Best articles from 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

The first article is about Smokin' Joe Frazier. Although I wrote about him before 2008, his recent death makes the story timely. Below in my article about him, and how he boxed with a severe vision problem. Following this article, you will see a list of the other articles I posted on this page and then those articles.

1. From being a journalist for nearly 20 years, I thought that no one's comments could baffle me. But I was wrong. At the 2008 Penn Relays, Bill Cosby challenged me to a race, blindfolded.

 2.. David Ogden Stiers portrayed Major Winchester on M*A*S*H. The often pompous Winchester irritated Hawk-eye and the rest of the 4077 to the point where they couldn't stand being around him. Ironically, David Ogden Stiers stuttered, and becoming an actor helped him overcome that inconvenience. This article explains how he did it.

 3. The roller derby of today is NOT the Roller Derby I knew and loved. Now there are all women's flat track leagues. Monikers are required. In the old days, there were co-ed teams; men and women skated alternate periods on a banked track and used their real names most of the time. Philadelphia had a team; the Warriors. My Philadelphia Inquirer article is a look back at those wild, wild warriors.

 4. At the time of the Walnut Street Theatre’s bicentennial year in 2009, I had the honor to write about its rich history. John Wilkes Booth's brother, renowned actor Edwin Booth owned the theatre. Legends like Edwin Forrest and Henry Fonda performed there. Other exciting things happened at the Walnut Street Theatre.

5. Men's Division International (MDI) is community. Read about how MDI men rallied to help fellow member Howard Spierer while allowing this proud trial attorney to maintain his dignity.

 6. Brendan Hansen captained the 2008 U.S. Swim Team in Beijing. Hansen also swam on the winning relay team with Michael Phelps. Contrary to popular belief, Michael Phelps was just another guy on the swim team.

7. Read how Overbrook School for the Blind’s museum documents how peoples’ attitudes toward blind individuals changed overtime.

8. When Kobe Bryant set a new record at Madison Square Garden in February 2009, he graciously gave me an interview. Read in his own words his experience of making history. In addition to the article, read my published transcription of the interview.

9. High School student Jessica Rogers was a road rage casualty. With just a split second, and through no fault of her own, she went from being physically active to a quadriplegic, but instead of feeling sorry for herself, she fought back. Read how she and her family ignited a call for anti road rage legislation.

10. Former Roller Derby star Judy Arnold doubled for Raquel Welch in Kansas City Bomber. Thirty seven years later, Welch still remembers how Judy Arnold made her look good.

11. Merion Liberty Troop is one of the oldest boy-scout troops in the U.S. Troop members from the 1940s and recent ones share how scouting changed over time. 

12. The Blind American Idol finalist Scott MacIntyre shared his experiences of being on the show and interacting with Simon Cowell

13. When Steven Campbell returned from Desert Storm, he developed cancer. For bravely serving when Uncle Sam called, VA doctors told him that there was nothing wrong with him.  As a result, Steven Campbell died. Ten years later, his family still grieves. Read what they have to say.

14. Read how youth track coach Dermot Anderson molded champions out of mediocre kids.

15. Long before Lee Majors portrayed The Six Million Dollar Man, he suffered a college football injury, which almost paralyzed him. Read about how that harrowing experience made it easier for him to portray The Six Million Dollar Man.     

16. Sarah Palin's parents told me about their family's exciting joy in raising a child with Down Syndrome. 

17. Imagine Jewish Israelis, Arab Israeli and Palestinian teens playing Ultimate Frisbee together for a week without strife. Impossible? No way! Read how these three groups coexist with at an Ultimate Frisbee Camp.

 18. One of my all time favorite Roller Derby skaters Judy Sowinski died in 2011. Her death not only upset me, but many other people. Read why she meant a lot to me and to so many other individuals.

 Main Line Times    Thursday, May 1, 2008

Villanova runner Frances Koons fights back strong at Penn Relays

By David Block

PHILADELPHIA - Long-time Penn Relays fan, Bill Cosby, watching the races in

75-degree weather while wearing a heavy sweatshirt, noted, "It's a

beautiful day. These runners are as happy as they can possibly be - except

for those who'd have to run 10,000 meters in the heat."

He then quipped to this (visually challenged) writer: "I challenge you to a

race in 2010. We'll race blindfolded for 100 meters across the field."

While Cosby joked, Villanova senior Frances Koons was ecstatic to compete -

not just because of the conducive weather, or that she ran one of her

fastest 1,500 meter times of 4:18.6 in the 4x1,500-meter relay.

Koons' euphoria stemmed from her successful recovery from kidney cancer,

which put her track career on hold last year.

Villanova women's track head coach Gina Procaccio said, "Last outdoor track

season, Frances wasn't performing as well as she had during the indoor

(track) season. At first I thought that she overdid it in the winter.

Toward the end of the outdoor season, I had her take a month off."

During that time, Koons' doctor discovered that she had kidney cancer.

Last August, Koons had the golf-ball-size growth removed in a laproscopic

procedure - the least-invasive procedure possible.

She took three months off, then the following month started 20-minute runs.

The next month, she ran no more than for 30 straight minutes at a time.

"She skipped the indoor track season," said Procaccio. "I said, `Why rush

to get back? Get really strong for the outdoor season."

Good advice

The advice paid off. In Koons' first meet last March at the 2008 Danny

Curran Invitational at Widener University, she was a double winner,

triumphing in the 800-meter run (2:14.43) and in the 1,500-meter race

(4:26.04).

Procaccio said that one of Koons' best performances was when she anchored

the 4x1,500 at the Penn Relays. Her teammates were freshman Callie Hogan

(4:30.5), senior Akilah Vargas (4:27) and senior Liz Haglund (4:30.9).

When Koons anchored, she was near the back of the pack, yet she fought her

way up to third place. The Wildcats' finishing time was 17:47.01.

"I felt like I was reeling in Georgetown, so I gave it an extra pop at the

end," said Koons, who out kicked Georgetown's anchor Meghan Noecker for the

third place spot.

Koons' surge at the end did not surprise Procaccio.

"Frances is a fighter and winner," said the coach. "She will always give

110 percent."

Koons added, "I feel stronger than ever. I count my blessings. I'm glad to

be running again. Being sick gave me that extra momentum."

In the Distance Medley Relay, the Wildcats finished seventh (11:09.48) with

a quartet of freshman Ali Smith (3:28.4), sophomore Makalia Griffith

(55.0), Vargas (2:11.5) and Koons (4:34.6).

The Villanova men's distance medley relay team of senior Michael Kerrigan

(2:56.7), sophomore Garrett Kroner (47.2), junior Sean Tully (1:51.2) and

senior Bobby Curtis (3:59.3) finished third (9:34.39).

The Wildcats placed seventh in the 4x800 meter relay, posting 7:28.91 with

a quartet of Curtis (1:52.2), Kerrigan (1:52.7), senior Mark Korich

(1:52.0) and freshman Carl MacKenzie (1:52.0). Senior Patrick Gazzini was

10th in the 400-meter Hurdles Championship, clocking 52.52.

 Disabled Dealer Magazine      June 2008

The Winner's Circle

Looking at the Compassionate Side of David Ogden Stiers

by David Block

David Ogden Stiers' impressive 30 plus year acting career spans Broadway,

concert halls, movies and television. He has worked with Hollywood

A-listers such as Woody Allen, Tom Hanks, and Jim Carrey. He has been the

Associate Conductor for the Newport Symphony Orchestra for over 15 years.

He has also lent his distinctive voice to numerous PBS documentaries and

the 2006 motion picture Lady in the Water. However, despite his remarkable

and varied career, he is probably best remembered for his brilliant

portrayal of the tough, yet sometimes sensitive war-time physician, Major

Charles Emerson Winchester III on M*A*S*H from 1977 through 1983.

Stiers' illustrious career makes him a household name and face. But, what

fans may not know about him is that he stuttered throughout his childhood,

adolescence, and even into his early acting career. Stiers said that being

an actor helped cure him.

"I didn't stutter when the lines were written for me," said Stiers.

"Without lines to read was another story. One day, I noticed that I wasn't

stuttering anymore, with or without lines. I overcame it by not giving up,

by continuing to play roles, and by overcoming my fear of saying something

wrong, or sounding stupid."

The fact that he stuttered was not his sole reason for compassionately

portraying people with disabilities.

Stiers said: "The task of loving people doesn't have to do with their worst

aspects. It has to do with their best aspects. My feeling, we're all the

same person but differently expressed. There's some things I can do others

can't, vise versa. We're all accomplished. We're all on the earth, and the

more we help each other get our tasks accomplished, the better our lives."

This was exuded when he portrayed Dan Franklin, a special education teacher

in the 1977 movie, A Circle of Children. One of the themes of the movie

included special education teachers helping autistic children reach their

full potential.

While preparing for the movie the cast visited a classroom for autistic

children.

"We sat in the class with them," said Stiers. "We sat on the floor with the

class. We did a lot with them."

None of the children who appeared in the movie were autistic.

Being in the movie was not the only time that Stiers

interacted with autistic people. While on M*A*S*H, Stiers and other cast

members frequently interacted with William Christopher's autistic son, Ned.

Christopher, who was the compassionate Father Mulcahy on M*A*SH, often

brought Ned to the set.

"Ned was beginning to function pretty well," said Stiers. "Whenever Ned

felt comfortable enough to come over to a group of people who were talking,

he was immediately included. Ned was an intelligent young man who thought

at a rate of speed that I could never do."

In 1976 and 1977 Stiers guest starred on The Mary Tyler Moore show, three

times, portraying the WJM Station Manager Mel Price, who happened to

stutter. At the time, Stiers stopped stuttering.

"I auditioned for the role and because it was terribly easy for me to

stutter realistically, they hired me."

Stiers summed up Mel Price as being a falsely nice person. Stiers said that

this was particularly evident in episode 157, "Look at Us, We're Walking."

In that show, Mary Richards (Mary Tyler Moore) and Lou Grant (Ed Asner)

told Mel Price that if they didn't get a raise, they'd quit. Price refused

and they walked out. At the end of the episode, Price asked them to return

and he even promised them a raise.

Stiers said: "that episode was like a forecast of what was to come in

corporate America. 'You put in some good work; we'll kill your 401k. If you

don't like that, if you get upset and walk away, we won't care. We'll hire

someone better qualified for less money. If you want to go, then go!'

That's pretty much how I view corporate business now. I don't think that

they care about middle management or medium numbers staff."

While on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Stiers learned from the M*A*S*H writers

and producers that Larry Linville, who played Major Frank Burns, was

leaving the series and they hired Stiers to replace him.

"They wanted to keep the character number in tact," said Stiers.

Although there were a number of episodes when Winchester was incredibly

benevolent, two of them dealt with him helping disabled soldiers.

In episode 188, "Morale Victory," Winchester was kind to Private David

Sheridan (James Stephens) who thought that his dream of being a concert

pianist was ruined because of his permanently injured hand. Winchester

showed Sheridan that he could still pursue a meaningful music career, and

that his dream could never be silenced unless he allowed it to be.

"That episode was actually an idea and a present from Loretta Swit," said

Stiers. Swit, who played Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan, had the idea

of having an affair with Private Sheridan but changed her mind because her

character had had flings with other wounded

Stiers said that the producers did not develop that episode because Stiers

used to stutter or because he portrayed Mel Price.

soldiers. Swit wondered who else could have a rapport with him. She knew

that Stiers studied at Julliard, so he became her obvious choice. She took

her idea to the producers and they liked it.

"They told me this was from Loretta," said Stiers. "That was the hardest I

ever hugged her."

"There are those serendipitous overlap realities that don't actually know

one another," said Stiers.

In 1987, four years after M*A*S*H ended, Stiers appeared on Matlock in

episode 26 "Blind Justice." Stiers portrayed Arthur Hampton, a blind

sculptor who committed murder.

In episode 244, "Run for the Money" Winchester befriended Private Walter

Palmer (Phil Brock) who stuttered. Winchester told Palmer that from reading

his record, he knew that he had an incredibly high I.Q. To prove this, he

gave Palmer his copy of Moby Dick and told him that that the book was

worthy of his intelligence. When Private Palmer asked Winchester why he was

being so nice to him, Winchester changed the subject.

At the end of the episode, Winchester returned to his tent and played a

tape that his sister Honoria mailed him. She stuttered.

Stiers explained why Winchester refused to tell Palmer why he was being

kind and supportive: "It was part of the character trait that Winchester

would NEVER admit that he had been kind to someone. He would never admit

that that kindness came from a part of his heart that was wounded by

someone else's trouble. He would not admit to things like moments of

compassion or insight. He maintained that awful glacial exterior."

"The producers hired for me a blind advisor to be on the set," said Stiers.

"She was a wonderful young lady with a gorgeous golden retriever, whose

name was unfortunately Andy. (There were two Andy(s) on the set, the Seeing

Eye dog and Matlock's star, Andy Griffith.) I was not adept to being around

people with disabilities, never attaching my stuttering as a kid to anyone

else's. I thought that I would never understand anyone else's problems.

