(Pictured above: Profile picture of Professor Paul Longmore, copied from his facebook page.)
I just received the news via various sources that Paul Longmore – professor, hisorian, disability rights scholar and disability rights activist – died unexpectedly last night. The following note from a friend and colleague of his appeared on Paul’s facebook page last night:
It is with a heavy heart that I write to inform you of the passing of Paul Longmore. He was found non-responsive in his apartment earlier this evening (8/9/10). I received a phone call from close mutual friends–not long there after–telling me of the news.
SF State has lost a brilliant scholar and the world… I know not the words to say… I consider myself blessed to have known Paul in one capacity, or another, for the past twenty years–first as an undergraduate, a mentee, a young professional, a colleague, and, most importantly, a friend. My Mom and I will miss making and delivering him his apple pie this Thanksgiving.I’ll write more as I learn it and can…
Disabled and Proud,
Gene
As a graduate student at Syracuse University, I had read some of Paul’s work in the course of my studies. However, it wasn’t until the start of the disability community’s opposition to assisted suicide that I came into direct contact with him. Paul was one of the most prominent and articulate voices in the disability community regarding the opposition to legalization of assisted suicide before, during and after the formation of Not Dead Yet. He has continued to be a prominent spokesperson for the disability rights movement in California, where a broad coalition of organizations has – so far – been successful in keeping assisted suicide advocates at bay.
Here is an essay from 1997 in which Paul Longmore explains why he got involved with opposition to the assisted suicide movement.
Here is a link to Paul Longmore’s biography, taken from the San Francisco State University’s Institute on Disability.
When searching for links for those who might want to know more about Paul, I was pleasantly surprised to find a youtube video of a speech he gave at the San Francisco Celebration of the 20th anniversary of the ADA. I apologize in advance – the video isn’t captioned. I try to stay away from that, but I thought a lot of people might want to watch and listen to the very recent speech by Paul Longmore – July 26, 2010. Barely two weeks ago – from the time this blog entry is written:
I suspect there will be some obituaries and tributes appearing in the next few days. I will share them here. Paul had a strong influence on my own writing and advocacy. A lot of his writing combined impeccable sourcing and fact-checking with an obvious anger – even contempt – for those who used cultural stereotypes to promote a “better dead than disabled” set of public policies. In much of what I write, it’s that combination I aim for, knowing that no one could ever top the real master. And now he’s gone. I miss him already. –Stephen Drake
On behalf of the staff and volunteers of Whirlwind Wheelchair International and particularly on behalf of myself and Ralf Hotchkiss who have known Paul for many, many years, I want to express our profound sadness at Paul’s untimely passing. Paul was an intellectual giant and a true fighter for disability rights. He also was a strong supporter of Whirlwind. We would fix Paul’s power chairs when they would break down. He would come to our office/workshop to chat often. He gave us a very large donation when he won the Henry Betts Award. He was always thinking about how to promote disability studies and about 3 weeks ago we discussed his plan for establishing an academic degree program that would include all the various disability related programs here at SFSU. Paul was an eloquent spokesman for people with disabilities. It is sad when a great man dies. It is sad when a friend you know well dies. It is very, very sad when a great man who is your friend dies. Paul, we will miss you more than you could ever imagine.
this is sad news, but thanks for posting this great talk by paul.
I have only met Paul Longmore through his writing. I think I’ve referenced Paul Longmore’s work in my own and assigned his texts to my students more than I have any other scholar. His writing is cogent, accessible, timeless, speaks to many different audiences, and is unequivocally inspiring. Elizabeth Donaldson and Catherine Prendergast are editing a forthcoming issue of JLCDS on Emotion and Disability Studies, in which I have written about inspiration. I reference Longmore’s views about academic inspiration and needing personal heroes. I am saddened that he didn’t get the chance to read it, because he -like Chris Bell, another scholar the DS community recently lost – is inspirational to me. I hope his plan for the academic degree program at SFSU Marc Krizack mentions comes to fruition, it is much needed and would provide an awesome opportunity for students and teachers.
(I have cognitive difficulty switching from reading to video listening, due CFS/ME and hearing loss also.)
I have lost several friends and colleagues in the past few years, all of whom died from something other than their disabilities (such as byproducts of medical treatment). Yesterday, it sneaked into my awareness that I am, at 7 0, a septagenarian (and can’t yet spell it nor find it via tool line). When Howard Zinn died, I again realized that we can use the words of those we have learned from, while mourning their loss.
Paul Longmore’s work will have to continue via his work. I am grateful for all of it. And this site. (More comments when it gets cooler.)
Wow – what a find. Thanks for sharing this ADA anniversary talk.
We have so much to be thankful for, and yet we wish we had more … too bad he wasn’t able to follow through on his plan to create an academic degree program at SFSU.
Paul Longmore was the most inspiring writer, and his work has had such a tremendous impact on my own work. I don’t think I’ve written anything in the past three years (which isn’t long, I know) that hasn’t quoted him or referred to his work, and I’m so shocked and saddened to find out that he’s died. My heart and my thoughts go out towards his family, friends and colleagues.
Paul taught me the distinction between independence and inter-dependence and the difference between participation and self-determination.Because of Paul,emphasizing inter-dependence and self-determination are the cornerstones of our work with college students. Trey D. Cal Poly-SLO
I have admired Paul’s work for a while and finally started communicating with him about nine months ago. He began offering me generous advice about my new book project. His feedback convinced me to expand the project and shift the focus somewhat, which made it much stronger. Our correspondence was by phone and email, but the week before he died I finally got to meet him in person. He invited me to his apartment and we talked for four hours. It was in keeping with his generous and welcoming spirit. Many of you will be glad to know that he was feeling good and was definitely in good spirits, working on a couple scholarly project and beginning a new crusade. I will miss his sound advice and his warm personality.
The LA Times ran a nice obituary: http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-paul-longmore-20100816,0,1553457.story.
Jeff,
Thanks for sharing that. If you are on facebook, you should post that to Paul’s page. It’s nice to get this story. –Stephen
I knew Paul as a Fellow faculty member at SF State. He was one of the funniest people I have ever met. We ran into each fairly often in the course of moving around campus, and serving on administrative committees together. I am shocked and deeply saddened by Paul’s passing. In addition to being a fine human being, Paul served with diligence and intense passion on many important UNiversity-level committees, where he was highly respected for his ability to add clarity to discussions; He was also a tremendous writer, and often undertook difficult writing and editing tasks for various task forces and committees. I will miss him greatly and the SF State Community will miss the outstanding insights he routinely offered in collaborative discussions with colleagues. (Bruce Heiman, Associate Prof., International Business, SF State.