The Krooked Cowboy

Shawn Brush was born with morquio disease, one of the causes of dwarfism. He loves life, but rarely has a pain-free day. "I say this," says Shawn, who is 38, "not to evoke any sympathy or even empathy. "Being a little person is not being a mini-you," he says. "I am not just a regular, normal person in the body half the size of an average-sized person. "Being small is not a regular life from a lower-to-the-ground perspective. "It is not being a man in a child's body," says Shawn. In fact, it is quite the opposite. Shawn is a young man living in an old man's body. When he was in his mid-20s a doctor told him he had the bones of an 85-year-old! "Don't ever think I wouldn't have liked to be a strapping six-footer with a wife, kids, job. But I am happy in the body I am in'' Shawn is a singer-songwriter. He's released 11 CDs in the past 15 years, many of them showcasing his own compositions. Shawn has a number of goals. One is to go on tour, but that may never happen. His health and energy limit him. He finds it difficult to play two nights in a row - even sleeping in his own bed each night. Another is to be independent - busking in 2007 took him closer to that goal. Yet another is to have others read his story and be inspired to reach their full potential. This book could achieve that!