My Maggie

by Richard King

My Maggie is a rare and real love story. Rich and Maggie King were two people who never gave up on each other a testament to a love few have the will to attain.

She was his childhood sweetheart and wife of thirty two years. Diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of four, she wore cumbersome hearing aids and felt the humiliation of being different. Slowly, an insidious disease robbed her of vision. She fought three different cancers, changed careers in the middle of her life and fought to realize her dreams. Yet, underneath these great challenges, there was an incredible love shared by two people. It was cemented by adversity and reached a near perfect spiritual connection. They lived a classic old fashioned love story.

King shares one of the most powerful, complex, and memorable love stories ever written. It is an American story of great heroism, courage, and devotion. Maggie was a woman who understood how to lead a happy life and then led it, in spite of the challenges placed in front of her. My Maggie is great drama, great passion, and great fun. It is a book written with a love so immense it almost defies description.

75% of the royalties from this book will be donated

The Lighthouse for the Blind The American Cancer Society

Genres: Adult, Nonfiction

285 pages, Hardcover

Published October 13, 2007

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Richard King is the Founder & CEO at Product Marketing Alliance, the number one product marketing community. In just two years, the PMA has grown to 60,000+ members, boasting multiple accredited certifications and partnering with renowned brands like Microsoft, TikTok, Salesforce, Gong, Intuit, and Google.

Reviews

[Jeanine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sniff. Sniff. You know what I like about this book, which chronicles a the true story of teen love the matures and endures through numerous tests? It's honest. Rich King does not portray his wife as a saint. He does not portray their relationship as without flaws or challenges. Maggie, Rich King's wife, suffered from Usher's syndrome which caused hearing loss from an early age and later retinitus pigmentosa, which is a progressive, degenerative blindness. Talk about a double-whammy! In addtion, Maggie survived cancer once and years later, cancer came again, but to stay and ultimately take her life. So it's touching and sad, but also uplifting and invigorating because it really shows how tough, resilient and hopeful one has to be to have an enduring marriage, with or without such tremendous challenges. Rich and Maggie are "real." They are not ideal, pie-in-the-sky romantics, but they are romantic and full of love for each other. They are committed. They are good people who recognized that they had a great marriage, with bad days and good days and everything in between. And Rich's narrative was refreshing because it was like he was sitting down for coffee with me, or a beer,and just talking to me and telling me like it was. It was very readable. It's hard for me to give this book 4-5 stars. Maybe because I am a literary snob and when I think 4-5 stars, I am think of literary greats. It gets 4 stars from me for being real and honest. 3 stars on literary merit, which is still quite good. Folks who are facing challenges in life would benefit from reading this book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a touching, if not well-written, story about Rich and Maggie King. Rich writes a biography about his late wife, who suffered from Usher syndrome- a progressive disease causing blindness and deafness. She also gets breast and, fatally, ovarian cancer. Overall the story is uplifing, a story of perseverance and courage.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy read because it was conversational, but also a hard read as you knew the outcome. I will remember Maggie whenever I feel sorry for myself.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though one knew that Maggie’s life ended early, this is not a sad story. Her husband loved her and allowed her her freedom to pursue work & interests although blind and deaf.

[Fred Arshoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw an interview with the author on Bonnie Hunt and he really moved me and made me want to read this one. It was really good, but I think I built it up a little too much. The story is amazing and I loved that he put in things like her temper and depression when dealing with cancer and Usher Syndrome, it wasn't just her amazing accomplishments and how she overcame all that was put in her path, but made you really feel like her as a real person and was much easier to identify with. I cried a lot through the book, but it is very inspiring and such a neat love story.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone familiar with the Chicago Media knows the name of Rich King....sports anchor for many years. This is the story not about him, but about his wife, Maggie...who died a number of years ago due to brain cancer.

The book talks of their marriage and her experiences with Usher's Syndrome....what started as hearing and sight loss, and sadly, later on, cancer. This is a remarkable story of one woman's determination to live despite all the health issues she suffered through the years.

[AnnaMay · Rating 3 out of 5]

At the beginning, I considered it rather indulgent of Richard King to write this book. Who wants to read all this? BUT....after a hundred pages or so, as usually happens with me, I began to really know and appreciate the characters. Once again, it broadened my understanding of others and helped me be more accepting of the good people around me.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

What I learned from this book: life is hard but you can have a good outlook and be happy and then write a book about it! I didn't LOVE the story and didn't finish reading it but I didn't totally hate it either.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a wonderful story about a married couple and the trials they go through with Maggie's health. What wonderful friends they had and what wonderful partners they were to each other. A perfect example of hard work at marriage.

[Tawni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I couldn't put the book down. It's a page turner, LOVED it.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great true story about a woman with Usher's Syndrome. My sister and brother have this syndrome and it was very helpful in understanding their struggles.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't nearly what I had expected. Didn't care for the writer or his style.

[Nancyann0926 Cunningham · Rating 1 out of 5]

not interested in. slow. didn't continue

[Allie rademacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was amazing that a man with a wife that has been with her since childhood and even when she got sick several different times and loved her so much wrote a story on her from start to finish.