It is always a treat to hear my friends and colleagues, Fred Maahs and Yuval Wagner, teach about anything!  They have so much experience in life itself and in the world of disabilities inclusion specifically.  Yuval is Founder and President of Access Israel, and Fred is an accessible travel expert and consult and editor of Melange Accessibility for All Travel magazine.  Yuval and Fred both navigate the world from their wheelchairs.   I was drawn to their webinar topic this past Thursday—“Accessible Travel.” 

Both had their share of horror stories—getting to a hotel and not being able to get in to the bathroom, for one; the humiliation of trying to get on to a plane and to your seat (never mind to the “accessible bathroom” for two)…

Both Fred and Yuval have great attitudes and perspective and continue to be part of the solution.   Fred reminded the audience just how much money is NOT being spent by people with disabilities on travel—though they would LIKE to be spending that money! (somewhere around a billion dollars!).

Maahs and Wagner offered many simple and practical solutions to improving the travel experience for people with disabilities.  Maahs suggests including people with disabilities in the planning and design of airports, hotels, conference centers, pointing out that “following the book” is never enough.  He playfully notes that planning a conference center with shag carpeting is a nightmare for a person navigating the space with a wheelchair.  Similarly, putting an iron on the top shelf of a closet in a hotel room is of no use to Little Person or a person who uses a wheelchair.  Maahs stressed the need for helping people in the hospitality industry experience the world with various disabilities.  

Wagner proudly noted that in Israel, it is REQUIRED that workers in this industry must be trained in “how it feels to have a disability.”  They must also be trained in providing accurate information on how to navigate the city—by train, by bus, etc.  And “all entities in Israel must advertise accessibility details.”   Israel continues to strive toward being a world leader in accessibility.  Yuval and Access Israel and Friends of Access Israel (FAISR) like to refer to Israel as the Accessible Start Up Nation.

Saron McKee, Philadelphia International Airport’s first Manager of Access and Accessible Programs, also addressed the webinar.  She shared many things already in place at the airport to support people with, both visible and invisible disabilities, including (but not limited to) accessible adult changing tables, LCD monitors and the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard.  While I have been in this field for decades and have been leading disabilities trips to Israel for a very long time, I had never heard of this important lanyard concept. 

According to the Hidden Disabilities Store website, https://hiddendisabilitiesstore.com/about-hidden-disabilities-sunflower:   “In 2016, the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower was designed and launched when London Gatwick Airport asked “How can we identify that one of our passengers may have a non-obvious disability?”. We created a simple sunflower design on a green background for a lanyard – a subtle but visible sign to enable airport staff to identify that the wearer (or someone with them) may require some extra help, time, or assistance when moving through the airport.”  Here is a short video:

It is exciting and refreshing hearing Yuval, Fred and Saron discuss accessible travel.  It is a reminder that we are SO CLOSE to returning to a world where travel is possible, exciting, safe and a right for all!

In the summer of 1973, when I was a boy, we towed our 32-foot travel traveler to Stone Mountain, Georgia for a family vacation.  As part of the trip, we would take a detour to Atlanta to see Hank Aaron play.  We had the chance to see Hammerin’ Hank hit his 700^th home run.  The radio was going crazy letting it be known that the person who caught the home run ball and returned it would receive 700 silver dollars!  I don’t believe we sat in the bleachers, but I do remember being excited to see my first game in a ballpark other than Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. It was my first national game and it was against the New York Mets.  It was awesome, except that the Braves chose to rest Hank Aaron that night.  He would hit his 700^th homer a day or two later, on July 21, 1973, against the Phillies’ Ken Brett, becoming just the second baseball player to ever hit 700 home runs in a career.

I was disappointed, but I got over it.  I followed the rest of Aaron’s career and managed to collect a few Hank Aaron baseball cards and which may have just gone up in value following his sad passing at age 86 just a few days ago.

In 1974, Aaron hit home run 715, passing Babe Ruth for the all-time lead. He hit his 755^th and final home run on July 20, 1976 against the California Angels.  He retired in October of 1976.

I have enjoyed the beautiful tributes to this great man.  Bud Selig, Commissioner Emeritus of Major League Baseball, wrote of the Hall of Famer, “My wife, Sue, and I are terribly saddened and heartbroken by the passing of the great Henry Aaron, a man we truly loved, and we offer our love and our condolences to his wonderful wife, Billye.”  Selig and so many others spoke of his many wonderful qualities, on and off the field.  “Besides being one of the greatest baseball players of all time, Hank was a wonderful and dear person and a wonderful and dear friend. Not long ago, he and I were walking the streets of Washington, D.C. together and talking about how we’ve been the best of friends for more than 60 years. Then Hank said: ‘Who would have ever thought all those years ago that a black kid from Mobile, Alabama would break Babe Ruth’s home run record and a Jewish kid from Milwaukee would become the Commissioner of Baseball?’

In 2008, Aaron, Selig and ESPN’s Michael Wilbon spoke at the Phoenix Art Museum’s Luncheon of Legends to raise money for educational programming.  At the luncheon, they discussed their 60-year friendship, baseball, heroes and their membership in the Hall of Fame.  The Arizona Jewish newspaper reported that Selig is one of four Jewish people to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he visited Israel in 1998, and wrote a foreword to the book “American Jews and America’s Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball.”

Aaron spoke of past players he admires, including Jewish legend, Sandy Koufax, known as a star pitcher for the Dodgers, and as a Jew who decided not to pitch Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur.  Despite Koufax's amazing ERA and winning three Cy Young Awards, Aaron managed to do well against Koufax.  He hit .362 with seven home runs off the lefty pitcher.

Baseball and the world need more like Hank Aaron.  He was a great ballplayer, a great man and a great fan.  Selig notes, “The thing about Henry, when you are friends with him, he never lets you down.”

Call me an optimist if you must.  I prefer to think of myself as an optimistic realist.

I recent wrote an article for Respectability entitled “Turning Crisis Into Opportunity” which offers some glimmers of hope around employment for people with disabilities.  I begin by acknowledging the challenges:  “It has been said that ‘A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.’ The COVID pandemic has certainly posed tremendous vocational challenges for people with disabilities, who, despite already experiencing an employment rate less than half of people without disabilities, experienced 40% greater job loss with minimal recovery. It has also provided unprecedented opportunities—to develop skills, to continue working from home and in person (for those who currently have jobs) and to think creatively about new opportunities.” 

I then note that many people with disabilities and organizations working with them have responded swiftly and creatively. Participants and families in our National Ramah Tikvah Network vocational training programs, located in our 10 Ramah camps in the US and Canada, expressed concerns about social isolation and job skills.  In response, we swiftly created TikvahNet, a vocational training and socialization program.  We have run two cycles of programming thusfar and are about to launch our 3^rd cycle tomorrow evening.   In this new cycle, we will continue our vocational training and socializing while also be hearing from model employers in the area of disabilities employment.

This week (tomorrow, Jan 19^th), my friend and colleague, Bill Morris of Blue Star Recyclers—with 3 computer and electronic recycling locations in Colorado and one in Chicago—will be participating in) our TikvahNet Tuesday Speaker Series.  It will be broadcast on Facebook Live from 735-8 pm ET

We will be showcasing 4 employers which are committed to employing people with disabilities. In the case of Blue Star, people with disabilities are the “secret ingredient” in the success of the business!  They have learned that some people with autism can stick with a repetitive task for incredibly long periods of time—in doing so, they are solving a society problem of what to do with old computers, as well as the problem of how to retain workers in this industry with high turnover.  

