From Publishers Weekly
Imagine having both your legs amputated below the knee. Picture yourself relearning to walk, finally making it to the disabled Olympic games and winning 18 gold medals and 14 world records. Then envision yourself becoming the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College of Physical Education. Ronan Tynan has done all this and more, and he explains how he overcame such adversity in his moving art biography, Halfway Home: My Life 'til Now. As Tynan (now one of the popular Irish Tenors and currently planning a U.S. tour with his two partners) says, "Faith is the bird that fells the light and sings when the dawn is still dark." Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Tynan is best known in this country as a member of the Irish Tenors, but he has achieved much more. Readers expecting the usual singer biography will be delighted and transfixed by his extraordinary life story. Born with focamelia, a bilateral congenital deformity, he nonetheless trained as a competitive rider and jumper as a boy. Then at age 20 he had his legs amputated below the knee and went on to win 19 gold medals and set 14 world records in the Paralympic Games. He was also the first disabled person ever admitted to Ireland's National College of Physical Education. Although he sang as a child and won several competitions as a treble, he put music aside for other pursuits and only began to study voice in his early thirties, whereupon he had immediate success. Tynan's style is simple and direct, certainly not artful, but his physical and emotional bravery is so compelling that it doesn't matter. This genuinely inspiring story is being published to coincide with a major U.S. tour of the Irish Tenors; expect demand. Highly recommended for public libraries. Kate McCaffrey, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, NYCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Producing an autobiography at 40 suggests either authorial arrogance or an unusual life. Despite his recent fame as one of the three Irish Tenors, Tynan is by no means arrogant, so consider his life. Born into a farm family, he had malformed legs and required hospitalization and mechanical aids to enable him to get around the farm, then the neighboring town, and ultimately the world. Having once finished second in a consolation 50-meter sack race, his driving personality kicked in, and even after both legs were amputated, he became a winner in many events, culminating in outstanding performance in the Disabled Olympics. In addition, he improved the riding he learned on the farm with formal training and competed in many shows and races. During an early hospital stay, Tynan's physician so impressed him that he eventually went into medical school and several years' practice. As for singing, he learned while milking cows with his father, whose musical ambitions had been restricted by the needs of his own father's farm. Sure, this is a heart-warmer. William Beatty
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
Yes, I am a singer. But I am also a horseman, an athlete, and a doctor. I am a son, a brother, and a friend. I can sing as I do only because of the life that I've led. With each decade, I've found myself in very different, evermore challenging arenas, but the many stages of my life have always intertwined. I have moved from one stage to the next as if on a wild steeplechase, keeping my eye fixed straight ahead and above me. If there is a single line connecting all the episodes and main events of my life it is this -- a gift both given and received. -- from the Introduction In Halfway Home, a beautifully written memoir, Ronan Tynan, a member of the enormously popular Irish Tenors, shares his remarkable story of overcoming adversity and attaining worldwide success in several different areas. Diagnosed with a lower limb disability at birth, Ronan Tynan had his legs amputated below the knee when he was twenty years old. Eight weeks later, he was climbing the stairs of his college dorm, and within a year, he was winning races in the Paralympic Games, amassing eighteen gold medals and fourteen world records. After becoming the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College of Physical Education, he served a short stint in the prosthetics industry and began a new career in medicine. He continued his studies at Trinity College, where he specialized in orthopedic sports injuries. After earning his medical degree, Ronan chose music for the next act in his life. Less than one year after he began studying voice, he won both the John McCormick Cup for Tenor Voice and the BBC talent show Go for It. He went on to win the prestigious International Operatic Singing Competition in France, and in 1998 his debut Sony album, My Life Belongs to You, became a top-five hit in England within just two weeks and eventually went platinum. Later that year, he was invited to join The Irish Tenors, furthering a journey that started in a small Irish village and has brought him to the world's grandest stages. In Halfway Home, Tynan movingly describes his life story, which Barbara Walters called "so amazing you may find it hard to believe."


Download Description
In Halfway Home, a beautifully written memoir, Ronan Tynan, a member of the enormously popular Irish Tenors, shares his remarkable story of overcoming adversity and attaining worldwide success in several different areas. Diagnosed with a lower limb disability at birth, Ronan Tynan had his legs amputated below the knee when he was twenty years old. Eight weeks later, he was climbing the stairs of his college dorm, and within a year, he was winning races in the Paralympic Games, amassing eighteen gold medals and fourteen world records. After becoming the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College of Physical Education, he served a short stint in the prosthetics industry and began a new career in medicine. He continued his studies at Trinity College, where he specialized in orthopedic sports injuries. After earning his medical degree, Ronan chose music for the next act in his life. Less than one year after he began studying voice, he won both the John McCormick Cup for Tenor Voice and the BBC talent show Go for It. He went on to win the prestigious International Operatic Singing Competition in France, and in 1998 his debut Sony album, My Life Belongs to You, became a top-five hit in England within just two weeks and eventually went platinum. Later that year, he was invited to join The Irish Tenors, furthering a journey that started in a small Irish village and has brought him to the world's grandest stages. In Halfway Home, Tynan movingly describes his life story, which Barbara Walters called "so amazing you may find it hard to believe."


