But Andrew Erlich said openness to diversity is progress compared to Jake's era. Today, advances in medicine can prevent the gigantism that afflicted Jake Erlich. You see a scene and your emotions come through as you see it, and you paint it from different perspectives,' said Erlich. 'Jake really wanted to do something that was not photographic. Jake's paintings depict circus events, scenic vistas and the lives of common people he met traveling the country. Take help of your uncle’s mysterious inventions that let you jump incredibly high and far through beautiful scenery, uncover clues to your uncle’s whereabouts. I am very interested in the creative process in the people that I see, and I use Jake as an example, and I show them his paintings,' said Erlich. A Story About My Uncle is a first person platforming adventure game about a boy who searches for his lost uncle, and ends up in a world he couldn’t imagine existed.

'Here is a man that overcomes the stereotypes, and he does it not by avoiding who he is, but by embracing who he is and expressing it in the visual arts and in his performances,' he said.Įrlich's book tells about how Jake toured with the circus and then, after suffering temporary blindness, took up sculpture and painting. Everybody saw it,' said Erlich.Īs a clinical psychologist, Andrew Erlich helps patients who see themselves as freaks. 'Most of us have something that we are embarrassed about. His book, The Long Shadows, tells how Jack, or Jake, overcame his challenges, including depression.

'Having to dodge rocks that were thrown at me when I was a kid would become all too common,' said Erlich, reading Earle's comments from his book.Īndrew Erlich is Jack Earle's nephew. and up, in El Paso, Texas, Earle often was the object of derision. This son of Jewish immigrants had a tumor on his pituitary gland that caused his unusual growth. Among his friends were some of the smallest people. To his show business friends, he was a gentle and considerate man. On stage, he was known as Jack Earle, The Texas Giant. In more than 50 silent movies in the 1920s, Jake Erlich amazed audiences by towering over every actor in a scene. Erlich argues for acceptance of differences in a book about an uncle who overcame prejudice and pain caused by his extreme height. But Phoenix-based psychologist Andrew Erlich says everyone is a freak in some way. Millions of people seek help from psychologists in part because they feel different from others.

Valley vs a story about my uncle