Carolyn Larkin Taylor, MD
When I first told my mother that I wanted to be a doctor, her response wasn't what I expected. "Don't you want a family someday? she asked. "Being a doctor is a hard life. You'll miss so many moments - moments you can't get back."
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Throughout her career, Dr. Taylor maintained a journal, using writing as a means to cope with challenging cases and life experiences. In these pages, she has documented numerous stories of hope, bravery, and the resilience of the human spirit.
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Her new book, Whispers of the Mind, tells those stories.
FEATURED BOOK
NEW RELEASE:8/12/2025
WHISPERS OF THE MIND
Do you hear it?
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The quiet murmur of untold stories hidden within the human mind? In Whispers of the Mind, a neurologist invites readers on a deeply personal and professional journey through the intricate landscape of neurology.
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This poignant memoir unfolds in a series of essays that trace the author's path from medical school to private practice, revealing moments of triumph, heartbreak, and transformation. Each story offers a window into the complex interplay between the brain, heart, and soul - a connection that defines both the practice of medicine and the human experience. Written with compassion and insight, Whispers of the Mind explores the emotional weight of caring for patients while also celebrating the remarkable resilience of those facing neurological challenges. These essays are more than reflections; they are testaments to the courage, strength, and the profound lessons learned along the way.
For those curious about the mysteries of the mind and the humanity behind the science, Whispers of the Mind offers a powerful glimpse into the life of a healer devoted to understanding the most complex organ of them all: the mind.
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Reader's Favorite Review
Whispers of the Mind is a medical memoir and a compilation of essays that blends stories based on real-life patients, reflections on topics ranging from medicine to philosophy, and personal narratives to deliver a unique meditation on life and death. Drawing from decades of clinical experience, neurologist Carolyn Larkin Taylor, MD. pulls the reader into a world filled with humanity, hope, courage, and resilience in the face of cruel, often unfair circumstances. Starting from her time in medical school to private practice, the author discusses individual cases, general themes such as addiction and the AIDS epidemic, and thoughts about grief, caring for children, dignity in death, and other subjects. Some chapters also explore difficult aspects of Taylor's life, including the challenges of pursuing a medical career while raising a child.
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The writing is perfectly accessible to nonexperts, using vivid metaphors and simple language to explain complex concepts and conditions. For example, epilepsy is described as a thunderstorm in the brain, and spinal cord motor neurons are portrayed as orchestra players coordinating the symphony of muscle contraction. But rather than technical minutiae and medical terminology, Carolyn Larkin Taylor focuses on the human side of things s she writs from an honest, personal perspective that acknowledges limitations, intuition, and subjectivity. The book kept me immersed from beginning to end, as each essay felt more like a conversation than a dry description of medical cases. The chapters dealing with the death of loved ones, felt particularly poignant and impactful. Overall, Whispers of the Mind is a must-rad for lovers of memoirs and those involved or interested in the medical field, especially neurology.
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- Reader's Favorite
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
​Carolyn Larkin Taylor is a board-certified neurologist with over 30 years of experience in general neurology. After growing up in Spring Lake, New Jersey, she was among the first women to graduate from the University of Notre Dame. She later moved to Philadelphia, where she obtained her MD from Hahnemann Medical College, completed a medicine internship at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, and finished her neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania. While in Philadelphia, she received the Humaneness in Medicine Award from the Philadelphia Medical Society and was named one of Philadelphia magazine's Top Doctors for Women.
In addition to private practice she also served as medical director for the Parkinson's Outreach Center. In 2001, she moved to the Pacific Northwest, where she founded Northwest Neurology and the Cascadia Center for Multiple Sclerosis, ultimately concluding her clinical career at Swedish Neuroscience Center in Seattle. Throughout her journey, she has been a passionate advocate for MS patients and is dedicated to educating others about addiction as a brain disease. Dr. Taylor's manuscript, Through a Mother's Eyes, won second place for best unpublished memoir from the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.
She currently resides in Bellingham, WA with her husband, their Bernese mountain dog, and golden retriever, and has one adult son living in Seattle.