Hello Sir,
A couple of years ago I read one of your books about creativity, leadership and genius and immediately I realized we have something in common. It looks like that the role of death in making a genius has caught our attention and we both have been researching it for a long time by now. Recently I was in contact with Dr. Kirk Schneider after reading his article entitled "Awakening to Awe. ~ Kirk J. Schneider Ph.D." and he recommended that I contact you, regarding my inquiry about the best school where I can do a PhD on the subject of my research which is briefed below:

My own journey with the observation that there is some kind of a relation between death and creativity goes back to the beginning of the 1970 when I was around 16 years old. Before that date I didn't give much attention to the fact that I was an orphan. I lost my mother when I was 2 years old and I never so her picture because there was no photography where I was born in 1954 and at that age I was fond with literature and was already writing verse as well as poetry until one day I was reading about the life of the great Russian writer Leo Tolstoy and discovered that he lost his mother in similar circumstances and he never so her picture as well. This triggered something in me, and led me to think of the possible connections between the love of literature and in particular creativity i.e. the urge to create and parental loss.
I then decided to focus my attention on finding that possible connection. I started searching the biographies of known writers and discovered that many of them did in fact go through an experience of loss of some sort and few of them did lose one or both their parents. I majored in English Literature and took advantage of this to deepen my search; and the more I dig in the more obvious the possible relation became.
For my M.A degree at San Diego State University which commenced at the beginning of the year 1980, I wrote a thesis entitled " Creativity and the search for fulfillment" in which I discussed the possible connection between creativity and parental loss. To prove my argument I used basic analysis of the life and works of 3 well known writers; and I was able to convince the committee that my argument is sound and valid and that there is in fact a relation between the experience of loss and the urge to create at least in the case of the 3 writers. A copy of my thesis is available at the library at San Diego State University and it abstract can probably be viewed at the "Dissertations Abstract".
My interest in the issue continued and didn’t stop there; but rather intensified after my graduation with an M.A. Degree in literature by the year 1983 from San Diego State University.
I carried out further research on the issue trying to find more evidence on the said relation. In conclusion I now have statistical evidence that among any group of genius achievers in any field; more than 50% have lost one or both of their parents , and the rest of the group members have experienced some sort of a traumatic experience or their childhood is not known. With such astonishing findingI became convinced more than ever that there is a connection and my interest turned into finding out how does the experience of loss affect the brain and avail the urge to create.
Initially and as reflected in my thesis I theorized that it is some kind of compensation or a search for fulfillment caused by the emptiness resulting from the object loss and this is mainly because the supervising committee ruled out other possibilities at the mentioned time.
I then thought that there is something more to it, and I now have a theory on what really happens in the brain that makes it creative. It is not what the major psychologists have said before i.e. (Freud, Adler, or Carl Young) , it is something else.
In brief I believe the object loss causes a heightened level of brain energy and this is what lie behind the creative impulse and the creative activity and parental loss being the most critical traumatic experience with mega effect produces the highest level of energy therefore, if and when the proper conditions are made available to the subject orphan, it results on genius achievement.
My finding on the issue ( statistical and historical evidence ) I came about so far are published in a book I wrote a couple of years ago entitled " Orphans are genius in the making " the book is sin my mother language Arabic.
I realize you are an authority in this field of study and I more recently and at the suggestion of Dr. Kirk reviewed the abstract of your book "Greatness" in which you seem to further emphasis the effect of parental loss on making a genius but so far didn't see or find what did you have to say regarding the nature of this effect.
Now I hope your time will allow you to answer some of my queries:
- I am thinking to do a PhD on the issue in your opinion which school in the United States would be the write school for such and an issue; and will you take me as one of your students at Davis for the purpose.
-Which Lab would be the write Lab to do testing on the issue i.e look into the possibility that there is a heightened level of energy among orphans' brains.
-I read an article about the connection between social class and the brain done by Martha Farah of Pennsylvania University, she is heading the Neurology Lab there and I have been trying to contact her but they are telling me that she is in her summer vacation and hope she will response to my message in due course..but meanwhile the question is : Is Pennsylvania University Lab is the right lab for this type of research explained above.
-Moreover and more importantly, what do think happens? In other words, how does parental loss affect and produces creativity? What is the nature of the effect?
- Could the effect be a heightened level of brain energy as I theorize, that is translated into high level of creative activitywith the right channeling?
- Could the effect be on the hormone components of the brain?
Awaiting to hear from you and I will be glad to further discuss the issue with you,
BR

مرحبا د. سامنتون
لقد اطلعت قبل عامين تقريبا على واحد من كتبكم والذي هو بعنوان " الإبداع، القيادة، والعبقرية" ، وأدركت فورا أن لدينا شيء مشترك. يبدو آن دور الموت في صناعة العبقرية قد لفت انتباهنا وكلانا كان يبحث في المجال منذ مدرة طويلة. كنت على اتصال مؤخرا مع د. كيرك شنايدر بعد قراءة مقاله بعنوان "الترويع ويقظة الذهن"، وقد اقترح علي أن أقوم على الاتصال بكم بخصوص تساؤلاتي حول أحسن الجامعات التي يمكنني أن انضم إليها لانجاز شهادة الدكتوراه في المجال.

رحلتي البحثية في المجال والتي تدور حول العلاقة ما بين اليتم والعبقرية تعود إلى بداية العام 1970 عندما كنت في سن السادسة عشرة. قبل ذلك التاريخ لم اكترث كثيرا لكوني يتيم. لقد فقدت والدتي وأنا في ن الثانية ولم أشاهد صورتها أبدا لعدم وجود تصوير في مكان سكناي في حينه وبعد ولادتي في العام 1954 .
في سن السادسة عشرة أصبحت مغرما بالأدب مطالعة كتابة وكنت قد بدأت فعلا في كتابة بعض المحاولات الكتابية النثرية والشعرية. وفي احد الأيام وبنما كنت اقرأ عن حياة الكاتب الروسي الشهير ليو تولستوي اكتشفت انه هو أيضا فقد والدته في ظروف مشابهه أي وهو في سن الثانية ولم يشاهد صورة لها أيضا. هذا الاكتشاف احدث هزة في داخلي وقادني للتفكير في احتمالية وجود علاقة بين حب الأدب خاصة الكتابة الإبداعية والدافع الإبداعي والفقدان ألوالدي.

- أي مختبر سيكون أفضل مختبر لعلم التجارب المخبرية حول الموضوع وبهدف تحديد إذا ما كان هناك ارتفاع في مستوى الطاقة في دماغ الأيتام.
- لقد اطلعت على مقال حول العلاقة بين الوضع الاجتماعي والدماغ وقد كتب المقال من قبل سيدة اسمها مارثا فرح من جامعة بنسلفانيا وهي ترأس مركز الأعصاب هناك وكنت أحاول الاتصال معها لكنهم يخبروني في الجامعة أنها في العطلة الصيفية وأملي أن تجيب على رسالتي في القريب...لكن في هذه الأثناء هل تعتقدون أن مختبر الأعصاب في جامعة بنسلفانيا هو المكان المناسب لمثل تلك الاختبارات.