Sky Above Clouds: Finding Our Way through Creativity, Aging, and Illness

353 Pages·2016·6.39 MB·English

by  Wendy L. Miller

Advance Praise for Sky Above Clouds
This book takes us into the inner galactic spheres of creative potential and heal-
ing. The fact that Cohen’s illness went on for more than 13 years— beating the
statistical odds of survival so dramatically that he was told “Medically, you do not
exist”—makes this book a miracle story because this is what gave both authors the
opportunity to reap such powerful insights. They wrote under the constant threat
of his severe metastatic condition, and within the context of raising a child, thriving
professionally, and loving one another: The miracle of the life that they weren’t sup-
posed to have gave them the opportunity to merge their personal and professional
lives, and to flesh out concepts that are not normally understood around aging, ill-
ness, and a creative life. This story is amazing to any of us reading.
Sanford Finkel, MD, geriatric psychiatrist, Clinical Professor of
Psychiatry, University of Chicago Medical School
At various times in one’s life and especially during an illness, it is vital to be able
to creatively assess, interpret, and react to your situation. Loss is inevitable, but
true strength, power, and hope are found in how we experience and make sense
of loss. In Sky Above Clouds, there is a sense of continuity despite the chaos of
time; there is endurance despite change. Emotional movement that varies from
loss, to reflection, to hope, to new futures is a chain that is repeated within smaller
sections as well as in the book as a whole. As a reader, I needed to know that people
can survive loss, not that they’re unchanged by it, but that they are not destroyed.
The elements of this book come together into full consciousness, creating this
special gift of insight.
Kate de Medeiros, PhD, Blayney Associate Professor of
Sociology and Gerontology, Miami University, author of
Narrative Gerontology in Research and Practice 
Sky Above Clouds is a powerful narrative of illness that will reshape current thinking
about chronic disease, health care, aging, and the arts. On one level, it is an intensely
personal story of Gene Cohen’s thirteen- year battle with metastatic prostate cancer
and Wendy’s insightful observations made throughout the long journey as his wife
and caregiver. It chronicles their approach to managing his care when he was deemed
a “medical outlier” and the impact of the illness on their relationship, family mem-
bers, and their professional lives, his as a renowned gero- psychiatrist, researcher, and
author and hers as an artist, art therapist, and psychologist. On another level, it por-
trays how interweaving their unique perspectives as scientist and artist influenced
their approach and led to the formulation of an exciting new paradigm about aging
and illness, one that emphasizes human potential and the creative spirit to bring
new meaning to later life and end of life. Health providers, educators, researchers,
and those in the arts and humanities who seek to move beyond entrenched thinking
about illness and aging can benefit greatly from this “work of art.”
Linda S. Noelker, PhD, Adjunct Professor of Sociology,
Case Western Reserve University
“Tell your numbers in a rhyme if you can,” an exercise in imagination associated
with the game of cribbage, brought two creative healing souls— artist Wendy
Miller and scientist Gene Cohen— together in life and in death. Their book Sky
Above Clouds reveals the twinkling depths of the unfathomable universe of human
compassion and wisdom. This beautiful piece of writing intergeneratively blends
the quantum and qualia of life and allows us to experience the swirling galactic
energy of their shared relationship. It shows us that one and one are fun and also a
few more than two.
Peter Whitehouse, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology,
Case Western Reserve University,
author of The Myth of Alzheimer’s
Art therapist Wendy Miller and Gene Cohen, the guru of creative aging, shared a
public silence about Gene’s terminal cancer for a remarkable 13 years. As the fog
of grief surrounding Gene’s illness and death has lifted, Wendy has reclaimed her
voice and created a poetic reflection of the love affair with art, science, and cre-
ativity she shared with Gene. Sky Above Clouds is a contemplation on the power
of the creative spirit to find sunshine behind and beyond a tempestuous struggle
with terminal cancer. It is a story of personal heroism, survival, and recovery with
profound lessons for us all.
Michael C. Patterson, CEO of MINDRAMP Consulting,
past manager of AARP’s Brain Health Program,
and board member emeritus (with Gene Cohen)
of the National Center for Creative Aging
Sky Above Clouds is the inside story of how science and art come together to create
something larger than one plus one equals two. Creativity and the creative imagi-
nation are at the heart of this magical transformation. First the father wishes to
write a fairytale for his daughter whom he may not see grow up. Then Gene and
Wendy come together to bridge, enhance, and illuminate our understanding of “liv-
ing with loss.” With profound gratitude, I thank Gene and Wendy for sharing their
unique perspectives on resilience and growth as these creative thinkers integrate
theory and life in story. We are our stories. Sky Above Clouds is an important tale
that shows the power of art and science to uplift and inspire us all in challenging
times. In addition, the field of creative aging exists because of the “Creativity and
Aging Study” conducted by Dr. Gene Cohen: research, programs, and policy con-
verging into NCCA.
Susan Perlstein, founder, National Center for Creative Aging (NCCA)
Sky Above Clouds

Sky Above Clouds
FINDING OUR WAY THROUGH CREATIVITY,
AGING, AND ILLNESS
BY
WENDY L. MILLER, PHD,
and
GENE D. COHEN, MD, PHD
with
TERESA H. BARKER
1
1
Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers
the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education
by publishing worldwide. Oxford is a registered trade mark of Oxford University
Press in the UK and certain other countries.
Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press
198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, United States of America.
© Oxford University Press 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the
prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted
by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction
rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the
above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the
address above.
You must not circulate this work in any other form
and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer.
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Names: Miller, Wendy L., 1950- | Cohen, Gene D. | Barker, Teresa.
Title: Sky above clouds : finding our way through creativity, aging, and illness / by Wendy L. Miller and
Gene D. Cohen, with Teresa H. Barker.
Description: Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references
and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2015033768 | ISBN 9780199371419 (alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Aging— Psychological aspects. | Older people— Psychology. | Resilience (Personality
trait) | Creative ability. | Mind and body. | Loss (Psychology) in old age. | Art therapy.
Classification: LCC BF724.55.A35 M55 2016 | DDC 155.67— dc23 LC record available at http://l ccn.
loc.gov/2 015033768
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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This material is not intended to be, and should not be considered, a substitute for medical or other
professional advice. Treatment for the conditions described in this material is highly dependent on the
individual circumstances. And, while this material is designed to offer accurate information with respect
to the subject matter covered and to be current as of the time it was written, research and knowledge about
medical and health issues is constantly evolving and dose schedules for medications are being revised
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This is a story of love, a story of loss, a story of care.
It is a love letter, a “heart song,” to you, Gene, because that is the only
strategy I can choose: a love letter to you and with you.

All stories are illness stories, for all expose the
human condition of mortality.
The care of the sick is a work of art1.
Rita Charon