Facing the Challenge, Beating the Odds: The Jimmy Mulzet Story

Uplifting and inspirational, Facing the Challenge, Beating the Odds: The Jimmy Mulzet Story is a motivating and entertaining autobiography that succinctly portrays how perseverance, commitment, and faith can help make the seemingly impossible possible in life. As such, the book more than meets Mulzet’s aim in writing it: “I would like to help all people—with and without disabilities—and their families by telling them the story of my life. I want to inspire everyone to try to do as much for themselves as I have.”

After becoming very ill when just six months old, Mulzet was taken to a range of doctors by his parents, who kept hoping for an answer and/or cure but who kept being told to prepare for the worst—that is, their son would either die very young or live for some time as an invalid. However, after Mulzet was eventually diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and following lengthy periods of hospitalization and numerous surgeries, through faith and with the support of family, he has been able to prove such pessimistic predictions wrong.

In fact, as Mulzet details in Facing the Challenge, Beating the Odds, he has gone on to have far more than a normal life. For instance, despite struggling with learning to walk as a child—a painful and isolating experience that he describes with emotion and forthrightness—as an adult he was able to win forty Special Olympics medals, to complete the New York City Marathon in under eight hours, and to walk up all sixty-six flights of stairs in the Rockefeller Center. Also, despite having some difficulty with school work, he was able to secure a job at the City University of New York, where he worked until retirement.

Throughout his life, Mulzet has been helped by various people, ranging from family to friends to teachers to coworkers and more, and he takes time to thank many of them while narrating his recollections. He seems immensely grateful and appreciative of all the help he has received, and he has helped people in turn. Mulzet also acknowledges the support that his Catholic faith has given him over the years. He has served as a minister, visited the Holy Land, and even attended an audience with Pope John Paul II. Fellow Catholics will likely take particular inspiration from such memories.

Facing the Challenge, Beating the Odds is a brief memoir packed with interesting vignettes and insightful recollections. Mulzet writes in a friendly and conversational style, and while it would sometimes have been good to learn more details and to have a clearer timeline, this approach allows his sunny and engaging demeanor to shine through throughout the book. It all makes for an inspiring and entertaining read.