Join us for an hour with former Princeton and NY Jets (1972-1974) football player Hank Bjorklund, M.S., J.D., the author of Head Hits I Remember, and his wife, Victoria Bjorklund, J.D., Ph.D. When Hank Bjorklund retired from football, he went into law and enjoyed his new career, later becoming a coach and educator. Unexpectedly, things changed.

His doctors diagnosed him with dysautonomia possibly resulting from football head injuries. It left him unable to walk or partake in activities of daily living. After longtime physical therapy, Bjorklund is back on his feet, and although he’s not where he was physically, he enjoys exercise, writing, and performing.

Head Hits I Remember combines reflections on the influence of football on Hank Bjorklund’s life, essays on the toll repetitive head hits can exact on football players, and poems about coping with a life-altering condition. Writing as a creative outlet has helped him to work through the emotional havoc wreaked by his condition. He also gives readings and performs his work with musicians. Bjorklund’s messages and reflections bring hope. Victoria Bjorklund will lead the evening’s discussion, where excerpts from the book will be shared.

Victoria Bjorklund is a retired partner at the New York City office of Simpson Thacher, where she founded, and for 30 years headed, its Tax-Exempt Organizations Group of lawyers advising donors and charities. In 1989, she was a founding director of Doctors Without Borders USA, where she continues to chair its Board of Advisors. She is also the former pro bono legal counsel and a board member of the Robin Hood Foundation. A graduate in the first class of women at Princeton, she earned a Ph.D. in medieval studies from Yale and her law degree from Columbia University.