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News hits
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Dream sequence In the wake of Christopher Reeve's death last weekend, thousands of reporters, celebrities, pundits and politicians weighed in on the man who had been Superman. By Wednesday night, a google search gave us links to 3,000 of them. Some of us had longed for Reeve to take up the cause of disability rights with the fervor he showed for the cause of walking again. For us, the accolades remind us in a different way of what we lost. "Mr. Reeve had become a powerful proponent of causes ranging from insurance reform for catastrophic injuries to unleashing the possibilities some scientists believe lie in using embryonic stem cells for research," wrote The New York Times's Douglas Martin, in his Oct. 11 front-page obit. "In the presidential debate in St. Louis between President Bush and Senator John F. Kerry, the Democratic challenger, Mr. Kerry mentioned Mr. Reeve by name in arguing against the president's position that stem-cell research must be restricted to protect the lives of human embryos. "Yesterday, the White House issued a statement on behalf of the president and Mrs. Bush, citing Mr. Reeve as "an example of personal courage, optimism and self-determination." A little further down, Martin reported that the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation had "raised more than $46.5 million for spinal cord research," and that Reeve had said, just last month on the Oprah Winfrey show, "that he thought it 'very possible' he would walk again." The Trentonian's headline reminded us that Reeve was a "hero to the end"; the Cincinnati Enquirer told us that "Christopher Reeve's determination inspired doctors and the public." "Reeve's fight an example for all of us," said The Saratogian. ABC News released Barbara Walters' last interview with Reeve. "As he has all along, Reeve continues to work tirelessly on behalf of millions struggling with incurable diseases or disabilities," Walters told us. "This fall he received the Lasker Award for heroic advocacy for medical research, the scientific community's equivalent of the Nobel Prize." So perhaps it was not surprising to find us dreaming of what might have been. In this dream state, the headlines and the stories took on a different cast: "Mr. Reeve had become a powerful proponent of causes ranging from full implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act to the shift of public dollars from institutions like nursing homes to massive funding for in-home services for people like himself to unleashing the possibilities of creating a fully accessible American housing market," wrote Martin, in this dream version of a front-page obit. "In the presidential debate in St. Louis between President Bush and Senator John F. Kerry, the Democratic challenger, Mr. Kerry mentioned Mr. Reeve by name in arguing against the president's position that there was no need for a massive injection of funds for the Department of Justice to enforce the Disabilities Act. "Yesterday, the White House issued a statement on behalf of the president and Mrs. Bush, citing Mr. Reeve as "an example of personal leadership in bringing the disability rights agenda to the forefront of our national debate." A little further down, Martin reported that the Christopher Reeve Disability Rights Fund had "raised more than $46.5 million to fund organizers to work toward getting the nation's communities to remove remaining architectural and transportation barriers," and had said, just last month on the Oprah Winfrey show, "that he thought it 'very possible' that the motion picture and publishing industries would finalize their pact agreeing that all future entertainment media would be fully accessible to blind and deaf audiences, something Reeve has pushed for especially hard given his background in the movie industry." The Trentonian's headline reminded us that Reeve was a 'hero to the end"; the Cincinnati Enquirer told us that "Christopher Reeve's determination inspired officials, business leaders and ordinary citizens to work for full access." "Reeve's fight an example for all of us," said The Saratogian. ABC News released Barbara Walters' last interview with Reeve. "As he has all along, Reeve continues to work tirelessly on behalf of millions struggling against ingrained anti-disability prejudice," Walters told us. "This fall he received the Nobel Prize for his work supporting studies showing the economic benefits of a fully accessible housing and job market." In her recent Reader's Digest article "Going the Distance: Christopher Reeve," celeb chronicler Alanna Nash wrote that Reeve "titled his second memoir Nothing Is Impossible, and has spent the years since proving that point. Reeve works fiercely for disability rights and has managed to spur a once-sleepy movement into a national force, engaging the interest and activism of an estimated 70 percent of this nation's disabled population (which by even conservative estimates numbers over 40 million). He now goes for long periods on access campaigns in communities across the nation, and he has stunned politicians by himself offering to move entire populations from nursing homes into new single-family, accessible subdivisions, and helping to fund jobs for people to work as personal care attendants in these subdivisions. In so doing, he has created an entire new growth industry, managed by others who, like himself, have sustained severe spinal cord injuries. In so doing, he has given hope to millions." Oops. That was the dream segment. In reality, what Alana Nash's article said was this: "He titled his second memoir Nothing Is Impossible, and has spent the years since proving that point. Reeve works fiercely on his rehabilitation and has regained sensation over 70 percent of his body. He can go for long periods without his ventilator (he had electrodes implanted in his abdomen to help him breathe on his own). And he has stunned doctors by willing himself to move one of his fingers, and, in water, his legs and arms. . . . " From Ragged Edge Online: Christopher Reeve's controversial Super Bowl "walking" ad Posted Oct. 13, 2004 .WHAT DO YOU THINK of what you've just read? Click to tell us.
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