Greg Marshall’s comic memoir is about his life peppered with lies, and a life-changing deception starting with a lie about his leg.
Monday, June 12, 2023 6:08 PM
San Francisco — Growing up with a disability is one thing. Growing up with a disability that was kept secret from you for decades while dealing with being gay, having a father undergoing chemotherapy and a father dying of ALS… another. level.
We haven’t even gotten to the part where her boyfriend is hiding a devastating secret.
Yet, in a way, Gregg Marshall’s first book “The Leg” is a comic memoir.
“I don’t want to read a book about cerebral palsy, cancer, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and all the rest without it being funny,” Marshall told ABC7 news anchor Reggie Akoye. “And I certainly don’t want to live that life. Humor is a way to achieve that.”
this Pride month We’re featuring new work by LGBTQ authors as part of “Reggie’s Exclusive VIP – Only Pride-vate Book Club (everyone is invited).”
Greg Marshall has always had a noticeable limp. His parents told him that the problem with his leg was “tight tendons”. It was actually cerebral palsy. He didn’t know the real reason why he needed so many surgeries and physical therapy until he was almost 30 years old.
“At first I was angry, sort of in a teenage way, but very quickly it got to a point where I finally had a term for how much I’d been through.”
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Marshall’s parents made it clear to him that they did not want a son who would feel restricted by his disability. Hiding his diagnosis, they thought, would eventually help. The strategy came with unintended consequences.
“I was trying to hide my lameness and keep it to a minimum. I think I had a secret that I thought I didn’t deserve the truth from others.”
Marshall had an unusual trip out twice. First, as a gay man. And years later, as a person with cerebral palsy. In “Leg”, Marshall discovers the power to disable the Secret.
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“It’s about tracing disability and queerness as sources of intimacy in a family.”
“The Leg: The Story of a Limb and the Boy Who Grew From It” on June 13.
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