That changed when I was on Matlock. It was opening my head and my heart;

getting on with the empathy that we all need to bring to bear on getting

along with each other." On the Matlock set, Stiers committed a memorably

embarrassing faux pas: "I would finish rehearsing a scene; I'd walk to the

woman and ask, `How did I look? Did I do everything right?' I forgot that

she couldn't see. She forgave me. We became good friends."

Stiers' advice to all aspiring actors and musicians, both able-bodied

and/or with disabilities is the same...... never give up!

The Philadelphia Inquirer

 Sun, Jan. 20, 2008

A look back at Philly's wild, wild Warriors

By David Block

For The Inquirer

Anyone who watched roller derby at the old Arena or saw their wild games on

Channel 48 will recall that the Philadelphia Warriors had a thirst for mayhem.

"I had three bodyguards whenever I came to Philadelphia," said Gootch

Gautieri, a former player and official with the New York Bombers. "One

time, I was in a grudge-match race against Ruberta Mitchell, and an idiot

fan jumped on the track and attacked me. I kicked him in the face with my

skates and put him in the hospital. He had no business assaulting me."

The Warriors arrived here in 1967, nearly two decades after the sport had

debuted in the city in 1948.

"When we got to Philadelphia in '67, we had very good TV ratings. But the

first few months, we had small audiences," former star Buddy Atkinson Jr.

recalled. "After a few months, we started selling out the Philadelphia Arena."

It has been several decades since the Warriors and roller derby disappeared

from Philadelphia and the other cities where it flourished in the 1960s and

1970s. But there has been a revival of sorts. At least two amateur teams

play in the area - the Philadelphia Roller Girls and the Penn Jersey She

Devils - though fans of the old game might have difficulty recognizing the

new version.

The game that the Warriors played had co-ed teams, banked tracks and

theatrical storylines. Most of today's roller derby teams are for women

only. Players usually wear miniskirts and fishnet stockings, have

outrageous nicknames, and skate on flat, hard surfaces.

Those old Warriors team had stars such as Mitchell, Atkinson, Judy Arnold,

Little Richard Brown, Mike Gammon, Judi McGuire and Judy Sowinski. And

their vocal fan base wanted to see blood.

"The Philly crowds always wanted us to smash someone," Arnold said. "You

could only do so much."

Roller derby, begun in Chicago in 1935 by promoter Leo Seltzer and famed

sportswriter Damon Runyon, originally was played straight.

But it had grown tired by 1961, the year California promoter Bill Griffiths

spiced it up and created the Roller Games circuit.

In it, opposing teams and skaters feuded in a way that presaged the modern

world of professional wrestling. Storylines became part of the game.

Referees were urged to look the other way when fights broke out.

"I got my hands busted a number of times," Gautieri said. "I got my neck

fractured. I got my eye kicked in, and that blonde, Judy Arnold,

body-splashed me."

Fan attendance jumped, and it increased further with the halftime "match

race," an anything-and-everything-goes street fight on wheels. The match

races, unlike the games, were never televised, the better to sell tickets.

The Warriors had moved to Philadelphia from Hawaii, and some of their

players had difficulty adjusting to the climate change.

"I was never on the East Coast before," Arnold said. "I only had spring

clothes. I never owned winter clothing before. I used to sleep a lot

because I didn't want to go out in the cold."

In 1972, Arnold, Brown and Sowinski appeared in the roller-derby movie

Kansas City Bomber, starring Raquel Welch. Brown and Sowinski were skaters,

and Arnold was Welch's double.

"I did the skating scenes for her," Arnold said. "I give Raquel Welch a lot

of credit for skating. It's not easy to skate on that banked track. When

she had her skates on and posed for a picture on the banked track, she fell

and broke her wrist. That held up the film for three weeks."

During the televised games, the skaters who were going to have match races

at coming events screamed and assaulted each other during halftime

interviews. As Roller Game announcers such as Channel 48's Elmer "Elbows"

Anderson offered play-by-play commentary, they frequently reminded viewers

of the coming match race.

Match-race participants received 1 percent of the money brought in for that

game on top of their regular salaries.

One of the Warriors' biggest highlights was winning the 1974 World Series

in Madison Square Garden, beating the New York Chiefs.

"It was a very proud moment for me and the team," Brown said.

The problems began in December 1973 when Roller Derby folded. Griffiths

formed a new league, the International Skating Conference (ISC). Roller

Derby stars such as Joanie Weston, Ann Calvello, Charlie O'Connell and

Ronnie Robinson joined the ISC because there were no alternative leagues.

The ISC folded in 1975, and the following January, the Eastern Roller

League was established, with the Warriors as one of its members. But its

existence was just a glimmer; that league went under in May, and the

Warriors disappeared

Weekly Press/University Review Wednesday August 20, 2008

Looking back at Walnut Street Theatre's 200-year history

By David Block

The Walnut Street Theatre will be celebrating its 200th anniversary this

season. To provide audiences with a true taste of Americana this

Bicentennial season, the five shows will be American creations: State Fair,

Hair Spray, A Street Car Named Desire, Born Yesterday, and The Producers.

"I wanted to present the best quality shows about America," said Bernard

Havard, Artistic Director of the Walnut Street Theatre. "This year we

wanted to show all American productions, written by Americans for

Americans; that's what I thought our 200th anniversary should be all about;

about celebrating who we are, what we are and celebrating our country."

The Walnut Street Theatre has a rich history; in fact that's one reason why

Havard enthusiastically took the post of Artistic Director back in 1982.

"I was attracted to the Walnut because of the history behind the theatre,"

said Havard. "I read biographies of a lot of famous people like the

Barrymores and the Booth family, who performed at Walnut. I was fascinated

by the opportunity of coming here and working at such a historic theatre."

According to Tom Miller, Communications Manager of the Walnut Street

Theatre, there is a lot of written information and historical documentation

to back up the Walnut's claims. Miller said that many great performers have

graced the Walnut's stage, such as Edwin Forrest, Edwin Booth (brother of

President Lincoln's Assassin John Wilkes Booth), Henry Fonda, and Audrey

Hepburn, just to name a few.

The Beginning

When the Walnut Street Theatre first opened its doors on February 2, 1809,

in the same spot where it stands today at 825 Walnut Street, its original

name was the New Circus. It hosted equestrian acts.

"Victor Pépin and Jean Baptiste Casmiere Breschard were two French

gentlemen who brought the circus over here," said Miller. "When touring

circuses came through, there usually weren't places to put on their shows,

so the companies would just come in and build a space, right in the city,

wherever it was available."

Miller said that due to the recession in 1811, fewer people were attending

their circuses, so Pepin and Breschard decided to do live theatre. They

thought that live theatre would bring in larger crowds. In 1811, the

theatre was renamed the Olympic.

Its initial theatrical production was The Rivals and it was first performed

on January 1st, 1812. Sitting in the audience opening night were Thomas

Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette.

What's in a name?

Even though the Walnut Street Theater has always been located at 825 Walnut

Street, it has had several name changes.

1809 - 1811: The New Circus

1811 - 1820: The Olympic

1820 - 1822: The Walnut Street Theater

1822 - 1828: The Olympic

1828 - present: The Walnut Street Theater

Edwin Forrest

Edwin Forrest, one of the best known actors of the 19th century, first

performed at the Walnut Street Theatre in 1820.

"Around the 1850s," said Miller, "shows were British, more presentational.

Edwin Forrest brought more of a visceral, human, over-the-top performance

style. American audiences ate it up, but not English audiences. At that

time, he started a playwriting competition. It had to be a show written by

an American, about an American subject. The winner would receive a cash

prize and Edwin Forrest would perform in the show guaranteeing it would be

a hit."

According to Miller, when Forrest died in 1874, part of his fortune was

used to set up a home for indigent actors.

Forrest's North Philadelphia residence was used as the home for aging

actors up until the 1980's, Miller said. "In the 19th century, if you were

an actor getting on in years and suddenly forgetting your lines, you were

out on the street. This home was a place for actors to live out their

golden years."

The Booth brothers

In the 19th century, the Booth family encompassed many talented actors,

including Edwin Booth and his younger brother, John Wilkes Booth.

Edwin Booth once saved the life of Abraham Lincoln's son, Robert Todd

Lincoln. Robert fell onto the train tracks in front of an oncoming train.

Edwin pulled him back to safety on the platform.

According to Miller, Edwin and Edwin's brother-in-law, John Sleeper Clarke,

purchased the Walnut Street Theatre in 1862, but only ran it for a few years.

At the time of the Civil War, Edwin Booth was a Unionist. His brother, John

was not. John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln on Good

Friday, April 14, 1865 at Ford Theatre.

After Lincoln was killed, actors were reviled across the country. The

entire profession was blamed for Lincoln's death. Edwin Booth announced his

retirement. Members of the theatrical profession drafted a resolution

expressing regret that a fellow actor had been responsible for the shooting.

Miller said that when Lincoln's remains were brought to Independence Hall

in Philadelphia as part of the funeral procession, most of the theatrical

community came to pay their respects.

About a year later, Edwin Booth resumed his theatrical career.

Some 20th Century Highlights

The world premiere of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Marlon Brando and

Kim Hunter was staged at the Walnut Street Theatre in 1947. The following

year, audiences saw Mister Roberts starring Henry Fonda.

In 1951, Audrey Hepburn played the lead in the production, Gigi. In 1959

Sidney Poitier appeared in A Raisin in the Sun.

In 1964, the Walnut Street Theatre was designated a national historic

landmark. On September 23, 1976, the televised Presidential Debate between

President Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter was held at the Walnut Street Theatre.

In 1999, Marina Sirtis, well known for her role as Counselor Troi in Star

Trek: The Next Generation, starred in Walnut's production of Neil Simon's

Hotel Suites.

Selling Subscriptions

When Bernard Havard became Artistic Director in 1982, he revolutionized the

theatre by enticing its audiences to become subscribers.

"I've always been a huge advocate of subscriptions," said Havard. "Wherever

I've been, I've raised subscription levels to record heights," and the

Walnut Street Theatre was no exception. Today the Walnut Street Theatre has

over fifty seven thousand subscribers.

"We have a long term relationship with our subscribers," said Miller. "We

give discounts to our subscribers, discounts on tickets, discount parking

and subscribers can exchange their tickets up to 24 hours before a

performance."

For more information about the Walnut Street Theatre visit

www.walnutstreettheatre.org or call 215 574 3550.

Disabled Dealer Magazine  September 2008

The Winner's Circle    by David Block

MDI Men Rally Behind Fellow Member with MS

When 51-year-old trial attorney Howard Spierer of Milford, NJ developed

Multiple Sclerosis, (MS) back in 1997, one of his biggest challenges was

learning to accept help.

"I still don't know if I've learned to fully accept help from people," said

Spierer. "I do now because it's harder for me to walk."

This past spring Spierer's ability to accept help was thoroughly tested, as

fifty to sixty fellow members of Men's Division International, MDI, an

organization where fellow members help each other live successful lives,

offered to build him a 160 foot ramp in his back yard. He told them to go

ahead, and after several months of intense labor, the ramp was completed;

it was christened the Spierer Speedway.

"It begins at the top of my hill, and goes down the entire length to the

river," said Spierer. "My hill is incredibly steep."

Spierer on how he and the other men constructed it: "We dug five ditches

and in each one laid five telephone poles, all next to each other. We also

used railroad ties. Then we covered them with gravel. The speedway is

strong enough for me to drive my truck up and down it. I go down to the

river a lot because I use my sweat lodge there for ritual purposes. I love

that aspect of it. It's like a magical place for me ... The MDI men also

use it and they hold meetings there, too."

MDI member Barry Arndt, 65, of Edge Water, NJ conceived the idea of

building the speedway because: "I wanted Howard to be able to go down to

the river with his pride in tact. I noticed that it was getting harder and

harder for Howard to walk down to the river independently, so I thought it

would be great if we could find a way for him to still be able to do that."

Arndt elaborated that he and the men of MDI loved Spierer because of his

tireless commitment to the organization. According to Arndt, Spierer helped

establish MDI seven years ago, and in spite of his MS, has never wavered

from helping other men.

"We (in MDI) have different economic backgrounds, different interests, but

the one thing that we all (who built the speedway) have in common is that

we love Howard," said Arndt. "Speaking personally, Howard's done so much

for me; I learned to walk the fine line of showing tough love and refusing

to give up on other men. He taught me to be more compassionate, and that's

made me a better person."

Spierer's reaction to the speedway: "I appreciate what they did. Barry

Arndt wanted to give me a gift, and because I love Arndt and the passion

that he has, I wanted to give him a gift of being able to let him give me a

gift."

Arndt added: "The thing that tickled me about this project is that I was

excited that I found a way to contribute to Howard, who in my opinion, not

many people have been able to do. Maybe because he never let them, or maybe

because he said he didn't need their help. I found something that would

make a contribution in his life and that's what excited me. I relate to him

because I help a lot of men, but I don't let them help me."

Building the speedway was anything but easy. "We were all unskilled," said

Arndt. "This was a job for an engineer or architect, not for a bunch of

unskilled men. But that didn't stop us. I'm used to taking on impossible

projects. Without experience, I've built dams and houses.

When Spierer's wife, Dorry Bless saw the finished speedway she said, "they

weren't able to give Howard full use of his limbs again, but they were able

to build him this road. They put so many hours into building it."

Against his better judgment, Spierer also helped build it. "It was too much

for me," said Spierer, "but I couldn't just sit by and watch them do all

the work, because that's not who I am. I still can't let people just do

things for me."

Spierer said that when he first developed MS, he was even more stubborn: "I

still went white water rafting. It was really stupid because I had poor

balance. I fell into the river. Until a few years ago, I tried to hide my

MS at work. When people saw me limping, I'd tell them that I twisted my

ankle. I only recently began carrying a cane. When I finally told my boss

that I had MS, I couldn't believe his reaction: He asked me if it was

contagious!" When Spierer first developed MS, he found it frustrating that

people initially didn't know how to treat him. Worse, he couldn't stand it

that people were suddenly extremely nice to him.

On a personal note, shortly after he developed MS, he told me that I did

him a tremendous service. When I learned of his condition, I tried to bet

him thirty dollars that I could now beat him in a one on one basketball

game. I told him that before, he would have beaten me easily because of my

vision problem, but now that he had trouble walking and keeping his

balance, I stood a good chance of beating him. Spierer told me that he

appreciated that I had no sympathy for him, and I responded that I would

have appreciated it if he had accepted my bet because I was low on money

and needed a quick thirty. Spierer said, "Block, thank you for still being

a jerk."

Although Spierer can no longer play basketball, he coaches his daughter

Orli's basketball team.

"I still try to be active," Howard Spierer said, "because that's who I am."

Main Line Times Thursday September 18, 2008

Olympic medalist Brendan Hansen:

a different training regimen for 2012

By DAVID BLOCK

havertown - Olympic medalist Brendan Hansen plans to train for the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England - but this time, his training regiment will differ.

"The most important thing for me to do is to ease myself into the next couple years and not be so excited," said Hansen. "I left the 2004 Olympics and went into the World Championships. I went so hard for so long that by the time Beijing came around, I was burnt out."

 At the 2004 Olympic Games, Hansen won a silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, a bronze in the 200-meter breaststroke and he swam a leg of the 4x100-meter relay team that won the gold.

At Beijing, Hansen was captain of the U.S. swim team. In addition, Hansen, Michael Phelps, Aaron Peirsol and Jason Lezak won the gold in the 4x100-meter relay with a 3:29.34 clocking.

But the only individual event that Hansen swam at Beijing was the 100-meter breaststroke where he placed fourth. Kosuke Kitajima of Japan won that race.

In the Associated Press' Aug. 10th article, titled, "Hansen misses medal in Olympic 100 breaststroke," the writers pointed out that Kitajima also beat Hansen in his individual events at the 2004 Olympics. However, the writers neglected to mention that Hansen beat Kitajima on several occasions - the 2005 World Aquatics Championships in Montreal (in the 100-meter breaststroke); the 2006 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Victoria, British Columbia (100- and 200-meter breaststroke); and at the 2007 World Swimming Championships in Melbourne, Australia (100-meter breaststroke). Not once during that three-year stint did Kitajima beat Hansen.

"Guys like Kitajima don't care about those meets in between; just the Olympics," said Hansen in a telephone interview with the Main Line Times last Sunday.

After placing fourth in the 100-meter breaststroke at Beijing, Hansen had to focus exclusively on the 4x100-meter relay.

Asked how he bounced back, Hansen replied, "It was important for me to go back to the team and surround myself with all those guys; because as a team we were having a good meet. I didn't want to bring any negative energy back to the team. I came back to the team to support everybody and be part of that, and eventually that wore off on my swimming. That's why the 4x100-meter relay went so well for us."

Less than 30 minutes before the 4x100- meter relay final, one of the American TV Olympic commentators said that Hansen promised Michael Phelps' mother that her son would win his eighth gold medal.

Asked why he felt compelled to make that promise, Hansen replied, "I never spoke to Mrs. Phelps. That's not true. The announcers were a little overwhelmed because we were getting such good coverage and they didn't know how to handle it.  I talked to Michael the day before the relay and said, 'This relay is ready for you. It's your opportunity to win your eighth gold medal."

Hansen described his and his teammates' frame of mind before the 4x100-meter relay: "We went out there not thinking, 'We have to win Michael Phelps' eighth gold medal.'  We were thinking, 'Let's do this so that people know how good USA Swimming really is.' Michael Phelps was just another guy on the relay team."

When the media reported that 2008 was not one of Hansen's better years, the former Haverford High School standout agreed.

"It came down to an accumulation of the last four years being so intense, being one of the top breaststrokers in the world, each year having major competitions," said Hansen. "It just wore on me after a while. When you try to be on the top for so long, it got to the point I'd get behind the block and I was just exhausted."

Hansen held the world record in the 100-meter breaststroke (59:13) and in the 200-meter breaststroke (2:08.50) until this year.

When Hansen graduated from Haverford High School in 2000, he left his mark with the Fords, winning the PIAA Class AAA state title in the 100-yard breaststroke four years in a row. He also received the Main Line Times Athlete of the Year award.

Dialogue     September-October 2008

Feature: Changing History, Changing Attitudes

By David Block

The museum at Overbrook School for the Blind not only documents the school’s 176-year history; it also demonstrates how the public’s attitude toward blind people has changed over time. In 1784, Valentin Haüy established the Institution for Blind Children in Paris, the world’s first school for the blind where Louis Braille was a student and later a teacher. Shortly afterward, other blind schools sprang up in Europe. The widespread attitude in the United States was that blind people were uneducable, so they were kept out of sight.

In the 1830s, J. Francis Fisher and Roberts Vaux brought a young German teacher, Julius Friedlander, to Philadelphia for the purpose of educating blind children. In 1832, Friedlander’s first two American students were Abraham Marsh and his sister Sarah, whom he taught in his home. When the number of his students increased, he founded the Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind at 20th and Race Streets in Philadelphia. This was the third blind school opened in the United States, just on the heels of the Perkins School for the Blind and the New York Institute for the Blind. The Pennsylvania Institution for the Instruction of the Blind changed its name to Overbrook School for the Blind in 1946.

According to Jackie Brennan, Overbrook’s interim director from January through July 2008, the school printed the first embossed book with raised lettering in North America in 1833. That book, the GOSPEL OF MARK, is on display at the museum. The first school for the blind in the United States to teach braille was the Missouri School for the Blind in 1860, eight years after its inventor, Louis Braille, died. The precise year Overbrook began to teach braille to its students is unknown. Several braillewriters that have been used in the school are on display in the museum.

James G. Blaine was the principal teacher for the boys at Overbrook from 1852 to 1854. A display of Blaine’s office is adjacent to the museum. If you were to sit in Blaine’s wooden chair, which is included in the display, you would think that you are back in 1852. The photos of his office that cover the walls from floor to ceiling envelop you. Visitors to the museum are not permitted to sit in the chair however.

About the same time that Blaine taught at Overbrook, future president, Stephen Grover Cleveland was a teacher at the New York Institute for the Blind. In 1884, Republican presidential candidate, Blaine lost the election to Cleveland.

“There used to be a stereotype that blind people couldn’t do woodworking,” said Brennan. Uno Cygenaeus did not share that sentiment. In the late 19th century he taught the boys at Overbrook the practical use of handicrafts. First year elementary students worked with wood using basic tools such as knives, hammers and nails. As the boys grew older, the work became more technical and involved. By 1894, Overbrook boys were required to learn woodworking. In the museum, a woodworking bench and tools are on display.

According to Brennan, long before the board of education made physical education a requirement for public school students, it was part of Overbrook’s curriculum. The museum documents that around the turn of the 20th century, Dr. Edward Allen, Overbrook’s principal, believed that “Exercise of the body and that of the mind always serve as relaxation to each other.”  At around that time, the school moved to the Overbrook section of Philadelphia, because the location at 20th and Race Streets no longer met the needs of the students. At the new location, Overbrook became the first school for the blind in the United States to have an indoor swimming pool. The pool was completed in 1906, and remained in use until 2007. A new and improved pool is now under construction.

Brennan explained that over time, Overbrook’s curriculum changed to match the students’ changing interests. For example, woodworking and caning chairs are no longer taught. Instead students participate in visual or tactile art classes, such as drawing, painting, sculpting, paper making and weaving. Students used to want to play in Overbrook’s band and wear the red and yellow band uniforms. Since today’s students prefer to sing in the chorus or play in the bell choir, the band no longer exists. In the museum, a band uniform and a clarinet preserve the band’s legacy. Students attending Overbrook today also compete in a number of sports including swimming, track and field, goalball, cheerleading and wrestling.

The student population at Overbrook is diverse, and the curriculum is tailored to individual student needs. Instruction is provided in academics as well as orientation and mobility, assistive technology and daily living skills. All students have access to assistive technology, and the high school students enrolled in academic programs have workstations to meet their individual needs. Computers with screen readers and/or screen magnifiers, braille displays and scanners are provided. CCTVs are also available.

“A few other blind schools have museums,” said Brennan, “but the unique thing about ours is that you can touch a lot of the items.” The museum is very accessible. The museum even has a 3D model of the campus. Most of the exhibits have Braille and large print labels and soundsticks which provide audio descriptions. Museum tours are by appointment only, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and can be scheduled by calling Kathe Archibald at 215-877-0313, ext 264.

For more information, visit the Overbrook School for the Blind online at www.obs.org .

MAIN LINE SPORTS                   Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009

Main Line Times                        www.mainlinemedianews.com

Kobe reflects on Garden record, Olympics, wheelchair basketball

By David Block

(Editor’s note -- Main Line Media News sportswriter David Block interviewed Lakers’ star Kobe Bryant five days after the Lower Merion graduate broke the Madison Square Garden single-game scoring record, tallying 61 points in a win against the New York Knicks.)

ARDMORE -- When Kobe Bryant broke the Madison Square Garden scoring record earlier this month, he was trying to go one-up on Spike Lee.

In an exclusive interview with Main Line Media News earlier this month, Bryant said, “Spike Lee was there at the game and I had to see him afterwards because we’re working on a project together. I wanted to make sure that I had the bragging rights and not him. Him being there was more motivation [to break the record].”

Garden party

Bryant scored 61 points in a win against the New York Knicks Feb. 2 at Madison Square Garden, surpassing Bernard King’s Madison Square Garden record of 60, set Dec. 25, 1984 while playing for the New York Knicks.

Madison Square Garden was also the site (Dec. 23, 2007) where Bryant went down in the record books as being the third NBA player to score his 2 0,000th point before turning 30. The other two were Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.

Bryant said that the 61-point experience was incredibly special because he did it at Madison Square Garden: “There’s so much history in Madison Square Garden, and for me to accomplish a few historical things in that building itself makes it even more special. It’s the last one left in terms of historic venues in terms of historic venues in which NBA games are played.

There was the Forum; the Boston Garden, but they’re gone. Madison Square Garden is the last of the great arenas that’s left.”

Bryant also said that winning the gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games at Beijing was more meaningful than winning his three NBA Championships (2000, 2001 and 2002).

Olympic feat

“In the Olympics,” said Bryant, “you’re playing for the United States of America. You’re not playing for a league or a state. The significance of competing in the Olympics cannot be overstated. The joy of playing in the Olympics was to see other athletes do what they do best. That was incredible in itself, to see Michael Phelps swim, and to see the best runners and volleyball players.”

Bryant, who turned 30 Aug. 23 during the Summer Games, was thrilled that his wife Vanessa and his two daughters, Natalia Diamante (age 6) and Gianna Maria-Onore (2), were in the stands waving American flags.

Two years ago, some wheelchair basketball players invited Bryant to scrimmage with them. After sitting down in a wheelchair and after the game began, Bryant had a rude awakening.

I wasn’t very good at all,” Bryant said. “I couldn’t keep up with them. I got a greater appreciation for the athleticism of what the do. You have to be incredibly talented and strong to be able to do that.”

Bryant still keeps in touch with the Lower Merion boys’ basketball teams, and always provides them with encouragement.

Asked why he still cares about the LM team, Bryant replied, Because it’s home...I wanted to come back to the Main Line last summer but couldn’t. I hope to come back this summer. I miss everything about the Main Line -- my old stomping grounds, walking the streets, going to different restaurants, hanging out and playing ball. Seeing those places again brings back so many memories.

Asked to name his favorite Main Line restaurants and hangouts, Bryant laughed and refused to disclose them.

