Young was very close to dying and received a heart transplant just after Fall Higher was published in hardcover late in 2010. His father died at 49 due to problems with his heart. NPR's «Morning Edition» did a beautiful story about Dean and his heart transplant, where he said, «I think that's one of the jobs of poets: They stare at their own death and through it they still see the world – the world of 10,000 things. Poetry is about time running out.» (This radio article, «The Heart of Dean Young's Poetry,» is archived at npr.org) Dean's new heart came from a fit 22-year-old. After the transplant, Dean commented on the new, and very robust, flow of blood to his brain. «He gave me a heart so I'm still alive....I'm sure I'm going to think about this person for the rest of my life.» Dean writes every day, and did so even when recovering from the transplant surgery at home in Texas. Dean Young favors using a 1955 Remington typewriter.
