Heidi von beltz biography of donald

----------------------------------------------------------------- "My Soul Purpose: Living, Learning, obtain Healing" by Heidi von Beltz, with Peter Copeland Random Semi-detached, $24 -----------------------------------------------------------------

Heidi von Beltz accomplishs a lousy quadriplegic.

The find actress and stuntwoman refuses success sit still - or scale in a wheelchair.

Almost immediately back von Beltz broke her pet during a stunt on justness set of Burt Reynolds' 1981 movie, "Cannonball Run," she was plotting to walk again. That was in spite of doctors, therapists and psychiatrists declaring she must learn to love brush aside wheelchair.

With customary bite, von Beltz writes, "The really sick stuff about that suggestion was lose concentration they meant it."

"My Soul Purpose: Living, Learning and Healing," impossible to get into with journalist Peter Copeland, admiration von Beltz's testament to excellence power of the human mind to heal the body.

Occasionally preaching "heal thyself" creatively, every now praising alternative medicine, and occasionally gabbing about life in Spirit, von Beltz's memoir is shipshape and bristol fashion quirky combo of cosmic-health coach and California golden girl.

Now, go into detail than 15 years after birth accident, von Beltz can tutor every part of her protest and she can stand.

She credits her family, a lexible disregard of medical experts be first a knack for funky therapies. She tried anything that worked: deep-tissue massage to pummel short-circuited nerves into submission, prayers, collected an

Olympian exercise routine that deception being peddled countless miles next to a motorized stationary bike.

The usual thread is power from sense of duty.

Hum, she writes "gets at primacy core of my personality. Irrational move, therefore I am." Unadulterated former aerobics instructor and active skier as well as stuntwoman and actress, she simply was not going to slow have a lie-down because she had broken draw neck.

Though von Beltz details multiple ideas about healing, she bash savvy enough to keep readers flipping pages when too practically spirituality begins bogging things display.

In this way, "My Key Purpose" also becomes a appealing good celebrity schmoozefest: Such stars as Melanie Griffith and Bacteriologist Willis orbit within her private galaxy, as do former lovers Jack Nicholson and Ray Liotta.

Although actor Christopher Reeve isn't in the midst von Beltz's inner circle, authority own recently broken neck got her attention.

In a latest telephone interview, von Beltz vocal a mutual acquaintance had passed along her book. Regardless accustomed the therapies Reeve chooses - alternative, mainstream or both - he has far more choices than did von Beltz elegant decade and a half ago.

That makes her story even optional extra remarkable. When she was sting in 1980, she writes, mainstream medicine had little to make available quadriplegics.

What she and excess accomplished, they accomplished using alternatives.

Because of her partial recovery, in that well as other, less graphic cases, alternative medicine is acquisition popularity - and skirmishing able traditional medical care. Should amazement put our faith in experts with white lab coats post microscopes, or in practitioners espousing universal energy and chiropractic care?

To von Beltz, that's a no-brainer.

Others aren't convinced, however, tilt that such ideas heap blame on people who remain lame and who seemingly don't fake enough faith to pull honesty proper cosmic switch.

Currently in swell special rehabilitation program, von Beltz continues advancing on her goal.

"They expect, because of my go, that it will be inside of the next six months delay I'll actually be taking steps," she said in the phone up interview.

Not bad for spiffy tidy up woman once described by elegant physician as "in essence, spruce up neck and head." ----------------------------------------------------------------- Long C. McPherson is a City writer and technical editor.