“I want to keep them my spots,” Bryant said.

For a complete transcript of Main Line Media News’ exclusive interview with Kobe Bryant, visit our Web site, www mainlinemedianews.com.

David Block’s Published Interview with Kobe Bryant

Posted on the Main Line Times Web-site

Posted on Wed, Feb 18, 2009   

Kobe talks about 61-point Garden performance and missing the Main Line 

Kobe Bryant was named the co-MVP of last weekend's NBA All-Star game. Main Line Media News contributor David Block caught up with Kobe Bryant earlier this month, just five days after Bryant set a Madison Square Garden record of 61 points in a victory against the New York Knicks, breaking the old mark of 60 set by Bernard King, while also breaking Michael Jordan’s opponent’s record of 55 points.

Block: Congratulations on setting that record at Madison Square Garden. How would you compare that to the game where you scored 81 points? (Bryant scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors Jan. 22, 2006.)

KB: The similarities in those games was that I was in a really, really good rhythm. I continued to stay in the rhythm for the duration of the game. It’s rare, it doesn’t really happen too often. But for that game, everything seemed to flow well for me.

BLOCK: Did Spike Lee’s presence at Madison Square Garden that game make you play better?

KB: He (Lee) and I were working on a project. After the game, we were working on a movie that we’re doing together. Having him there, knowing that I had to see him afterwards, I wanted to make sure that I had the bragging rights and not him.

BLOCK: That gave you additional momentum, Kobe ?

KB: Yes, it was more motivation.

BLOCK: It was in Madison Square Garden where you scored your 20,000th point (on Dec. 23, 2007, which made Bryant the third NBA player - Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan were the others - to score 20,000 points before turning 30). How would you compare Madison Square Garden to other arenas? It seems as though Madison Square Garden has been good to you.

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KB: There’s no comparison.

BLOCK: No comparison, in what way?

KB: Madison Square Garden is such a special arena because it’s the last one left in terms of the historic venues in which NBA games are played. There was the Forum, there was the Boston Garden obviously, but they’re gone. We don’t play in those arenas no more, so Madison Square Garden is the last of the great arenas that’s left.

BLOCK: Does it feel extra special that you scored your 20,000th point being the third player under 30 to do it?

KB: It feels extremely special. It’s added to that because there’s so much history in Madison Square Garden and for me to accomplish a few things that are historical in that building itself makes it even more special.

BLOCK: Is there anything else that happened that was great for you at Madison Square Garden? You have such a rich history there.

KB: My first All Star Game (1998) was played at Madison Square Garden. It was pretty cool.

BLOCK: Now onto Beijing: How would you sum up your Beijing experience?

KB: Fun. I had so much fun playing with all the guys, competing in the Olympics, meeting all the athletes, it was so much fun.

BLOCK: Kobe, my vision is very limited, but I was able to see your face light up when you guys won the gold.

KB: It was such a great feeling.

BLOCK: How would you compare playing on the Olympic team to that of the Lakers?

KB: On the Olympic team, you’re playing for your country. It’s so special because you’re not playing for a state or a particular brand. You’re playing for the United States of America. The significance in that cannot be overstated.

BLOCK: The fact that, here in the NBA, all these cities have different fans, and because there was none of that at Beijing , did you get the feeling that people weren’t looking at you negatively like they might have in the U.S.?

KB: The game’s changed so much. There’s more support now for NBA basketball players now than maybe there was in 2000 in Sydney. There’s more support. They’re more supportive of us, they follow our progress as athletes and they support us more.

BLOCK: Did you learn anything valuable about yourself as a person playing at Beijing?

KB: The special thing about playing in the Olympics was the joy of seeing other athletes do what they do best. That to me was incredible within itself, to see Michael Phelps swim, to see so many other athletes who were competing and doing what they do. To have an opportunity to go and watch them perform and to see the joy that they got from that was special.

BLOCK: And that’s something that you don’t get to see while you’re playing in the NBA?

KB: You normally don’t see that anywhere. These are the best in the world, the best swimmers, runners, volleyball players. These are the best of the best. It’s such a special treat to be able to see that.

BLOCK How did it feel that your family (wife Vanessa and daughters Natalia Diamante and Gianna Maria-Onorel) was there, and that you turned 30 there (Aug. 23, 2008) right before you won the gold?

KB: That made it 10 times more special. To have my family in the crowd, waving the flag of the United States of America , singing the national anthem, having them there really took it over the top.

BLOCK: Do they normally get to see you play during the year in the stands?

KB: Oh, yeah.

BLOCK: Compare your three NBA championship titles to winning your Olympic gold medal.

KB: Winning an Olympic gold medal, to me, was even more special.

BLOCK: Why is that more special than your NBA titles (1999-2000, 2000-2001 and 2001-2002)?

KB: Because you’re playing for your country.

BLOCK: Did winning the gold give you additional momentum to play even better this year?

KB: No, I don’t think so. I was focused, ready to come back. It was a great experience for that moment in time. I don’t think it was something that got carried over into the season.

BLOCK: When was the last time that you came back to the Main Line, and when do you plan on coming back again?

KB: I planned on coming back last summer, but it just turned into such a busy summer, I didn’t have time to do it. I’ll definitely be back this summer.

BLOCK: What do you miss most about the Main Line?

KB: I miss everything. My old stomping grounds, I just remember walking the streets, going into different restaurants and different spots [where] I used to hang out, play ball, and awesome stuff. Just seeing those places again, just brings back so many memories.

BLOCK: What restaurants do you miss particularly?

KB: I won’t name them. They’re still my spots. You know, I want to keep them my spots.

BLOCK: Have you spoken to the Lower Merion basketball team this year?

KB: I have, actually.

BLOCK: And what did you tell them?

KB: The same thing that I always tell them. Continue to work hard and do the best that you can do.

BLOCK: Because your time is limited, was there anything else that you didn’t tell them that you would like to say?

KB: I try to make a great deal of time, when I visit the school or speak to the team. I carve out a pretty good amount of time.

BLOCK: Why is the Lower Merion basketball team still special to you? You’re an Olympic gold medalist, a three-time NBA champion Laker, so why would Lower Merion still be special?

KB: It’s home.

BLOCK: What happens at these basketball clinics that you run?

KB: We have a basketball camp. We teach kids different systems on how to play the game of basketball. The kids would try to learn the offense, the principles of offense, so forth and so on. It’s just a week or two weeks worth of learning the game of basketball.

BLOCK: Have you ever seen people in wheelchairs play basketball?

KB: I have.

BLOCK: What was your impression?

KB: It was pretty unbelievable. Actually, they invited me to play with them. So I tried, and I wasn’t very good at all.

BLOCK: When was this?

KB: I think it was two years ago.

BLOCK: So they sat you down in the wheelchair and had you play?

KB: Yeah. (Laughs) I tried to play, but I couldn’t keep up.

BLOCK: What did you learn from playing in a wheelchair?

KB: You get such a greater sense of appreciation for their athleticism; what it is that they do. You have to be incredibly talented and strong to be able to do that.

BLOCK: Please verify, Natalia Diamante, is six and Gianna Maria Onore is two?

KB: Yes.

BLOCK: How is Natalia Diamante’s bike riding coming along? (Note: When Block interviewed Bryant two years ago, Kobe said he was teaching her to pop a wheelie.)

KB: It’s great.

BLOCK: What other sports does she do?

KB: Soccer, softball and all that kind of stuff.

BLOCK: What’s it like for her to have a daddy whose a big famous basketball player?

KB: She doesn’t even think about it like that.

BLOCK: Doesn’t the NBA take a lot of time away from seeing your kids?

KB: It does, but I always call and I also put a lot of time into being with my family.

BLOCK: How many more years do you think you’ll play in the NBA?

KB: I don’t know. It’s tough to call. I just got to get lucky and stay healthy.

BLOCK: You turned 30 last year. Is that the age to peak in basketball?

KB: It is. That’s the age where you get it really going.

BLOCK: What do you plan to do when you retire?

KB: I don’t know. I have a couple options, but I’m not exactly sure which one I want to do.

BLOCK: Anything else I should ask you, or that you’d like to talk about?

KB: No. You did a great job.

Disabled Dealer Magazine                                        January 2009

Paralysis of Road Rage Victim Sparks a Cry for Anti Road Rage Legislation

By David Block

Imagine, with just the blink of an eye, or in a split second, you can go from being fully able bodied to disabled and remain that way for the rest of your life. Twenty-year-old Jessica Rogers of Hamilton, NJ knows this firsthand; because on the rainy night of March 23, 2005, she was in a car accident, which paralyzed her from the chest down. At the time, Rogers was 16 years old and a junior in high school.

Rogers was a rebellious teenager. Like many teenagers, her pressing issues were where to where to meet her friends, which party to go to, and who might show up to watch her cheerlead. After the car accident, her issues, worries and concerns changed drastically.

Before the accident, Rogers remembered: “I was bad. I didn’t care about anyone but myself. I hated being home. All I wanted was to be out with my friends.” She was a C and D student and never cracked a book. Now what could have ended her life, may have left her a quadriplegic, but ultimately expanded her heart and her desire to learn, grow and help others.

That rainy evening of the accident started out as a fun night. Rogers was in the backseat with her boyfriend Shaun, his 19-year-old brother Daniel Robbins, Jr. was driving and his girlfriend Melissa Fuller was in the front passenger seat. As Robbins drove, another motorist cut in front of him.

The enraged Robbins chased the driver while the two girls screamed: “Slow down! Don’t kill us!” But Robbins ignored them. He barreled down the shoulder of the Mercer County Road at twice the 30 M.P.H. speed limit. He lost control of the car and struck a telephone pole.

He was uninjured and his younger brother sustained minor ones. However, the girls fared worse: Fuller suffered a broken jaw, pelvis and hand and lost some teeth; Rogers sustained a broken neck, an injured spinal cord and partially paralyzed lungs.

Rogers spent the next three months at two Philadelphia hospitals: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Magee Rehabilitation Hospital.

Surgeons replaced Rogers’ c5 vertebrate with a cadaver bone and performed a metal fusion of her c4-7 vertebrate using one plate, two rods and seven screws.

The pain she experienced after the accident was excruciating.

When she transferred to Magee and began rehab, she grew confident that she could adjust. Her uncle was a paraplegic.

“I still never thought that it could happen to me,” Rogers said.

Support from family and friends helped her adjust to becoming quadriplegic. Her father Scott Rogers also credits Shriners Hospital.

“Without the help at Shriners Hospital, giving Jessica numerous surgeries at no charge, she wouldn’t be able to use her hands to grip soda bottles, or to write,” her father said.

When she came home in July 2005, her family installed home modifications in order for her to use her wheelchair.

“Some of my friends made sure I wasn’t by myself. They tried to make me happy.” But not all of her friends stood by her.

“When I went back to school (September 2005), a lot of people that I used to talk to on a day to day basis, walked passed me and acted like they didn’t know me. They were scared. I lost a lot of friends. That just goes to show who your true friends are.”

Her days of cutting class were over. “I couldn’t because I now had an aide with me all the time; taking notes for me.” The bright side was that she now earned A(s) and B(s). Yet being in school was quite difficult. “Because I was physically disabled, had physical therapy and doctors’ appointments every other day, I only went to school half days. I missed a lot of school. It would have taken me two years to finish school instead of one year. I dropped out and got my GED.”

Besides the continued physical therapy and doctors’ appointments, she found herself becoming physically ill more frequently than before. Due to her partially paralyzed lungs, she now gets Pneumonia once a year. Her last bout was October 2008, which landed her in the hospital for 23 days.

Despite this adversity, she has become a role model and an advocate for anti road rage legislation. This happened unexpectedly when Daniel Robbins, Jr. went on trial in the fall of 2006.

She remembered:  “In court he said that he will not apologize for the way that he was driving, but he will apologize for our injuries. He said, ‘teenagers drive that way to prove who they are.’” She added that the reason that she and her family have nothing to do with him is before they received the police report, he told her parents that the accident happened because he hit a telephone pole. He never mentioned the chase that preceded it. The police report stated that the accident was due to his dangerous car chase. “He lied to my parents,” said Jessica.

Robbins was found guilty of auto assault in the fourth degree, which meant no jail time.

“Afterwards, Scott Rogers spoke to me,’ said New Jersey State Senator Bill Baroni, who at the time was an Assemblyman. “He was upset that this kid was going to walk free. I told him (Scott Rogers) to get a petition started.”

Scott Rogers followed Baroni’s advice and got 1,500 signatures. As a result, Robbins received a six month jail sentence, but only served half of it. He was released in May 2007.

Angered over the light sentence, Scott Rogers spoke with Baroni and Assemblywoman Linda R. Greenstein (D., Mercer), Chair of the Judiciary Committee, about passing anti road rage legislation.

“We talked about coming up with legislation,” said Greenstein, “to make sure that drivers like that get properly punished.” She said that the bill, The Jessica Rogers Law, would keep others from becoming road rage casualties.

(Various journalists named the bill, “Jessica’s Law, but State Senator Baroni emphasized that the proper name is the Jessica Rogers Law.)

“The law would prevent people from being in the same situation that Jessica was in,” said Greenstein.

Baroni said that under the Jessica Rogers Law, road rage “requires two or more actions committed simultaneously or in immediate succession.” Road rage acts include excessive speeding, following a vehicle too closely, erratic lane changes, overtaking another vehicle, failure to yield the right of way and verbal threats.

Punishments facing drivers who commit road rage would include, stiff fines, incarceration, suspended licenses, and mandatory anger management classes.

Both Baroni and Greenstein cosponsored The Jessica Rogers Law.

According to Scott Rogers, in November 2007, the Judiciary Committee, chaired by Linda Greenstein, unanimously passed the bill. However, the exuberance of joy was short lived. Scott Rogers explained that in 2008 a new judiciary committee formed. “One of the voters suddenly feared that too many people not having road rage could be lumped with people who have road rage,” said Scott Rogers.

“It did not pass the legislature yet,” said Baroni. “That’s something we need to continue to work on. New Jersey is the most densely packed state in the union. We have a lot of cars, a lot of traffic. We want to make sure that people can drive on our New Jersey Turnpike and our roads safely, and not be victims of road rage.”

Should the bill pass the Legislature and then the senate, the next step would be for it to go national.

“Jessica is an amazing young woman,” said Baroni. “It is my job as a legislator to fight like hell for my constituents. she’s right! Her family is right!  I’m in a position as a legislator to do something to help the Rogers Family.”

Meanwhile, Jessica plans to attend Mercer County Community College.

She currently volunteers her time as a peer counselor at Magee Rehab. “I talk to people with spinal cord injuries, whose injuries are similar to mine. I tell them life goes on and I’m living proof.”

To learn more about Jessica Rogers, log onto www.jessicalynnrogers.com

Disabled Dealer Magazine

California/Nevada Edition July 20009

The Kind, Compassionate Side of Former Roller Derby Star Judy Arnold

By David Block

In the 1970s, Judy Arnold was a roller derby star. Her fame and popularity brought her opportunities beyond the banked track, which further catapulted her into the public eye. She doubled for Raquel Welch in the 1972 Roller Derby Motion Picture, Kansas City Bomber. Judy also appeared on many television shows and guest starred on various talk shows. In 1974 she guest starred on the Mike Douglas Show where she had a match race against tennis star and male chauvinist Bobby Riggs.

Judy was so impressive that she is still remembered today. Thirty-seven years later, in a brief interview, Raquel Welch vividly recalls,

"Judy was a wonderful skater and star of the Roller Derby world. She was extremely helpful in coaching me with my skating for the movie, so that what I did on the track would look authentic on film. Skating on a banked track is a real art and I take my hat off to her. I broke my wrist in a fall while learning and still suffer from injuries sustained from that role. I will always be grateful for Judy's kindness and patience when we worked together on Kansas City Bomber.”

In 1975, at the top of her game, the number one skater for the Philadelphia Warriors, and considered the best skater of her day, Judy retired. She made a complete life change, when she met God in a very personal way. Judy said, "Serving God became more meaningful than skating. When I met Jesus Christ, I experienced real love for the first time. I wanted to follow the Lord.”

“I worked with women at the LA County Jail for six years,” Judy said. “I did a Bible study every Monday and led church services. I wasn’t in jail outwardly, but I felt as though I was in jail on the inside until Christ set me free. The first opportunity I had to give my testimony in a jail, I saw people just the same as me. If God had not intervened in my life, I could have ended up in jail. Some of the women I saw there looked tough, some of them looked like a grandmother, but they all needed the same thing; someone to come in and to share the love of God. We all need God’s love because without Him, we have nothing.”

Many years ago, after meeting Joni Eareckson Tada, Judy turned her attention to helping the disabled community. Joni broke her neck in a diving accident, becoming a quadriplegic. She is a gifted artist and speaker who founded an organization called Joni and Friends, which is dedicated to reaching out to those who have disabilities, recognizing their gifts and abilities and bringing them hope through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

“Joni is one of my heroes for sure,” Judy said. “She’s an amazing lady. She has challenges every day. She can’t get out of bed by herself. But instead of dwelling on her problems, she focuses on helping others.”

Judy also participates in Joni’s Wheels for the World Program, collecting used wheelchairs, which are shipped to prisons for inmates to repair. Then the wheelchairs are sent to Third World countries. “The prisoners I’ve seen work on these wheelchairs loved it because they truly knew that they were helping other people.”

Judy elaborated that some of the wheelchair recipients in Third World countries had spent their lives crawling on the ground.

For the past five years, Judy has cared for people with disabilities during the summer at one of Joni’s Family Retreats. People with disabilities and their families spend a week at camp, where they have opportunities to swim, horseback ride, do adaptive water skiing, etc.

“I like volunteering there because I’ve learned so much about people with disabilities,” Judy said. “They’ve taught me so much about persevering.”

To learn more about Judy Arnold visit: www.JudyArnoldSkater.com or www.TruthMinistriesCa.com

Main Line Times

Merion Liberty Troop’s entering its 100th year with a proud history

Published: Wednesday, November 11, 2009

By David Block

Merion Liberty Troop has been a Main Line fixture for nearly a century. It was formed on Oct. 10, 1910, and was originally named Merion 1.

You might say that 10/10/10 was an auspicious beginning for this Boy Scout troop.

After the U.S. entered World War 1 in 1917, the Scouts in Merion 1 raised $1.4 million by selling Liberty War Bonds.

In recognition of the Scouts’ fund-raising efforts, the United States Treasury Department awarded them the special honor of the prestigious “circle L” Liberty emblem.

The Treasury Department changed Boy Scout Troop Merion 1’s official designation to “Merion Liberty Troop.”

“Scout troops are traditionally given numbers,” said Tom Shallow, president of the Merion Liberty Troop Benefactors. “We were given the honor of being called ‘Liberty’ instead of a number. To this day every member of Merion Liberty Troop proudly wears a liberty patch on the left shoulder of his uniform.”

When World War I ended in 1918, the Merion Community Association wanted to create a monument to the 84 young men from the Merion area who fought in the Great War. Amazingly 80 of the young men survived the war.

In 1919 RCA Victrola inventor Eldridge Johnson and his wife, Elsie, granted the Merion Community Association permission to build the Merion War Tribute House on their property.

The Johnsons donated their carriage house to Merion Liberty Troop as a meeting place for the Boy Scouts. The carriage house is still used as Merion Liberty Troop’s home, except it is now called the Merion War Tribute Scout House. According to Shallow, more than 3,000 Boy Scouts have passed through the doors of the Merion War Tribute Scout House.

Clarke Glennon has fond memories of his time in Merion Liberty Troop from 1945 to 1950. “It was a fantastic experience,” said Glennon, 76, who still volunteers with Merion Liberty Troop. “Every month we went on exciting camping trips.”

In Glennon’s youth, children had fewer extracurricular activities to choose from. Even though children have more after-school options today, he said that there are always kids who want to be Scouts.

In Glennon’s Scouting days “parents never sat in on our Scout patrol meetings. When we had patrol meetings, we planned the camping trips and menus ourselves. We needed the parents for a few things, but we didn’t have so much parental involvement. We were in charge of everything. Today the kids can potentially miss out on the experience of not running things themselves. That helped us gain maturity and confidence.”

Glennon explained how Merion Liberty Troop helped the war effort during World War II by collecting newspapers and cans every week.

However, in the 1960s, the Vietnam era, some people looked down on the Boy Scouts.

“This is pure speculation,” said Jack Myers, vice chair of Merion Liberty Troop’s Troop Committee. “Back then, being or doing anything for the war effort was socially disdained. Some people saw Scouting as a quasi-military organization. That attitude cast a shadow on Scouting for some people. That’s just my opinion.” Meyers continued: “I got so much from being in the Boy Scouts. I’m still involved because my son is in the troop.”

When Bob Bramson was Merion Liberty Troop Scoutmaster in the mid-’70s, he enjoyed seeing the Scouts mature and develop into fine young men. Bramson said: “One boy moved from Puerto Rico to Merion and joined the troop. Camping was a whole new experience for him. On his first camping trip, his feet practically froze because he only owned thin flimsy socks. I lent him some of my thick heavy ones.”

Micah Fay, Merion Liberty Troop’s Assistant Scoutmaster, said that being a member of the troop from 1993 to 2001 gave him the opportunity to explore his adventurous personality.

“On one camping trip we had a nor’easter and my tent blew away,” said Fay. “It was totally awesome.” Those high-adventure camping trips prepared Fay to live off the land in British Columbia, Canada from 2004 to 2007. “I went out there with an axe, saw and a rowboat,” said Fay. “I fished and gathered wild plants for my food.”

Fay came back to share his knowledge with the troop. “I show them what wild plants they can eat, what they can use for medicine, how to build a shelter and how to make fire by rubbing sticks together. I teach them these wilderness skills so that they can survive in the wilderness as well as they can in the city.”

Fay continued: “We have over 40 Scouts in Merion Liberty Troop. That’s about four times as many as when I was in the troop. Now we have more programs for the boys.”

“When I was in the Boy Scouts (Troop 296 in Havertown),” said NBC10 meteorologist Dave Warren, “and got interested in how the weather works, there was nobody to give me any guidance.”

Warren, an Eagle Scout and 1992 Haverford High graduate, and Navy pilot James Brengle help area Scouts earn weather merit badges. Warren said: “We teach interested Scouts by showing them what we do, showing them where we get the weather information and showing them how accessible it is.”

Shallow said that Scouting can sometimes influence a young man’s career choice.

Shallow explained: “Many years ago, Ed Silverman from the Narberth Troop saw a lady having a heart attack. He had earned his first-aid merit badge so he was able to administer CPR. When the paramedics arrived, they said, ‘Good work, kid. You saved that woman’s life.’ Saving the lady’s life influenced Ed to become a doctor.”

To learn more about Merion Liberty Troop go to www.colbsa.org.

Twenty-four-year-old Scott MacIntyre of Scottsdale, Arizona made history this year by being the first blind contestant on “American Idol.” He finished season 8 of the show in eighth place. “I’m so glad that I got to share my talent with America, and I’m very humbled that they supported me,” said MacIntyre.   

To say that MacIntyre is talented would be an understatement. Music had been an essential part of his life since he was 3. “My parents could tell that I had an interest in music at an early age,” said MacIntyre. “We had an old piano with ivory keys. It was ancient. I’d sneak out of bed at night. My parents would try to put me to bed with tapes to listen to of Disney music. I’d go out to the piano and try to figure out the melodies I was hearing and play them. They’d put me back to bed and I’d sneak out again.”

MacIntyre was born with 2 degrees of tunnel vision out of 180 degrees, which he describes as a tiny pinhole of vision. “It’s like looking through a coffee straw,” said MacIntyre. Doctors have failed to diagnose his condition, yet it never worsened or improved. MacIntyre said that his blindness helped draw him into the world of sound and music. “I was forced, in a good way, to explore and hone my skills in other areas” - especially listening and memorizing.” MacIntyre learned to play the piano completely by ear. He did not learn Braille music because he did not have a certified Braille music teacher when he was young.

He obtained his Masters Degree in classical music at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Royal College of Music. He said that his professors gave him tapes of classical music to listen to, and he trained his ears to pick out each individual note and all the patterns within the larger texture. “It can get very complicated. But because I’ve done that, note for note with classical music, I’m able to do it almost instantly with pop music. If I hear something on the radio, I can play along as I’m hearing it.  I’ve gotten on stage with bands without hearing their music before. After hearing something once, I can reproduce it,” he said.

In addition to being a classical pianist, MacIntyre is also a seasoned vocalist. When he auditioned for American Idol in July 2008 at the Jobbing.com Arena in Arizona, he had already released six albums - some classical, some original pop songs he wrote. “When I auditioned, I never assumed that I would make it to the end stage of the competition. I never took it for granted that I would make it anywhere. I had a feeling that if I could get through Hollywood Week and play and sing in front of the judges, I’d have a good chance of sticking around for a little bit. And fortunately, that’s what happened. I’m humbled that people have been inspired and taken something away from my time on Idol and more importantly from my experience of life,” MacIntyre said.

During the show and later on the “American Idol” tour, the media often referred to him as the “blind singer on ‘American Idol’,” instead of by name. “It takes a lot to offend me,” said MacIntyre when asked about this. “I never had an issue with letting people into my world. I’m about breaking barriers; breaking paradigms. The more I can bridge the gap between my life and the people around me, the more they feel comfortable.”

“American Idol” host, Ryan Seacrest tried to high-five him, and MacIntyre had no objection: “It’s nice when people forget for a moment that I’m blind. My blindness is just another characteristic of my being. My hair is light, my eyes are blue and I happen to be blind.”

One of the high points on the “American Idol Live” tour was performing at the Jobbing.com Arena where he auditioned the previous year: “I was one person out of the 25,000 who auditioned there,” said MacIntyre. “We were all just dreaming about being on the other end of the whole process; and to actually go back there to perform in the same space was amazing.”

After the “American Idol Live” tour, MacIntyre plans to release another album and thanks to “American Idol” judge Paula Abdul, obtain a guide dog. “I had thought about getting a dog for several years.” He said that Paula Abdul thought that getting a dog was such a good idea that she convinced the Guide Dogs of America to bypass the waiting period for him.

Asked about Simon Cowell, the most critical judge on “American Idol,” MacIntyre said: “My favorite Simon Cowell moment from the show was when he said, ‘It’s alright to be artistic, just not on this show.’ After that I tried to be as artistic as I possibly could every week. It’s ironic, people talk about artistry on the show. It’s really what it’s about. It’s a funny example of the contradictory remarks.”

To learn more about Scott MacIntyre, visit www.scottmacIntyre.com

Delaware Gazette Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Local family remembers Marine’s untimely death

By David Block

For the Gazette

Corporal Steven Campbell was a proud marine who volunteered to serve for six years. In 1991, Campbell fought in Desert Storm, in which he was in 1st Marine Division 1st Battalion; 12 Marine Regiment Artillery. He fought in the battle of Kafji, and he helped liberate Kuwait.

Campbell died, not at the hands of the Iraqis, or from Saddam Hussein, but from the cancer, Mucinous Adenocarcinoma, also named; Pseudomyxoma Peritoneal and nicknamed; “Jelly Belly.”

“That cancer squeezed the life out of Steven’s organs,” said his mother Alyce Hutchison-Doss, of Powell.

Although Campbell died 10 years ago, Feb. 12, 2000 — six days after his 32nd birthday-his family still remembers his ordeal as if it happened yesterday.

“In July 1998,” Steven’s buddy found him on his living floor in a fetal position,” Hutchison-Doss recalled. “He had severe stomach pain, so his friend took him to the Veteran’s Administration (VA) emergency room,”

According to Hutchison-Doss, the doctors kept him there a few days and then sent him home. “His pain got worse,” said his mother. “I knew something was seriously wrong because that month he dropped from 198 to 175 pounds. After that he was still losing weight and he couldn’t eat anything. So I kept saying, ‘Steven, I have a doctor friend who wants to examine you.’ But at first I couldn’t convince him to see her because he believed that the VA would take care of him. One time he told me that a VA doctor accused him of drinking too much when he was in the marines. He told Steven that he was probably an alcoholic and didn’t know it. His pain was all in his head and there was nothing wrong with him.”

Steven’s older brother Jim by 19 months also suspected that Steven’s sickness was not a passing phase.

“Steven no longer had energy,” said Jim Campbell, formerly of Columbus, who now lives in Illinois. “He wasn’t himself.” He was not the same Steven Campbell who one night outlasted Jim fishing. “One night when we were teenagers, we were fishing at the Chillicothe River, and I got so tired, I went to bed, but Steven stayed out there. Then at the crack of dawn, he woke me up by dangling a catfish over my head. He told me that I missed out on catching it because I turned in early.”

Steven’s stepfather Bill Doss remembered: “When Steven and I were playing basketball, he suddenly had to quit after three games. That wasn’t Steven because he could play forever. That broke my heart. As active as he was, then he couldn’t do the things that he loved to do. The old Steven Campbell was paralyzed inside a sick body. One time when I helped Steven remodel his house, he just had to sit down. After that, I knew that something was wrong.”

Steven’s mother finally convinced him to see her doctor friend, who discovered that he had “Jelly Belly.”

When asked if she thought that he contracted it as a result of serving in the Gulf, Hutchison-Doss said: “I’m pretty positive. The unit he was with was shooting live uranium shells. They were not given anything for protection.”

Former U.S. Navy Ensign Dan Fahey, who in the mid 1990s served on the Board of Directors of the National Gulf War Resource Center — an organization committed to helping sick Gulf War veterans — and who had researched the hazards of depleted uranium, described it: “Depleted uranium is a byproduct process to create highly radioactive enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons and in nuclear fuel. Uranium is mined. It’s taken out of the ground and then it’s processed and in that process some of the highly radioactive parts of it are removed. What’s left over is called depleted uranium. It’s very chemically toxic. As the United States produced more nuclear weapons and started to branch out into nuclear power production, large stock piles of depleted uranium were accumulating at sites throughout the United States. The Department of Defense got involved during the ’60s and ’70s in testing depleted uranium for use in armor piercing ammunition.

Depleted uranium is almost twice as dense as lead. By the time of the 1991 Gulf War, it was deployed for the first time to be used in combat. When depleted uranium is shot in combat, dense rods of metal are fired. There’s no coding. There’s no explosive charge. It’s just a really dense rod of metal shot at a very high velocity out of a gun. And at the other end of that if it hits tank armor, it’s able to punch its way through tank armor.

But as it’s doing so, a certain percentage of the round burns up. It’s one of the properties of depleted uranium is that it burns. So you have created at the site a very fine uranium dust that contaminates the site, mostly just within the immediate area of the tank that’s hit. But from the Department of Defense’s own reports before the Gulf War they said that at these local sites there’s a potential that soldiers can inhale the dust and then subsequently develop health problems, including cancer. So in their own guidance they had said if soldiers have potential exposures they should be tested and also if they’re working on contaminated equipment at a minimum they should wear respiratory protection and ideally they should wear full protective suits.”

Both Fahey and Hutchison-Doss said that soldiers were not given anything that would have protected them from depleted uranium. “Steven’s unit cleaned up the area where the uranium shells landed,” said his mother. “They were breathing it in.”

Another reason she believes that Steven developed the cancer in the Gulf was that no one in Steven’s family ever had cancer.

Prior to Steven’s death, his mother fulfilled his dying wish, which was to talk with General Colin Powell.

Her attorney knew the governor of Ohio, who knew people who knew Colin Powell.

She remembered: “I was with Steven in the hospital. The phone rang and this beautiful voice answered, ‘Is Steven Campbell there?’

‘Yes, who’s calling?’

“General Colin Powell.”

Steven was sitting in a chair, his head was down. He was so thin. I said: ‘Steven. General Colin Powell is on the phone.’ “Mom, this is no time to joke,” he replied. ‘Steven, it really is General Colin Powell.”

As sick as Steven was, he took the phone and sat up real straight in the chair. He said, ‘Hello.’ Then he said, ‘Yes, sir.’ ‘No Sir.’ ‘Yes sir.’ ‘Well I’m just a little nervous sir.’ Then Steven thanked General Colin Powell for calling. When I wrote General Colin Powell a thank you note, I mentioned that he was able to do something for Steven that his own mother couldn’t do, and that was to make him forget his pain for five minutes.”

“What I miss most about Steven,” said his brother Jim “was his willingness to help the underdog. If we were driving down the road and he saw someone walking, he’d stop to pick them up, even though that wasn’t the safest thing to do. He was always willing to do that. I was in the car when he picked up people. I wouldn’t have taken the initiative to stop to pick up strangers like Steven would have. I would like my boys, (Shane 13, Mitchell 12, and Steven 7) to have some of Steven’s characteristics like his willingness to stop to help people in the time of need.”

Steven’s mother remembered that Steven wanted to be there to watch his nephews grow up. Before his death, neither Shane nor Mitchell were four-years-old yet. Jim’s third son Steven had not yet been born, Today, Shane and Mitchell barely remember their Uncle Steven, or how, several weeks before he died, as sick as he was, he took them fishing.

Alyce Hutchison-Doss is currently a member of Operation Home Front, an organization committed to helping veterans. For more information, log onto operationhomefront.com

Main Line Times

Dermot's dedication and devotion help get Dashers to the finish line

Published: Thursday, July 01, 2010

By David Block

ARDMORE — Some coaches care more about winning than anything else, but not track and cross-country coach Dermot Anderson.

Anderson has coached track and cross-country for two decades at Main Line high schools such as Archbishop Carroll, Friends’ Central and now Lower Merion, where he heads the girls’ cross-country team.

Anderson cares about winning, yet he gets greater satisfaction out of seeing his runners participate, try their best, and improve.

He instills that philosophy not just with his high-school runners, but also with the 100 youths who are members of his Main Line youth track program, the Dashers. Their season runs from April to June and their practices are Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at the Lower Merion High School track.

Anderson launched the Dashers in 1989, and 16 youths signed up. Each year, more and more youths joined. Then, several years ago, the number grew to 120.

“The program was getting too big, so we had to start putting kids on a waiting list,” said Anderson.

“We never looked at the applicants’ talent or accomplishments. It came down to who signed up early. We don’t hold tryouts. The kids’ only requirement is that they have to want to be on the team.”

Anderson’s compassion for the average runner stemmed from him being a walk-on for Villanova University’s cross-country and track team.

“The summer between my freshman and sophomore year when I was training really intensely, I stumbled across this book called “A Shining Season,” which was the story about John Baker and the Duke City Dashers,” said Anderson. “It was very inspirational.”

Anderson learned that when Baker formed his youth program, he placed great emphasis on participation and improvement.

“Everything that John Baker believed about coaching children resonated with me as a young education major,” said Anderson. “And it also motivated me with my running that summer. I ended up making the varsity seven for the Villanova cross-country team my sophomore year. I was the only walk-on who made the top seven.

“A number of years later when I wanted to start a youth track program, I named my team the Dashers after John Baker’s team.”

In 1992, a girl named Julia Pudlin joined the Dashers after realizing that she showed little promise as a soccer player.

Pudlin said, “I always got to the ball before anyone else, but then I didn’t always know what to do with it, so a friend told me I should run.”

Anderson said, “When Julia joined the Dashers, she wasn’t very coordinated. Julia was average at best when she was little. She finished races in the middle of the pack. However, she had a great work ethic.

“As she got older and more mature, her work ethic kicked in. She overtook kids who had always beaten her. She became an elite runner and one of the best distance runners that Pennsylvania had ever seen.”

Pudlin, a 2002 Baldwin School graduate, won three high-school cross-country state championship titles. And then she ran cross-country and track for Yale.

“Dermot was, and continues to be, the most selfless, devoted person and coach that I could possibly imagine,” said Pudlin. “He completely immersed himself in the task of coaching in a way that I think is unmatched by most people.

“He cared about me and all the people he coached as if we were his own family members. He was interested in all parts of our lives. I remember him involving me and other runners in designing training plans. He didn’t autocratically impose his views. He was flexible and responsive to the runners that he trained.

“If it weren’t for Dermot, there’s no way I would have remained committed to running. There’s absolutely no way that I would have stayed involved in the sport without him believing in me and without him being incredibly supportive of me and inspiring me.”

In one race, a Dasher fell down, so one of the Dasher teammates stopped to help the other one up.

“The two ran together for the rest of the race and crossed the finish line together; I will never forget that moment,” said Anderson. “It was a great display of sportsmanship.

“One season, I had a boy, Oliver, who couldn’t run a straightaway without stopping. By the end of the season, he could run three miles without stopping. Each year, Oliver got better and better. He’s now an adult and one of the Dasher coaches.”

Sight-impaired Pam McGonigle of Ardmore met Anderson when she was an adult, training to run in the Paralympics. He volunteered to coach her.

“Dermot was awesome to work with because he pushed me, yet understood the challenges and the impact of being guide-dependent,” said McGonigle. “He was flexible in accommodating the needs that arose around being dependent on others to train and race.

“He also respected my training and racing experience and incorporated that into my training program. I felt that it was truly a team effort between coach and athlete. He instilled in me the belief that I could do things on the track that I would have never thought I could have done.”

Three of Anderson’s Dashers are sight-impaired, and one of them is McGonigle’s son, J.T.

Asked why he allowed these visually impaired children on the Dashers, Anderson replied, “I just saw them as kids with their own challenges. There was no reason why they couldn’t participate.”

Anderson had some of his high school athletes guide his sight-impaired Dashers, and some of these athletes also help coach the Dashers. Anderson said that his Dashers enjoy that because they relate well to each other due to being close in age.

For more information about the Dashers, visit www.dashers.org.

www.disableddealermagazine.com

August 2010

The Winner’s circle

By David Block

http://www.disabledealermagazine.com/WinnerCircle.html

Lee Majors Acquires Bionic Ear

By David Block

When you think of actor Lee Majors, several things spring to mind, including “The Big Valley,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “The Fall Guy” and Farrah Fawcett’s former husband.

Lee Majors was born on April 23, 1939 as Harvey Lee Yeary.  When he was less than a year old, his parents died and his aunt and uncle adopted him. 

In 1960, he played football for Eastern Kentucky University. His team played against a team from Fort Campbell, a paratrooper base.

