From Diane Coleman, president and founder of Not Dead Yet:
Paul was one of a few disability rights activists and thinkers who changed my life in the 1980’s. He lived in Los Angeles then, and I was brand new to the movement, just finishing law school and joining my first CIL board.
He often wrote for the Disability Rag, which I started reading cover-to-cover every month. Paul merged disability scholarship and political activism in a powerful way that helped frame and advance our movement.
I was privileged to participate in his famous book burning protest against oppressive Social Security and Medicaid policies. We were both judges in media access awards, part of small groups watching and commenting on media portrayals of disability.
Paul’s unmatched historical knowledge of disability in the media poured out in enlightening and often sarcastic quips. But his work as a spokesperson of our community pertaining to the early assisted suicide/euthanasia cases involving Elizabeth Bouvia and Larry McAfee had the biggest impact on me. His media interviews and writings on those cases helped shape my understanding of society’s profound oppression of people with disabilities and how that oppression translates in medical settings. His contributions toward the founding of Not Dead Yet are a major part of Paul’s legacy that can never be forgotten.
Part of Diane’s tribute to Paul is included in the obituary that is posted on New Mobility.
The key words here are disability scholarship and activism. Longmore was both a scholar and activist of the highest quality. Today disability scholarship and disability activism are entirely separate fields. This represents a significant problem for all those interested in disability rights.