Gary Presley
Dear Readers,
If I come rolling into your life, you’ll be meeting a person who will soon be celebrating 50 years riding through this amazing world.
I was left near quadriplegic by a vaccine accident in 1959 when I was seventeen, a Salk polio shot gone awry. I spent too many years floundering about, working at various low-paying clerical desk jobs, taking up amateur radio, and reading every book in the library.
Then about 15 years ago, I won a writing contest. With that, I found my passion. I write every day, mostly essays, some about life as a person with a disability and some about other things. In fact, I’ve written about subjects as I seem to roll up upon them. Once I accidentally ate some tiny little ants, and I turned that into an essay about food and culture.
You’ll find “Ants for Breakfast” on Salon.com…
http://dir.salon.com/story/mwt/feature/2002/03/07/eating_ants/index.html
Once long ago, a man approached me in a restaurant and tried to convince me that I could pray my way out of my wheelchair. I wrote about that incident, weaving it into thoughts about religious faith a few years ago.
And you’ll find “Pilgrim on the Cross Roads” published by Notre Dame Magazine …
http://magazine.nd.edu/news/10671-pilgrim-on-the-cross-road
There are links to more of my writing on my website, and of course, it is simple enough to put “Gary Presley” in Google and find more yet. Be warned. There are two Gary Presleys, one of which is an entertainer and theater owner.
Several years ago, I began a memoir, one which was published October 2008 by The University of Iowa Press. It’s titled Seven Wheelchairs: A Life beyond Polio, and it’s available through the Press, at local bookstores, and via Amazon, of course.
I’ve been pleased with the reaction to the memoir, which isn’t so much about living with a disability as learning to live life completely, learning to find the grace within what is rather than sifting through the ashes of what was or chasing the illusion of what cannot be.
I’m deeply satisfied that people without disabilities are finding truths within Seven Wheelchairs.
My website is at http://www.garypresley.com and I can always be reached via garypresley@gmail.com.
I believe people with disabilities should be fully integrated into society, and I am eager to network with others who share that dream.
Thank You.
Gary Presley