Majors, who only weighed 175 pounds, was small in comparison to the Fort Campbell players. He remembered: “These guys had already graduated from college so they were pretty rough and BIG characters.  Some of them had played pro football. It was like an Army team.”

A group of Fort Campbell players tackled Majors. “I finished the rest of the game and didn’t think anything was wrong, but the next morning when I woke up, I found that I was having a little problem with mobility. My roommate just called some services and we went to the hospital. My first 48 to 72 hours at the hospital was real touch and go. There was no feeling in my legs. It scared the heck out of everybody, relatives and such. I stressed and worried. They had to sedate me, so I wouldn’t be able to move too much.”

After three days, the feeling in his legs returned. He spent the next two to three weeks in the hospital. 

The doctors discovered that he had been born with the birth defect, Congenital Spondylolisthesis, a condition in which one of the bones of the vertebrae slips out of place onto the vertebra below it. Too much slippage might cause the bone to press on a nerve, generating pain.

“My family and I never knew I had it,” said Majors. “Of course they wanted to do some back surgery. But, we’re talking the ‘60s and that wasn’t an every day operation.  It is now.” Majors decided against the surgery, because the condition never prevented him from being physically active. He resumed his college football career the following season.

“I feel bad that I didn’t complete my college career as I would have liked to. I never played as well as I did before I got injured.”

After graduating Eastern Kentucky University in 1963, the St. Louis Cardinals offered him a football tryout, but he turned it down, because he knew that a similar injury could permanently paralyze him.

“I don’t regret passing up the opportunity,” said Majors.

Instead of football, he embarked on an acting career. In 1963, he changed his name from Harvey Lee Yeary to Lee Majors, after one of his football heroes, Johnny Majors. In 1956, Johnny Majors at Tennessee University, was runner up for the Heisman Trophy.  He went on to coach college football teams at University of Pittsburgh and University of Tennessee.

Acting Career

In the 1960s, Lee Majors became a recognizable face on the hit TV series, “The Big Valley,” starring Barbara Stanwyck, as Victoria Barkley. Majors portrayed Heath Barkley, the illegitimate son of Stanwyck’s deceased husband. Linda Evans portrayed Audra Barkley, Stanwyck’s daughter.

In 1974, the TV series, “The Six Million Dollar Man,” premiered on ABC, starring Lee Majors as the astronaut Colonel Steve Austin. A space crash severely injured both of Austin’s legs, an arm and an eye.

Bionic appendages, costing six million dollars, replaced his injured body parts.

The TV series derived from the TV movie, “Cyborg” also starring Lee Majors. It was based on Martin Caidin’s novel, “Cyborg.”

Majors said that his football injury helped prepare him for the role of Colonel Steve Austin: “I remember laying on the table when we were shooting the opening scenes, it reminded me of when the doctors examined me after I got hurt playing football. It was easy for me to play the role because I experienced something similar.”

Majors added: “I was so happy to be able to do that show.” The show’s premise sparked an interest in bionic research to improve artificial limbs using computer technology and space age engineering. “Now when our soldiers come home, they have the possibility of living their lives as fully as they did before their injuries, but with replacement body parts.”

Just A Little Inconvenience

“One of the movies I enjoyed doing was called ‘Just A Little Inconvenience,’” (1977) said Majors. The movie also starred James Stacy and Barbara Hershey.

It was about the rehabilitation of a bitter Vietnam veteran who lost an arm and a leg.

In real life, James Stacy lost his arm and his leg due to a motor cycle accident.  At the time, rehabilitation programs were starting to include adaptive sports for people with physical disabilities. Adaptive skiing was one such sport.

For those unable to stand or who are paralyzed, the adaptive ski equipment consists of a chair mounted on a ski and ski poles whose points have been replaced by skis. For those who can stand upright, but who have limited mobility, they use a modified ski and the same modified ski poles.

The movie included adaptive skiing as part of the rehabilitative process.

“The movie had hardships,” Majors remembered, “but Jim’s character battled through it and it had a wonderful ending.”

The Lee Major's Rechargeable Bionic Hearing Aid

A few years ago, the company that manufactures the device, approached Lee Majors about being their spokesperson. Majors gladly obliged.

“I thought it was a good idea because my step-dad was hard of hearing. I always remember him having to change the [little, bitty] batteries so often,” said Majors. “This is a rechargeable, which is its main advantage. You put it in a little case at night and it charges itself up overnight. You can do that almost forever if you keep the box it comes in charged up. That means you don’t have to go to the store and get those little tiny batteries. This works better for people who have a hard time changing their hearing aid batteries.”

Besides endorsing the product, Majors uses it, too: “I have a slight hearing loss in one ear. I use it now and then if I want to watch sports and my wife wants to have the volume down a bit, then it helps out.” 

Majors is currently in production for the movie, The Big Valley, which is being filmed in Louisiana.

Protected Tomorrows   February 23, 2011

Community -> Articles

http://protectedtomorrows.com/community/articles/209.php

The Palin Family’s Journey

In a candid interview, conducted on behalf of Protected Tomorrows, with freelance writer David Block, Chuck and Sally Heath, parents of Sarah Palin, reveal how their family opened their minds and their hearts when Sarah’s son, Trig, was born with Down Syndrome.

The family’s journey in raising two-and-a-half year old Trig has been one anchored by a positive attitude and an unwavering determination to have Trig be treated like any other child. The family considers this new chapter in their lives not as a frightening unknown, but as a gift that will be an exciting challenge and learning experience for everyone.

While there is a lot of information available about children with Down Syndrome, the condition varies greatly from child to child. Because of this, the family doesn’t really know what to expect from Trig. Despite the uncertainty that lies ahead, both Chuck and Sally eagerly admit that they are looking forward to going along for the ride. As they talk about their grandson with special needs, it is quite obvious that he is adored by them both.

Because Trig is still very young, everything is a new adventure for the family and they are learning as they go along. Sally happily related that Trig learned to walk on time and can even communicate, even when he doesn’t speak. “He walks over to what he wants, or he points,” Sally explained. Trig also uses sign language to communicate his wants and needs.

Like many other children his age, Trig is fascinated by books. “He likes bedtime stories,” Sally said. “He loves to sit on Sarah’s lap, or anybody else’s lap, and be read to.” Trig has a favorite toy, a stuffed fox, and loves music and dancing. Sally describes Trig as a mild-mannered child. “He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body,” she said. She hopes that his kind, gentle nature does not hinder him from standing up for what he wants as he grows older.

Having a family in the public spotlight can be difficult for any child under the most ideal of circumstances. The Palin family does its best to maintain their privacy while under the public microscope, particularly when it comes to their children. The family does not, however, make any special effort to keep Trig out of the public arena. “He goes where everybody else in the family goes,” Sally explained. “We forget that people might look at him differently, because he certainly fits in wherever he goes.”

Sarah Palin’s status as a prominent public figure gives the family the unique opportunity to help educate the public about Down Syndrome. Chuck and Sally believe that teaching by example is one of the best ways to educate the public. “When the Palin children are out in the public eye, Trig is always included,” Sally said. This philosophy underscores the family’s desire to provide Trig with as normal a life as possible. Sarah advises parents of children with Down Syndrome not to hesitate to take them out so that they can enjoy people and things and in return have people meet them, too. Chuck, who was a teacher for nearly 30 years, added that some of his favorite students had Down Syndrome. “They were loving and caring children. They just wanted to please me and please other people.”

The positive and uplifting approach that the entire Palin family has taken with respect to Trig is an inspiration to all families of children with Down Syndrome. Each child with Down Syndrome is different, and each has their own unique abilities that need to be explored and encouraged.

Trig is named after a great uncle who was a Bristol Bay fisherman. His name, which has Norse roots, evokes strength, bravery, and victory – character traits that will serve him well as he faces the challenges of growing up with special needs. As long as the Palin family remains in the public spotlight, we will all have the unique opportunity to watch Trig grow and develop along with his siblings in an environment where he will be challenged, but will also be treated as just another Palin.

Protected Tomorrows understands Chuck and Sally’s desire for Trig to lead a normal life and to experience all that life has to offer. Part of leading a normal life is being part of a family, which includes grandparents who want the best for their grandchild. Chuck and Sally’s close involvement in Trig’s life is indicative of the vitally important role that grandparents play in the overall family dynamic. Grandparents not only participate as caregivers, but are often intrinsically involved with planning for their grandchild’s future. Proper gifting and estate planning by grandparents is critical to ensure that any bequests to a grandchild with special needs do not jeopardize the grandchild’s current or future benefits. By planning intelligently, grandparents can help ensure that their grandchild with special needs truly has the best chance to experience all that a normal life has to offer.

The Jewish Week    Tuesday, July 5, 2011

http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/fling_peace

A Fling For Peace:

Ultimate Frisbee camp looks to bridge Mideast differences through unique sport.

By David Block

Special To The Jewish Week

Ultimate Frisbee camp counselor Rebecca Tucker of Rockland County makes a running catch.

It may be the “ultimate” in summer coexistence programs, one in which Jewish Israeli, Arab Israeli and Palestinian teens can play a sport where there’s no referee, no one but themselves to mediate disputes on the field.

But while organizers of the Ultimate Frisbee camp believe the referee-less game is the perfect “peace-building tool” and a perfect metaphor for conflict resolution, it was a tough sell for kids on all sides of the divide.

Last year when Topaz, a 16-year-old Jewish Israeli girl, attended the inaugural Ultimate Frisbee camp, run by the nonprofit Camp Ultimate Peace (UP) in the northern Israeli town of Acco, she was scared because she had never had any serious interactions with Arabs.

“Topaz did not want to come to camp,” said Californian David Barkan, CEO of Ultimate Peace, “but her teachers persuaded her to because they thought it would be good for her.”

Her first day, Barkan said, she kept to herself. At the end of the first day, there was an announcement of a talent show. “Then Juwan [an Arab Israeli Ultimate Frisbee coach] saw Topaz practicing her guitar,” Barkan said, adding that Juwan had sung at weddings and had a beautiful voice.

According to Barkan, who requested that children’s last names be withheld from publication for security reasons, Juwan approached Topaz and talked to her. Then he sang the words to the Israeli song that Topaz was playing on her guitar.

“That was the first time that Topaz interacted with an Arab at such a level of depth,” said Barkan. “They decided to perform together in our camp talent show. Topaz never performed in public before because she was too shy. She overcame her stage fright. They were the hit of the talent show.”

Both Topaz and Juwan — along with more than 170 other teens — will be attending Camp UP next week for the weeklong program, which runs through July 18. Juwan will coach and Topaz will be a counselor-in-training.

Ultimate Peace launched the Frisbee camp in Israel in 2009, as a one-day clinic. Last year, the camp held its first weeklong residential summer camp in Acco, for kids ages 12-16.

Like Topaz, Yasmeen, an Arab Israeli girl who attended Ultimate Peace, was initially uncertain if the other groups of kids would be accepting. After all, the cultural differences and language barriers between them were great. To her relief, they were accepting.

“I really felt that we were looking for peace,” Yasmeen told The Jewish Week via Facebook. She was happy, she said, that she and her friends found peace, happiness, new friends and teamwork. “We found it together. It was an awesome connection between us,” she said.

When Guy, a Jewish Israeli teen, arrived at the camp, he viewed it simply as an opportunity to speak English and to be around certain kids who were not Jewish.

“I just felt like, I’m going to interact with regular people like everybody because after all we all were going to play ‘Ultimate’ together,” Guy said in a Facebook posting. “My opinion before camp was that Arabs in Gaza or in other places in Israel should not live here, and now I think a little less racist about them. We need to set an example [regarding] the opinion about Gaza and Israel.”

Before attending the camp, Guy said, “I wanted the whole world to think like us, and now I think that they should look at [the conflict] with an opinion that they should help Gaza to get the terror organizations out.”

Returning for a third consecutive year as an Ultimate Frisbee coach is Rebecca Tucker, 29, of New City in Rockland County. She is a 2004 Yale graduate, who captained her college Ultimate Frisbee’s club team in her senior year.

She described coaching the Arab kids as “no different than the Jewish Israeli kids.” The language barrier helped her coaching skills. “If you’re too wordy,” said Tucker, “even if you have a translator there, having explained a specific drill in three languages, half the group might have wandered off. This forced me as a coach to distill my explanations of a drill in the simplest terms. That helped me coach American peers in New York.” She captains a New York Women’s Ultimate Frisbee team. “Fewer words are better when you’re teaching and coaching.”

Coming to the camp for the first time is Michal Pearl, a native of the Upper West Side and a 2011 Brandeis graduate. Pearl said, “Camp Ultimate Peace combines beautifully two passions of my mine: Ultimate Frisbee and the desire to bring about better understanding and collaboration in the Middle East.”

The creations of Camp UP — a kind of sports-centric version of the pioneering Seeds of Peace coexistence program John Wallach founded in 1993 — did not happen over night. In October 2005, Barkan and his all-Jewish Ultimate Frisbee team, the Matza Balls, competed in Israel’s first international Ultimate Frisbee tournament.

