In the B.A.R.'s November 13 issue, John R. Killacky shared his experience in becoming disabled, and how using a wheelchair helped him gain more freedom than using a cane at age 51.
"People get confused when they see me move in and out of my chariot," wrote Killacky. "At the State Fair, I rolled up to the Tilt-A-Whirl and stood up to join the line. The ticket-taker asked my partner, 'Can he get on this ride?'
'You'd better ask him,' was his now standard reply."
Killacky, co-editor, with Bob Guter, of the anthology Queer Crips: Disabled Gay Men and their Stories, would attend the release event for the book with local contributors, at San Francisco Public Library's main branch.
Then a respected arts administrator in San Francisco, Killacky, a former dancer turned administrator for pioneering post-modern choreographers Tricia Brown and Laura Dean, went on to work in the arts field for years before moving to Vermont, where he's now a state legislator.
This year, Killacky published his fascinating collection of essays and interviews (including the Nov. 11, 2003 B.A.R. essay), Because Art: Commentary, Critique & Conversation (Onion River Press). See our review, also in this week's issue.
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