True Strength

This is a memoir of transformation and hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles: the actor known for his title role as the strongest man on earth on TV\''s Hercules: The Legendary Journeys reveals, for the first time, how a devastating series of strokes at the height of his career nearly ended - and forever changed - his life. Late in the summer of 1997, I was starring in a TV show ranked number one in the world, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. I\''d just wrapped up a ten-city tour promoting my first mega-million-dollar studio picture, "Kull, The Conqueror," positioning me as the next major action hero on the silver screen. My life was charmed. In ways large and small, I identified with my beloved television character: his invincible strength, heartfelt tenacity and unwavering dedication to his work. I was six-foot three and 235 pounds of muscle: the picture of health. But pictures sometimes lie. Through a cascade of bizarre events, I would soon land in the hospital ICU, partially blind and fully incapacitated, having suffered three life-threatening strokes. Overnight, my world changed irrevocably. In this inspiring memoir, film and television star Kevin Sorbo shares the never-before-told story of his long journey back from the silent health crisis that nearly ended his life at the height of his career. Sorbo suffered a brain aneurism and several debilitating strokes when he was just 38 years old. On television, he portrayed an invincible demigod; in his real life, the strokes left Sorbo partially blind and fully incapacitated. And yet, since in Hollywood appearances are everything, Sorbo\''s handlers were very careful not to let the press know just how serious and disabling his injuries were. True Strength is the story of transformation, persistence, and hope in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Sorbo reflects back on his childhood in Minnesota and his early acting days in Hollywood, to his charmed life as TV\''s Hercules. He recounts the onset of his symptoms, his frightening hospitalization, and his arduous path to recovery. With this honest account of his personal tragedy and triumph, he aims to blaze a trail for those who have ever suffered acute illness or a serious setback in life and are now struggling to find their way back. When readers finish True Strength, Sorbo hopes that his story "will allow readers to turn down the noise around them, to look more deeply inside themselves and to inspire one another and themselves to make each moment count.".