Flight from Darkness

Percy Paul began his journey in a remote Dene community in northern Saskatchewan, a place where far too often alcohol and violence were close at hand. Despite these circumstances, he excelled in school and sports, eventually proving himself a world class distance runner and gold medallist.

Within a few short years, Percy found himself at Princeton, working alongside one of the world's leading authorities on string theory, black holes and quantum field theory. But all this changed when he turned 28. Percy became an alcoholic in an effort to cope with his extreme mood swings. After an attempt to end his life, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Those afflicted with this life-long disorder suffer flights of mania followed by periods of clinical depression, where many try suicide and, tragically, all too many do end their lives.

Flight from Darkness focuses on the life of Percy Paul, from his dazzling rise and fall as a brilliant mathematician to his continuing struggle to prevail over his illness and realize his full potential.