Inspiration through Pain

A Costa Mesa man turns 16 years of health problems into books of hope.

Frank Sinatra is playing on the record player.

A dozen framed Sinatra photographs and posters cover a wall, adjacent to another full of artwork made by Mark Keys’s two young daughters, Page and Megan.

His dog, Fumble, hovers around him in a protective stance.

She was with him the day he got into the car accident two-and-a-half years ago that caused some health problems and aggravated others that have plagued Keys since 1991, and she is with him now, 25 surgeries and countless challenges later. The knee replacement that Keys underwent last month is the latest in a long 17 years filled with pain, struggle and soul-searching.

He used to love working on sailboats until he hurt his back in the early ’90s, and he had a mean basketball high jump until his ankles revolted and paid their revenge with nine ankle reconstructions. He loves to spend time with his kids, but Graves’ disease and an absence of testosterone steals energy from his body like the worst kind of thief – one you can’t punish. He enjoys camping, but the last time he went, a Staph infection resulting from his car accident nearly cost him his leg. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through,” he says.

It hasn’t been an easy road for 49-year-old Keys, but he’d prefer to focus on other things. Like the gift of his daughters, his 21-year relationship with his wife, Laurie, and his five books, which detail the best days of inspirational people he’s met over the years. And there have been many: Joe Montana, Magic Johnson, Muhammad Ali, Kirk Douglas, Joe DiMaggio, and Dick Van Dyke, to name a few. His home in Costa Mesa is a living museum that records his life and accomplishments from year to year, surgery to surgery, a way to occupy himself between rehabilitations, shuttling his kids to soccer practices and walking to keep up the strength in his legs.

He believes in the power of a positive attitude and in not feeling sorry for himself. And things were getting better – until his accident. “It took part of my soul away from me for a while,” he says, his head lowering. “I just had a hard time understanding it all.” It was the only time during our lengthy interview that I saw a glimpse of deep sadness.

"I wouldn’t change my life for anybody’s,” he says, the light in his eyes returned. “It’s been quite a journey.”

Mark Keys’s My Best Day books can be ordered through Barnes & Noble, www.barnesandnoble.com.

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