{"id":754,"date":"2016-08-23T15:56:49","date_gmt":"2016-08-23T15:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754"},"modified":"2016-08-23T15:56:49","modified_gmt":"2016-08-23T15:56:49","slug":"folk-singer-donovan-leitch-polio-child-made-man-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754","title":{"rendered":"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-755 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"Donovan_(1965)\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Folk singer Donovan Leitch of \u201cMellow Yellow\u201d fame admits that he\u2019s had a charmed life, but he wonders what it would\u2019ve been like if he hadn\u2019t been diagnosed with polio as a child. \u201cI spent a lot of time in bed after having polio while my dad read poetry to me,\u201d said Leitch, who\u2019s now 70 years old. He recalls that he contracted polio while growing up in Glasgow, a city left destroyed after WWII. Leitch recalls playing in open sewers with his friends, and contracted the disease before the lifesaving vaccination made it to Scotland. As a child, he underwent surgery to help prevent the development of clubfoot, which resulted in one leg growing thinner and shorter than the other. Despite this setback, Leitch says he was able to swim and run long distances, and by his teenage years he picked up his first guitar. \u201cLuckily in the music industry, everyone was only interested in my singing and playing and not the size of my legs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>For the full article, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/life-style\/health\/695432\/Dovovan-Leitch-folk-singer-childhood-polio-musician\" target=\"_blank\">visit Express.co.uk<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Folk singer Donovan Leitch of \u201cMellow Yellow\u201d fame admits that he\u2019s had a charmed life, but he wonders what it would\u2019ve been like if he hadn\u2019t been diagnosed with polio as a child. \u201cI spent a lot of time in bed after having polio while my dad read poetry to me,\u201d said Leitch, who\u2019s now [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today - Beyond Polio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today - Beyond Polio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Folk singer Donovan Leitch of \u201cMellow Yellow\u201d fame admits that he\u2019s had a charmed life, but he wonders what it would\u2019ve been like if he hadn\u2019t been diagnosed with polio as a child. \u201cI spent a lot of time in bed after having polio while my dad read poetry to me,\u201d said Leitch, who\u2019s now [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beyond Polio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-23T15:56:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beyond Polio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beyond Polio\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beyond Polio\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2977bcaa4b607b4d47899776ffc312dc\"},\"headline\":\"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-23T15:56:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754\"},\"wordCount\":196,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754\",\"name\":\"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today - Beyond Polio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-23T15:56:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2977bcaa4b607b4d47899776ffc312dc\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?p=754#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Beyond Polio\",\"description\":\"dedicated to the eradication of polio worldwide\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2977bcaa4b607b4d47899776ffc312dc\",\"name\":\"Beyond Polio\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beyondpolio.org\\\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today - Beyond Polio","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today - Beyond Polio","og_description":"Folk singer Donovan Leitch of \u201cMellow Yellow\u201d fame admits that he\u2019s had a charmed life, but he wonders what it would\u2019ve been like if he hadn\u2019t been diagnosed with polio as a child. \u201cI spent a lot of time in bed after having polio while my dad read poetry to me,\u201d said Leitch, who\u2019s now [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754","og_site_name":"Beyond Polio","article_published_time":"2016-08-23T15:56:49+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Beyond Polio","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Polio","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Polio","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2977bcaa4b607b4d47899776ffc312dc"},"headline":"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today","datePublished":"2016-08-23T15:56:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754"},"wordCount":196,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg","articleSection":["Blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754","url":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754","name":"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today - Beyond Polio","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg","datePublished":"2016-08-23T15:56:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2977bcaa4b607b4d47899776ffc312dc"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Donovan_1965-300x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?p=754#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Folk Singer Donovan Leitch: Having Polio as a Child Made Me the Man I Am Today"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/","name":"Beyond Polio","description":"dedicated to the eradication of polio worldwide","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/#\/schema\/person\/2977bcaa4b607b4d47899776ffc312dc","name":"Beyond Polio","url":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=754"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":758,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754\/revisions\/758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpolio.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}