As readers and colleagues know, I am passionate about identifying businesses large and small which train and hire people with disabilities. In my RespectAbility article, I mention two businesses started by Ramah Tikvah participants—Shred Support and Truly Scrumptious by Alexa.  My website has a list in progress of all types of businesses across the US which employ people with disabilities. I am learning about new businesses by the day and can’t wait for COVID to end so I can get on the road and see more!  Please continue to send more my way!   Just yesterday, I learned two cool places in Colorado: 

Jackie’s Bar and Grill and Steamer’s Coffee House (Arvada) https://steamerscoffeeshop.com/

Joy House Project (Longmont and Estes Park) https://www.joyhouseproject.com/the-joy

My friends and family know not to bother me for three weeks each year.  Every year for the past 15 or so, I have had the privilege of spending every day at the end of August and beginning of September (except for Shabbat and some years, Rosh Hashanah!) at the US Open Tennis Championships, writing about Israeli and Jewish players mainly for the Jerusalem Post.  

On a good year, I arrive for the qualifying tournament, where I am most likely to see Israelis battling for a spot in the main draw.  And I get to stay through the finals, often getting to interview Israeli and Jewish juniors, and also covering wheelchair tennis.  It is tiring but it is the best job in the world! 

Sometimes I feel like an imposter.  While I know a bit about tennis and have written dozens of articles for the Jerusalem Post, the Times of Israel and other publications—and have even covered other tournaments including the Davis Cup and the Fed Cup, I am truly a part timer.  I am always in awe of the men and women who travel the globe—from the Australian to the French to Wimbledon to the US Open—to cover the events, the players, the behind the scenes and the vibe.  One of the greatest I have ever met is Tom Perrotta, who sadly died this week.  The tennis world lost a giant.  Tom died at age 44 after a 4-year battle with brain cancer.

Tom Perrotta wrote mainly for the Wall Street Journal.  His colleague, Jason Gay, wrote movingly about his friend and colleague.  He had an encyclopedic knowledge of tennis and was great covering technical aspects, but he always found interesting angles and behind the scenes, from articles on grunting, to players wearing or not wearing sunscreen, to “Why Andy Murray is a Tennis Nerd.”  And he always found time to schmooze with tennis colleagues.

I looked forward to seeing Tom each year at the US Open.  I would sometimes sit near him in the media section of Arthur Ashe Stadium and listen in awe as he and tennis journalist and historian par excellence, Steve Flink, would compare notes—about the match in progress, or about a match from 1998, where both could effortlessly from memory reconstruct the draw sheet.  I remember at the last US Open (where fans and reporters were allowed), standing around the info desk in the media center waiting for a not-so-top ranked player to come for a media session.  On a couple of occasions, it was me and Tom.  While waiting, we discussed our children and made other small talk.  I admired his knowledge and his insight and admired a guy who could do what he loved.  I didn’t realize he was also battling brain cancer.  Tom wrote a moving article in the Wall Street Journal this past November, when he was losing vision and cognitive processing speed.  While sad and angry, he was also delighted to have some much time at home with his wife and two sons.  It was entitled, “In a Stay At Home Pandemic, a Sportswriter Finds a Silver Lining.”  

In his tribute to Perrotta, Jason Gay shared a feeling that all of us lucky enough to cover the US Open can relate to.  “Here’s a little secret about what it’s like to cover one of those major tennis tournaments: It’s just as great as it sounds. It isn’t like the job doesn’t have its hassles, or bad days, but most of the time, it feels like you’re getting away with something.”  We get to be around tennis for so many hours and days in a row!

I look forward to being part of the team of 1200 credentialed media who get to share the stories of the US Open each year with the world.  The only part as great as the tennis itself is renewing acquaintances with old friends.  Let’s pray for a return to normal for the US Open 2021.  Looking forward to seeing you soon, Sandra, Cindy, Jerold, Michael, my Argentinian friends who share my love of Diego Schwartzman, all of my Japanese friends who share the last row in the media center with me and the Jerusalem Post, and so many others.  But I will miss you, Tom.