapted into a movie. Disabled small-town kid from a hard-working Midwest family makes good as a media executive in NYC at the world's preeminent publishing company. He travels the world. He even gets the girl -- a brilliant, beautiful, strong woman who he marries. They overcome fertility issues to have a healthy, bouncing baby boy.
Then all hell breaks loose. Job losses. The decline and death of a parent. Multiple near-death experiences of his own. Excruciating rehab. ... Yet, the end of the film is a happy one. With the help of dozens, he survives. Our hero's life isn't the same as it was, but he still has the opportunity to learn to cook, enjoy the great outdoors and spend time with his cherished loved ones.

See Matt's Appearance on The Gist Podcast

Mighty : Finding the Strength to Survive

Mighty is a heartwarming and entertaining memoir of survival against insurmountable odds. Matt Sterling presents an illuminating look at the obstacles inherent in living life with a permanent disability. His compelling story reminds us to keep moving forward in the hope that better days are always on the horizon.

The book begins with Matt's move to New York City to start a career in advertising just one year after the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed into law in 1990. Matt chronicles his day-to-day life and reveals the frustrations of beginning a new life in a mostly inaccessible city, including his challenges finding an apartment, starting a new job, using public transportation, and dating. Readers travel with Matt around the world in his role as a salesman for Time, Inc., then to San Francisco during the height of the dot-com boom, and finally to Los Angeles, where he meets his wife, Carrie and together they begin a family.

Matt describes the joy of becoming a father, the pain of job elimination, and the loss of his own Dad to dementia. During the pandemic, Matt contracted a serious MRSA infection that kept him in the hospital on life support for four months. Readers are transported into the ICU and the rehab center where Matt stages his battle to regain his strength, rejoin his family and build a new life.

Mighty is a vivid and hopeful book about life’s challenges and an inside look at the struggles of a disabled person. A case study for anyone dealing with adversity and searching for the strength to survive the next challenge.

Photo by Matt Brown