No Magic Wands

About the Book

NO MAGIC WANDS is a non-fiction account of the ordeals encountered by the author, Beverly Nichols, as she struggles to survive numerous surgical procedures, and continual, worsening levels of pain and disability.  The author chronicles her struggle to endure her life since 1977, including a day in 1978 when she approached the edge of suicide, and the events which turned her back to the path of Life.

After nineteen years of surviving, and enduring steadily worsening medical problems, Ms. Nichols is again forced to confront her ability to adjust, when she is diagnosed, in 1996, with Multiple Sclerosis.

Ms. Nichols includes an understanding of the process her mind and body use to endure pain and disability.  She attributes her success in coming to terms with her limitations to perseverance, self-discipline, the music of Neil Diamond, and the existence of a positive dream world.

The author explains the process she developed to utilize memories and self-control.  Such a process may be used by other people to help them learn their own way to accept life's assaults, medical conditions, endurance of chronic pain, and survival in the face of adversity.

Jeffrey S. Turner, Ph.D. writes (October 25, 1997):

Beverly Nichols' NO MAGIC WANDS is an encompassing and moving account of a woman stricken with a debilitating chronic illness and her efforts to overcome its accompanying hardships and challenges. The result is a captivating and moving narrative, one that successfully captures the fragility of the human condition and the precious resources needed to overcome adversity,  Nichols paints a vivid and painful portrait of her past, including how her physical condition and medical diagnoses forever changed her life.  She beautifully conveys how she discovers strength in the face of adversity and how, with the help of family and friends, finds the courage and optimism to reconstruct her life and future dreams.  NO MAGIC WANDS shares the tragedy of loss but how strength can be restored with the psychological vitamins of love, hope, and inner resolve.  I consider NO MAGIC WANDS must reading for anyone interested in the topics of disability, motivation, determination, and fortitude.  The author is to be commended for her willingness to share her life so that others can benefit from her turmoils and triumphs.

C.Francis Roe, M.D. writes (March 30, 1998):    

 This is an extraordinarily moving book.  It is about the day-to-day and week-to-week struggle of a young woman facing the battle of her life against a deadly diagnosis.  This story is not so much about the illness as about the woman's response to it - a blend of courage, persistence and humor, a total refusal to give up in the face of problems that would make most people capitulate.

 This is not simply a book to encourage others facing the same kind of problems.  It is a story full of humanity, showing what can be accomplished with the simplest of tools - grit and patience.  

NO MAGIC WANDS is an inspiration to us all.

About the Author

Born in 1949, in New London, Connecticut, Beverly Salvador graduated from Robert Fitch High School in 1967. She married in 1968 to Jimmy Nichols. By 1978, she had graduated from Mitchell College in New London, Connecticut. With care provided for her t