Arts, Access & Artie

I just noticed that December 3, 2011, the day Every Time I Think of You was published, was also the same day that President Barack Obama proclaimed International Day of Persons With Disabilities. How cool is that?

This was one of several interesting websites and news articles I discovered while working on some outreach for the book. I'm a strong believer in micro-marketing; that is, finding specific communities who would be interested in my work. It's not easy. A disability publication might not address LGBT issues. A gay publication may be uninformed about disability. For example, the Mayo Clinic released a trailer specific to sexuality issues for people with spinal cord injuries, which is great, but there's apparently no inclusion of LGBT people.

So, I keep looking for connections. Here's an article about a photographer who takes photo portraits of the disabled and poor in the Philadelphia area (Spoiler: Philly is included in a few chapters in my book).

Another Philly-specific blog I found is Rob Quinn's PhillyACCESS, which combines topics in media, sports and disability. I'm still trying to find a direct email address for his various sites and Facebook pages. I hope he'll give my book a look.

The inspiring and often hilarious Zach Anner had his new show Rolling with Zach air on Oprah Winfrey's faltering OWN Network. I'd consider getting cable just to see his show. Not only is he more daring than most people of any ability; I'm fascinated by seeing how he overcomes literal obstacles while traveling.

But the biggest issue of the month in arts and disability is the controversy over New Mobility magazine featuring actor Kevin McHale as Glee's wheelchair singing Artie. McHale is not disabled, but plays the undisputed most famous disabled fictional character on TV. Disabled actors and viewers are split on their opinions. (New Mobility's web server was down as of this post. Hopefully, it'll be up soon. Here's their Facebook page.)

Oh, and here's a clip of Zach's show: