amanuensis

Woh. You have GOT to be kidding.

Definition of amanuensis:
n. "a Latin word adopted in various languages, including English, for certain persons performing a function by hand, either writing down the words of another or performing manual labour. The term is derived from a Latin expression which may be literally translated as 'manual labourer'." (answers.c0m)

Where I ran across it:
12/1/07 – NYT movie review of The Diving Bell and the Butterfly: "Body Unwilling, A Mind Takes Flight" by A.O Scott, published Nov. 30, 2007.

“…And yet he also shows astonishing formal control. The movie begins claustrophobically, as we see the blurry bustle of the hospital room from Jean-Dominique’s hazy, panicked perspective. Faces loom suddenly and awkwardly into view, while his captive consciousness writhes in its cage, trying to make contact with the world outside.

After a while it does, with the help of a speech therapist (the marvelously sensitive Marie-Josée Croze) who patiently teaches Jean-Dominique to turn his left eyelid into a means of communication. She sits beside him, reciting the alphabet and stopping when he blinks, piecing together words and sentences from his signals. Later an amanuensis (Anne Consigny) takes her place, and together she and Jean-Dominique compose the compact, lyrical book that will become Mr. Schnabel’s expansive, passionate film. Their attention also introduces both the patient and the audience to an intense, nonsexual intimacy that is itself a form of love...”

My two cents:
This film by Julian Schnabel (oh god, I must’ve seen Basquiat at least 6 times in art school) is the true story of Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French fashion magazine editor and the author of the international best seller on which The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is based. He suffers a massive stroke and with it, a rare condition called “locked-in syndrome,” in which he is imprisoned in a totally paralyzed body but with a completely intact mind. Horrors. Still, I really want to see this movie. They don't show incredibly artful movies like this in the theaters in my small town. No, this is one I'll be driving to Atlanta to see.