Dear departed: Bill Hayes remembers his partner neurologist Oliver Sacks

His intimate memoir throws light on an extraordinary and unexpected love affair between the photographer and the neurologist

Bill Hayes left San Francisco after 25 years of living there when his long-time partner, Steve, died unexpectedly. He wanted a fresh start and moved to New York City, not realising that this would lead him to fall in love thrice over – with renowned neurologist Dr Oliver Sacks who Hayes was with, till his death from cancer in August 2015; with New York and its people as a muse to his creativity; and his own internal love affair as a writer and photographer. He chronicles all of this in his exquisitely written memoir, Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me.

Author Bill Hayes and Dr Sacks bonded over a common ailment — insomnia — when they met for the first time(Photo courtesy: www.billhayes.com)

“I aimed for discretion. I didn’t want it to be explicit, but I wanted it to be intimate. I think there’s a fine line between the two”

Insomniac City is both a meditation on grief and a celebration of life