Acclaimed screenwriter and playwright Aaron Sorkin suffered a stroke last year as he worked on an updated version of the play Camelot, according to a profile published in The New York Times on Wednesday. He said he only noticed something was wrong when he awoke in the middle of the night with an inability to walk straight. According to Sorkin, the November incident was so serious that his doctor remarked: “You’re supposed to be dead.” The writer added that he slurred his words for months—though he said the only lingering symptom that remains is that he can’t taste food. Camelot is Sorkin’s first musical, though he earned a BFA in musical theater from Syracuse. Sorkin joked to the Times that it was the “first time I’m putting it to use.”