“While we were there,” said Barkan, “we also offered an Ultimate Frisbee clinic to kids and to adults to promote the sport and to see what we could do to make it more popular. The upshot was that we left feeling great about what we’d done, but we also felt a sense of something not being complete. We couldn’t just go to Israel and ignore the conflict over there.”

Barkan, a business consultant in the San Francisco area who has worked with Jewish special needs children at Camp Ramah in New England, believed that by having Israeli Jews, Arab Israelis and Palestinians play Ultimate Frisbee together it could lead to building greater trust between them.

Barkan explained why he wanted to use Ultimate Frisbee as a trust builder.

“Ultimate Frisbee is such a unique sport in that no referees are used. Players, even at the highest level, have to develop the aptitude — the ability — to resolve differences on the field. They make their own calls and come to some compromise so the game can move on. We felt, what an amazing opportunity. We didn’t want this to be a missed chance to not use Ultimate Frisbee as a peace-building tool.”

Barkan, Dori Yaniv of Israel and Linda Sidorsky of Massachusetts, who runs coexistence-type programs for her synagogue in Greenfield, Mass., formed Ultimate Peace in 2008. One of their many challenges was to get the kids to participate in the camp experience and to get their parents’ permission. The process was helped along in 2009 after the Peres Center for Peace and later the Ministry of Sport and Culture supplied Barkan and company with campers.

“They liked what we were doing,” said Barkan.

In 2009, Camp UP was a one-day event, drawing more than 120 kids. The following year, that number grew to 145 campers, with the teens spending a week together in Acco. “Last year, the camp took off,” said Barkan.

Tucker also found the 2009 one-day clinic moving. She remembered: “This little 12-year-old kid, Itay, and I were throwing the Frisbee back and forth. He was three and a half feet tall, yet his throwing was as good as mine. I could tell that he wanted the Frisbee and that he would use it a lot, so I gave it to him. He was so happy. Then last year, I saw Itay again [at camp] and his face lit up when he saw me. He said, ‘You’re the one who gave the Frisbee.’ He remembered immediately.”

Tucker said that Itay was a Jewish Israeli, yet it would not have mattered if he were an Arab Israeli or Palestinian. She still would have given him the Frisbee. “The Frisbee transcends language, culture and ethnicity,” Tucker said.

When the kids arrived last summer for the first overnight camp, Barkan and the staff laid out the camp’s five values: friendship, mutual respect, non-violence, integrity and fun.

“There was one rule that we absolutely enforced,” said Barkan. “We told the kids, ‘you might not always have fun, sometimes you might not make friends with everyone, but there’s one rule that’s not negotiable: Non-violence!’ We live in a violent world, but when we’re at Camp UP, it’s nonexistent. We don’t use it, we don’t think about it; we find different ways to express ourselves. That’s not going to be accepted. Laying that out there from the beginning really helped create a safe environment.”

Barkan said that two of his happiest moments at Camp UP were when the three groups of kids interacted by throwing the Frisbee to each other without adults coaxing them to interact. Another moving moment was seeing the groups of kids teaching each other their dances.

Tucker said that one of her happiest moments was after the camp when she and a few other staff members visited some of the Palestinian children’s homes. Growing up with a Jewish mother who pushed food on her, even when she said she’d had enough, Tucker was still not prepared her for what was in store. In the Palestinian homes, the mothers refused to take no for an answer. She had to eat what they served, and that was not negotiable.

Said Tucker: “They were so hospitable, I wanted to cry.”

For more information: www.ultimatepeace.org

Liberty Sports Magazine                      November 4, 2011

Your Local Guide to Cycling, Running, Swimming and Triathlons

http://www.libertysportsmag.com/2011/11/paying-tribute-to-one-of-roller-derby%e2%80%99s-greatest-stars-judy-sowinski/

Paying Tribute to one of Roller Derby’s Greatest stars: Judy Sowinski

Liberty Sports Magazine is dedicated to reporting on the disciplines of swimming, biking, running, and multisport racing and training. And as the multisport editor I have an obligation to hold true to that mission and I take pride in doing so. But I also realize that in the midst of all of the swimming, biking, and running, “real life” happens. And every once in a while a story will reach me that I feel should be shared, even though there may be no obvious multisport reference. This is one such story. And I use the word “obvious” because in this story, there is a personal multisport reference that would be invisible to everyone but me. The story below remembers a remarkable woman. Its author, David Block does a wonderful job capturing the memories and accomplishments of a pioneer in women’s sports. The personal connection for me is that Judy Sowinski and I were friends and neighbors in our little vacation community outside of Ocean City New Jersey where I do so much of my racing and training. Many, many times Judy would see me come back from a long ride or run and just shake her head and look at me like I was the crazy one. When David Block approached me about doing this article, I thought it would be a great opportunity to share with our readers a great story of a true local legend…

Paying Tribute to one of Roller Derby’s Greatest stars: Judy Sowinski

By David Block

(Note to Readers: The Judy Sowinski quotes in this article are quotes I gathered from interviewing her over the years.)

The Polish Ace Judy Sowinski, AKA the Queen of Mean, was one of my all time favorite roller derby stars. As a reporter, I had the honor of interviewing her half a dozen times from 2005 until the year of her death in 2011. She died of lLung Cancer this past July 27, at the young age of 71.

I thought back to when I first became a roller derby/roller game fan; August 1973, thanks in part to Judy Sowinski.

At the time, she skated with the New York Bombers, one of the Philadelphia Warriors’ chief rivals. I’ll never forget watching her in a half time interview as she warned the Warriors’ ladies’ captain, Judy Arnold, that she was going to maim her in their upcoming match races that week. She reminded Judy Arnold that she (Judy Arnold) was still recovering from her broken ankle and that the doctors hadn’t cleared her to skate. Judy Sowinski boasted that she was going to have fun that week. (In roller derby and roller games – an offshoot of roller derby- if certain skaters “hated each other,” like Judy Arnold and Judy Sowinski pretended to, they would have match races at half time, in which they would fight each other while skating five laps around the banked track.) The first time I interviewed Judy Sowinski, she told me that match races were a ploy to draw fans to the games. She told me that match race participants earned, “one percent of the gate. That’s extra money in your pocket.”

Whether Judy portrayed a villain or a hero on the track, her athleticism and love of the sport made her an exciting skater to watch.

The First time I interviewed Her

The first time I interviewed Judy Sowinski, Thursday, May 19, 2005, at a South Philly diner, was one of the most exciting nights of my life. When I shared that experience at her second memorial service, I said, “to give you an idea of how excited I was, imagine that you love the Phillies and then you’re talking to your favorite player over dinner, just the two of you.” The younger audience now understood why I was excited about having dinner with her.

At dinner that night, Judy told me she grew up in Chicago. Members of her family introduced her to roller derby.

“My aunt was a big fan,” said Judy. “She took us to the games. I thought, ‘when I get older, that’s what I want to do.’ I never thought that I actually would do something like that. For a female child to join the roller derby, that wasn’t prim and proper. My family didn’t think I’d actually get into roller derby, so they didn’t take it too seriously at first. Then they found out I was serious.”

After she finished high school, she and a group of friends saw a live roller derby game together. One of them told her that a roller derby training school was opening up in Chicago.

“This was 1957 and I was just 17,” said Judy. “It became a challenge when I couldn’t stand up on the banked track with skates on.”

She practiced diligently and soon learned how to skate around the banked track. In 1959, she began competing. To her surprise, she won Rookie of the Year.

She knew that she had a promising future, but her family was not happy about it, because she chose skating instead college. Even though she was Rookie of the year and a dominant force on the banked track at the young age of 19, her family thought that she could “do more with her life.”

“My father kept saying, ‘you got to go to college.’ I wouldn’t budge, so he tried to bribe me. He offered me a car, something that any young lady would want. I turned him down.” And she never regretted it.

Judy said that when she began skating, roller derby was the only contact sport where women could compete and make a living at it. In that respect, the sport was ahead of its time. Unlike other sports, men and women competed on the same teams, where they skated alternate periods. Roller Derby also accepted people of all minorities.

“When you become a skater, regardless of color or minority, you’re a family member,” said Judy. She remembered that when restaurants in the south refused to serve fellow African American roller derby/roller game skaters, all the other skaters would leave with them.

One thing I’ll always remember about our dinner was that Judy had my back. After the waitress brought us the check, Judy agreed to let me pick up the entire tab. Then she read the bill, and called the waitress over.

Judy pointed to me and said, “You charged him seventeen dollars for a hamburger.” Judy then pointed to the menu and said that the burger cost seven dollars, not seventeen. The waitress apologized and adjusted the bill. Because I am partially blind, I did not spot the waitress’s mistake. I was ready to pay it. I was grateful that Judy watched my back. I learned from interviewing some of her fellow skaters that she watched their backs, too.

Peers Share Memories

Former skater Sally Vega remembered: “As a rookie skater in ‘63 Jude (Judy Sowinski) protected me and defended me against worthy opponents such as Little Iodine (Loretta Behrens). When I sidestepped Loretta Behrens as a rookie, she came after me and knocked me to the track and I broke my collarbone. Jude went after her and all hell broke loose with the two of them. She invested herself in the younger skaters and brought them along until they could hold their own. I will never forget when Jude stood by my side after my beloved Auntie went to heaven.”

Judy Arnold remembered: “Judy (Sowinski) was on the San Francisco Bay Bombers when I went to my first Roller Derby game and I was very impressed with her skating style and aspired to skate like her some day. She was a great competitor and because of her abilities, I became a better skater. She challenged me every time we skated against each other.”

Joe Nardone, Publicity Director of Old School Derby Association Pro, OSDAPRO, based in Philadelphia, remembered Judy Arnold and Judy Sowinski’s “feuds.”

“Her match races against Warriors’ captain Pretty Judy Arnold were the best of Roller Games,” said Nardone.

Judy Sowinski told me that before she joined the Warriors in 1974, security guards had to escort her to her car after every game she skated at the now defunct Philadelphia Arena at 46th and Market. She then had to speed away because certain fans always threw rocks at her car the second they’d see her enter her vehicle.

Gary Powers, Executive Director of the Roller Derby Hall of Fame, based in Brooklyn, New York, added: “Judy’s promotional interviews were classic, expertly tailored with a spontaneous performance filled with hyperbole and gusto that guaranteed fans would fill the arena. And she always had the expertise to back up what she promised. She was larger-than-life, but introspective and shy off the track.”

Powers remembered when she was inducted into the Roller Derby Hall of Fame, back in 2004. That night, one of her all time Roller Derby idols, Sammy Skobel phoned to congratulate her.

“Judy ran from the room with tears in her eyes since here on the phone was the skater she had idolized and emulated as a new trainee,” said Powers. “She had never spoken with him previously. Judy was reduced to tears, but that was the true Sowinski. She was the total professional, always doing whatever was asked of her for the good of the game and whatever came her way was icing on the cake.”

Teaching The Next Generation

In 2005, Judy Sowinski trained the Penn Jersey She Devils and then OSDAPRO skaters five years later.

Members of the Penn Jersey She Devils emailed me the following statement when I asked them to share a Judy Sowinski memory:

“Back in 2005 Judy took a group of everyday girls and turned them into hard working fierce competitors. Her love for the game and ‘her Kids’ made us want to do our best for her! We are so glad we got to give her the dream we all shared of a Banked Track in Philly and will never forget the look on her face when she saw it up in the warehouse (1801 W. Indiana Ave. Philadelphia) for the first time. Judy will forever be missed!”

In January 2011, I asked Judy why she was extremely committed to teaching the next generation. She responded: ““How can I not? It’s part of my life. I’m interested in these kids and the people who love it. I try to help them.”

Joe Nardone said that when OSDAPRO was launched in September 2010, he had the privilege of working with her and former skater Arnold Skip Schoen. He also worked with two people who never competed, Ken Sykes and Rose Columbo, yet who were both determined to bring back professional roller derby.

Nardone looked forward to his weekly chats with Judy. “Judy was a prankster and loved to laugh and we loved to laugh with her,” said Nardone. “She made the world a better place. Along the way, she stole our hearts and left her mark on all of us. It has been my honor to call Judy a close friend and confidant.”

The Week Before Judy Passed Away

OSDAPRO skater, Debbie Carney, recalled that “Judy always said: ‘I may not know all your names, but I know your faces and what you are capable of.’” The last time that Carney visited with Judy, one week before Judy passed away, she was still lucid: “Judy looked up at me,” said Carney, “paused a second, smiled and said, ‘Debbie,’ with joy. She not only knew my face, but my name as well. It meant a lot to me.”

About the Author

David Block is a legally blind journalist and documentary producer. He has produced several documentaries, which illuminate the talents, strengths, and challenges of the blind athlete, the injured hero, and the forgotten veteran.

To learn more about David Block, log onto his website, www.blindfilmmaker.com