One Hundred Poems And The Brain: A Cyclist's Memoir

By Henry Ryman Miner
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As Henry Ryman Miner began to grow older, he noticed a subtle increase in forgetfulness, like going to another room and forgetting what he came for. He began to undertake various forms of mental exercise in an effort to improve his memory which led him to engage in the practice of memorizing and reciting favorite and newly discovered poems, a practice that he combined with cycling in the Oakland hills. Gradually his collection of memorized verse grew to reach one hundred poems.

Broken into three parts, Miner first details his process for memorization, explaining in detail his methods and strategies. In part two, he lists all one hundred poems and includes his thoughts on each, reflecting on its place in the chronology of his life. Now familiar with his personal process and poems, Miner, in part three, explains the science behind memory, memorization, and the brain, proving and disproving some of his own methods in part one.

A fascinating read on the realities of memory loss with aging, and the power of poetry, Miner’s One Hundred Poems and the Brain blends science and art into one engaging, thoughtful mental exercise.

Published: 2005
Page Count: 32

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J
Jacqueline Muir-Broaddus, PhD
One Hundred Poems and the Brain

What a delightful and inspiring read! It’s endlessly fascinating to delve deeply into the internal world of another human, especially someone as thoughtful, curious, and engaging as Miner. He applies his keen intellect to think deeply yet humbly about his everyday experiences, and the result is fresh and enriching. I should preface my comments with the admission that I’m not a connoisseur of poetry, yet I greatly enjoyed the intellectual journey that was “One Hundred Poems and the Brain”. Ever modest, Miner is clear that he is not an expert in the field of memory, and although I do have an academic background myself I found many of his observations to be spot-on and richly conveyed. That is not to say that I agreed with every insight or that his interpretations of the memory literature always meshed with my own, but I found them thought-provoking nonetheless. Miner is also clear that the book is composed of three distinct parts that can stand alone. Of these, to my surprise, I most appreciate Part Two where he lists and discusses each of the poems in his collection. I found myself re-reading a number of his reflections to more fully plumb them, and then looking up some of the poems to read for myself. I was especially enamored with the love poems, including his own, and his eloquent explorations of them in the context of his life. Although memory is the book’s primary focus, with the advice in Part 3 for maintaining healthy memories as we age being particularly valuable, the secondary theme of love was for me deeply captivating and it may be these insights that will stay with me the longest

J
Jacqueline Muir-Broaddus, PhD
One Hundred Poems and the Brain

What a delightful and inspiring read! It’s endlessly fascinating to delve deeply into the internal world of another human, especially someone as thoughtful, curious, and engaging as Miner. He applies his keen intellect to think deeply yet humbly about his everyday experiences, and the result is fresh and enriching. I should preface my comments with the admission that I’m not a connoisseur of poetry, yet I greatly enjoyed the intellectual journey that was “One Hundred Poems and the Brain”. Ever modest, Miner is clear that he is not an expert in the field of memory, and although I do have an academic background myself I found many of his observations to be spot-on and richly conveyed. That is not to say that I agreed with every insight or that his interpretations of the memory literature always meshed with my own, but I found them thought-provoking nonetheless. Miner is also clear that the book is composed of three distinct parts that can stand alone. Of these, to my surprise, I most appreciate Part Two where he lists and discusses each of the poems in his collection. I found myself re-reading a number of his reflections to more fully plumb them, and then looking up some of the poems to read for myself. I was especially enamored with the love poems, including his own, and his eloquent explorations of them in the context of his life. Although memory is the book’s primary focus, with the advice in Part 3 for maintaining healthy memories as we age being particularly valuable, the secondary theme of love was for me deeply captivating and it may be these insights that will stay with me the longest.