Windham High alumnus writes book as blueprint for bettering life

By Matt Pascarella

Windham High School graduate, physical therapist and Florida resident Jackson Taylor has written a book about the importance of a physical foundation – from strength to nutrition to motivation. The book, “The Heroic Man,” was released on May 5 and is specifically geared toward men but can be a benefit for anyone who has a man they care about in their life. This book is the first in a three-book series he is planning to write.

Windham High School graduate Dr. Jackson Taylor, a
Florida resident and physical therapist, has written a
book aimed at men's health called 'The Heroic Man."
He says it's a wake-up call for men to realize they are
far  more capable than they might think.
COURTESY PHOTO 

“It is written specifically for men, and I'm unapologetic about that,” said Taylor. “I'm not interested in culture war arguments. I'm interested in men waking up and realizing they are capable of far more than they're currently living out. Men are dying of suicide at rates double, triple, and quadruple that of women. We lead the statistics on obesity, addiction, chronic disease, and being absent in households. And when I look around, I don't see a lack of potential – I see a lack of direction and effort.”

Taylor, a licensed physical therapist, uses that knowledge in everything he does. The traditional physical therapy model started to frustrate him. He’d see a client for four to 10 weeks, get them feeling better and once the therapy period was over, he would stop improving. According to Taylor, the client left feeling a little better, but no closer to actually being healthy.

While everything in the pages of his book is directed at men, the way they think, struggle and are wired to respond to a challenge, some of his most enthusiastic early readers have been women. Women can often be the first ones to notice there’s something wrong with a man they care about.

"As someone for whom this book is not directly written, my biggest takeaway is that principles of health, wellness, and striving for an optimally better life are universal,” said Dr. Taylor Payne, a physical therapist in Caldwell, New Jersey. “It is a relatable story about life lost due to the simple pleasures and modern conveniences of our world, and the path toward a better, more simple and much healthier way of life. This book is a blueprint for a better life that has been drawn up for ages but now modified to meet modern times.”

It was Jackson Taylor’s own father, Keith, who showed him what a true man is capable of in his finest moment. His father was diagnosed with ALS and passed away in 2014, when Taylor was just 15. His dad was present, hard-working, loving and kind – he made everyone around him feel loved. He was Taylor’s hero in the truest sense of the word.

This new book is built around one question: “What does it look like to be that kind of man?” Jackson Taylor’s father is the reason and “The Heroic Man” is dedicated to Keith.

Florida resident Chad Spivack said his takeaway after reading the book was how many simple changes he can make in his day-to-day life that will improve his health. A lot of these seem like common sense, but because the benefits do not occur overnight, people will tend to abandon them. Jackson is honest about that. He provides transparency on the matter, which is how you keep people in the fight for their own health.

Having grown up in Maine, Jackson Taylor says this book was written in part because of who Maine has made him – his work ethic, the no-excuses mentality that you don’t find everywhere. Maine is in this book; his dad is in this book. If even one man picks it up and decides to take his health, his purpose and his responsibilities seriously, that is enough. 

In addition to the book, he is about to launch a nonprofit called Generation Strong, which is focused on improving family health and creating generational change. The driving belief behind it is simple – that family is the biggest impact on a child’s health. Generation Strong wants to stop things like obesity and the upward trajectory it has on children, to equip families with the tools, knowledge, and community to build healthier habits together.

“The Heroic Man” is only available on Amazon. <