About the Author
Born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1960, Ronan Tynan is one of the world-renowned Irish Tenors. Able to walk only with the aid of prosthetic limbs, he is a horseman, an athlete, a doctor, a singer, and now a writer. He lives in Ireland.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Yes, I am a singer. But I am also a horseman, an athlete, and a doctor. I am a son, a brother, and a friend. I can sing as I do only because of the life that I've led. With each decade, I've found myself in very different, evermore challenging arenas, but the many stages of my life have always intertwined. I have moved from one stage to the next as if on a wild steeplechase, keeping my eye fixed straight ahead and above me. If there is a single line connecting all the episodes and main events of my life it is this -- a gift both given and received.

-- from the Introduction

In Halfway Home, a beautifully written memoir, Ronan Tynan, a member of the enormously popular Irish Tenors, shares his remarkable story of overcoming adversity and attaining worldwide success in several different areas.

Diagnosed with a lower limb disability at birth, Ronan Tynan had his legs amputated below the knee when he was twenty years old. Eight weeks later, he was climbing the stairs of his college dorm, and within a year, he was winning races in the Paralympic Games, amassing eighteen gold medals and fourteen world records. After becoming the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College of Physical Education, he served a short stint in the prosthetics industry and began a new career in medicine. He continued his studies at Trinity College, where he specialized in orthopedic sports injuries.

After earning his medical degree, Ronan chose music for the next act in his life. Less than one year after he began studying voice, he won both the John McCormick Cup for Tenor Voice and the BBC talent show Go for It. He went on to win the prestigious International Operatic Singing Competition in France, and in 1998 his debut Sony album, My Life Belongs to You, became a top-five hit in England within just two weeks and eventually went platinum. Later that year, he was invited to join The Irish Tenors, furthering a journey that started in a small Irish village and has brought him to the world's grandest stages.

In Halfway Home, Tynan movingly describes his life story, which Barbara Walters called "so amazing you may find it hard to believe."

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Imagine having both your legs amputated below the knee. Picture yourself relearning to walk, finally making it to the disabled Olympic games and winning 18 gold medals and 14 world records. Then envision yourself becoming the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College of Physical Education. Ronan Tynan has done all this and more, and he explains how he overcame such adversity in his moving art biography, Halfway Home: My Life 'til Now. As Tynan (now one of the popular Irish Tenors and currently planning a U.S. tour with his two partners) says, "Faith is the bird that fells the light and sings when the dawn is still dark." ( Jan. 8) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Imagine having both your legs amputated below the knee. Picture yourself relearning to walk, finally making it to the disabled Olympic games and winning 18 gold medals and 14 world records. Then envision yourself becoming the first disabled person ever admitted to the National College of Physical Education. Ronan Tynan has done all this and more, and he explains how he overcame such adversity in his moving art biography, Halfway Home: My Life 'til Now. As Tynan (now one of the popular Irish Tenors and currently planning a U.S. tour with his two partners) says, "Faith is the bird that fells the light and sings when the dawn is still dark." ( Jan. 8) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Tynan is best known in this country as a member of the Irish Tenors, but he has achieved much more. Readers expecting the usual singer biography will be delighted and transfixed by his extraordinary life story. Born with focamelia, a bilateral congenital deformity, he nonetheless trained as a competitive rider and jumper as a boy. Then at age 20 he had his legs amputated below the knee and went on to win 19 gold medals and set 14 world records in the Paralympic Games. He was also the first disabled person ever admitted to Ireland's National College of Physical Education. Although he sang as a child and won several competitions as a treble, he put music aside for other pursuits and only began to study voice in his early thirties, whereupon he had immediate success. Tynan's style is simple and direct, certainly not artful, but his physical and emotional bravery is so compelling that it doesn't matter. This genuinely inspiring story is being published to coincide with a major U.S. tour of the Irish Tenors; expect demand. Highly recommended for public libraries. Kate McCaffrey, Onondaga Cty. P.L., Syracuse, NY Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews