The Stroke Artist

Finalist in the 2021Eyelands Book Awards

At thirty-five, Dr. Bevan Choate, was a successful surgeon and the captain of his own ship. Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, he was alone and adrift, the victim of a massive stroke.

“Your thinking self begins to panic. You’re revving the engine with the pedal to the floor, but the clutch is still in first gear. You have been told by every impassioned therapist that the brain is an amazing thing, and they all have a story of Methuselah returning to rollerblading at six months after his stroke that was worse than mine.

So, you ask of yourself the impossible. You say, ‘Look you son of a bitch. We are going to do this if it kills us both.’ And you make something happen. The first few times you look like an absolute fool. You stumble. You literally drop the ball. You are failing but at least you are doing it in style.

Then, after lots of failing, you begin to start succeeding. You accomplish the impossible. Your soul, your being, your ‘amazing brain’ just won a battle that puts you that much closer to winning the war.”

Brave and irreverent, The Stroke Artist is an unforgettable, first-hand divulgence of facing an unthinkable tragedy and emerging victorious to tell the tale.
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“Young Dr. Choate had it made. At thirty-five, he had survived medical school and a long residency, and it was time to start living the Good Life and pay off his student loans. Then, something happened inside his skull and the music stopped. He had suffered a massive stroke. It wasn’t fair. Some writers are good at putting words together but don’t have good stories to tell. Others have good stories but lack the skills to tell them. Bevan Choate has both, and this is a very fine book about experiences that most of us pray will never happen. I read it at one sitting. Well done, Dr. Choate!”

—John R. Erickson, author of Hank the Cow Dog Series

“Readers of the Western genre are sometimes surprised and very much entertained by writers who bring their life experiences to pen and paper. From Edna Ferber’s Giant to McCarthy’s, Kelton’s, and McMurtry’s sweeping sagas, the storytellers of the West have given the reader an honest approach in writing about life’s ongoing obstacles and struggles. Soon, to be counted amongst them will be this young son of a Texas rancher, who becomes a doctor, a painter and now a novelist . . . Bevan Choate. This short self-penned story, The Stroke Artist, speaks to all who have at one time or another faced and then overcome life’s unplanned obstacles.”

—Allan Harris, jazz vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter from Harlem, New York

Dr. Choate received his medical doctorate from Texas Tech Health Sciences Center and completed a five-year residency through the University of New Mexico Hospitals. He lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with his wife and dog, Indi, and pursues painting, fly fishing, and urology.