Why Can't Sharon Kowalski Come Home?

by Karen Thompson and Julie Andrzejewski

Book Overview

The gripping story of how a closeted university professor waged a years-long legal battle to gain legal guardianship of her disabled lover. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0933216467
• ISBN13: 9780933216464
• Release Date: January 1988
• Publisher: Aunt Lute Books
• Length: 227 Pages
• Weight: 0.88 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Should NEVER go out of print

Sylviastel in her review below does a good book synopsis so I wont bother here. This book should not go out of print. Everything in this real-life saga informs why gay rights are not special rights. You can get a copy of it for any gay person that complains when things get "too political". It is all laid out: not understanding the limits of our rights as partners does not mean that the real-life bigotry and narrowness will not come roaring into our lives with awful consequences. At the point that the father Donald Kowalski is willing to restrict meaningful treatment (and thereby the hope of recovery from a serious car accident) for his own child simply to satisfy his homophobia it is hard to deny that right has not been done and the best interests of Sharon Kowalski were ignored. A cautionary tale.....

Love Can Conquer All!

Karen Thompson and Sharon Kowalski are a lesbian couple in the midwest in the early 1980s. They were together for four years when Sharon and her niece and nephew were in an accident brought on by a drunk driver, her niece was killed and her nephew suffered permanent injuries. Sharon herself suffered as well so much that she would be unable to care for herself. She was living with Karen Thompson but nobody in her family was aware of the true nature of their relationship. Her family had tried to separate them but love conquered all. Karen was determined to take Sharon back home and care for her until the very end. I don't know if Sharon is alive but I do remembering seeing them on the Donahue show talking about their fight in a time when homosexuality and lesbianism even in the 1980s seemed very much in the closet. Karen is truly honest about her feelings. She loves Sharon and doesn't want to be apart from her. Even if it means that sexual intercourse would be impossible in Sharon's condition, think of Christopher and Dana Reeve. True love is hard to find even in heterosexual romances. Of course, Sharon's family probably thought that her lesbianism was over now forced to live her remaining years in a wheelchair and being cared for. Before Sharon's parents and relatives had visited the couple but were unknown of the nature of their relationship, this was Minnesota and possibly this was how lesbian couples maintained their secrecy. Of course, nothing is a secret anymore in our society. Sharon's family was devastated by the accident which killed one family member and severely injured two permanently. They should be angry at the drunk driver more than Karen. I know that Karen and Sharon are together if Sharon is still alive. Beyond that, I have a friend who cared for her husband suffering from Parkinson's disease. She cared for him until the very end. I have no doubt that Karen is still caring for Sharon and loving her as much as possible. Love is not about sexual intercourse but about people coming together as both friends rather than lovers. Karen fought hard to care for Sharon even if it meant feeding her, changing her, cleaning her, and doing actions that nurses are required to do for somebody so handicapped. I imagine that time has passed and Sharon's family has long made peace with Sharon's lesbianism despite their objections. It's a court case that was one of the pioneers of the gay and lesbian rights movement. I wish Karen and Sharon well and their families as well.

Why Cant.... 14 years on

I picked up this book thinking it would be a fairly tame, shallow and thoughtless book about a lesbian love affair.What a mistake I made. Although I read this book fourteen years after it was originally written, I found it to be the most influential piece of literature I have ever read. To read of such injustice and predudice towards someone and lack of care to a disabled human being devestated me. I was truly inspired by Karen Thompson's undying struggle to be reunited with her lover and partner despite all hurdles she faced.This novel highlighted the gross injustice which is being dealt to members of same sex relationships worldwide.A well written book which deserves to be placed on high school syllabuses.

This one will make you mad, sad and outraged all together

This is a great book! After I read the Introduction of it and realized that it was about two lesbian/gay women, I didn't really care to read the rest. The thing that kept me reading was the fact that it is also about civil rights of disabled persons. I work in an ICF/MR and the story touched me deeply and really really made me mad at the same time. It seems unreal that this could actually happen to someone and our justice department would allow it to happen. After reading the book (which I finished in a day because I couldn't put it down) I have a far better understanding of civil rights and I even have a different outlook on the gay and lesbian population of the united States. Great job Karen and Julie! You both should be very proud of yourselves for this one! I feel with all my heart for Sharon and I am praying for her return home. NO ONE should be denied the right to choose where they live and who they associate with! Keep the fight going!

Real life lesbian custody battle.

Sharon Kowalski and Karen Thompson were together four years, before a drunk driver struck Sharon's car, leaving her unable to move or communicate. The only thing that can bring her out of a dangerous coma is Karen's patience and love. Karen tells her story of fighting for custody and the right to care for her lover against extremely hostile parents and hostile judges. In their eyes, she is a "sick wacko". This is NOT a novel, it is a real life story, at times tedious, and with no neat ending. Buy it for the historical information, read it to learn what love is all about. Then go get "Eight Bullets" (ISBN=1563410559), another similar story. More reviews by Bobbi at http://www.primenet.com/~bobbib/books