MORE THAN 125,000 READERS

More than 125,000 unique readers have visited this blog for photography, commentary, travel journalism, urban design ideas and advocacy for people with disabilities.

We have more readers than the weekday circulations of some major daily newspapers.

We have taken readers to Istanbul, New Orleans, Panama, Florence, New York, Medellin, Santo Domingo, Los Angeles, Guatemala, Ohio, Nicaragua, Philadelphia, Ecuador, Nevada, Costa Rica, Utah, Mexico City, Chicago, Spain and beyond.

99% of all photos are taken by Steve Wright.

The image for this celebratory day was taken on the warmest Christmas day on record in New Orleans.

HAPPY 28TH ANNIVERSARY, SWEETIE

JUNE 11, 1988, TWO NE OHIO KIDS TIE THE KNOT

It's been an epic journey:

First house

Law School graduation

First professional jobs

Promotions

Resignations

Home remodeling and refinancing

A book co-authored and published before we were 30

The passing of both our father's, near age 80

A miracle move to Miami, the Magic City

Elections won

Elections lost

1920s house upgrade to modern wheelchair access

Trips all over Spain

Visits to Florence, Italy

Annual pilgrimages to NYC

Spiritual journeys to the heart of Monument Valley

Audiences with celebrities, murderers and Kings

Flights to Colombia on a whim

Too many surgeries and rehabs to count

Turning gray haired

Caring for a herd of donkey in central Ohio

Presenting at top-flight universities

Endless battles to protect and enhance the civil rights of people with disabilities

Awards

Car thefts

Last second dashes through torrential rain to claim the last half price seats of a Broadway show

Nightly visits from ghosts South of Granada

John's dog Brutus

Puchy, the angel dog

Honey Bear, the Princess of Siam, our Siamese rescue cat baby

DEAR GRANDFATHER:

PLEASE LET GIMPS IN THE DOOR 

 by heidi johnson-wright

As a wheelchair-using gimp girl, I sometimes hear folks say the reason a place is not accessible is because it’s historic. Statements like “It’s one of those older buildings constructed under standards in force years ago.”

What they mean is it was built back when gimps were safely tucked away in institutions or kept hidden in the back bedrooms of family homes. You know, like the simpler, gentler era depicted in Norman Rockwell’s art: a time when families sat down together every night at the dinner table and the worst trouble little boys got into was dipping girls’ pigtails in inkwells. Page through Rockwell’s illustrations in a book or online and you’ll be hard-pressed to find gimps included in his rosy vision of an America that never was and never will be.

Perhaps you’ve heard someone say that a building doesn’t have to be accessible because it’s been “grandfathered.” When I hear that word, at first I picture a kind, gentle older man who loves to go fishing and hands out candy to his grandkids.

But then I remember it doesn’t mean that at all. It’s really an excuse to avoid letting gimps in the door. And a pitiful excuse, at that. The ADA is a civil rights law, not a building code. You can’t deny folks their civil rights simply because you’ve been denying their rights for so long, it’s magically okay to keep denying them. To follow that twisted logic would mean allowing racially segregated lunch counters to remain segregated because that’s how it’s always been.

Creating access in older buildings is often a matter of a couple factors. Are the decision makers in charge truly committed to creating an inclusive community and are the architects and engineers up to the task?

Take for example, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. It’s one of the most celebrated art collections in the world. It includes masterpieces by da Vinci, Michelangelo and Botticelli that will make you drunk with joy. And it’s really, really old. It was completed in 1581 for Cosimo I de' Medici, who was not exactly known for being a proponent of disability rights. And yet, the Uffizi is exquisitely accessible to wheelchair users, and proud of its touch tours for people with visual impairments. The elevators and ramps are not big, ugly and awkward. They fit seamlessly into the structure, never taking away from the beauty all around.

How can this be? Shouldn’t they have told gimps, “Sorry, you’ll never see Botticelli’s Primavera because, like, the Uffizi is just too old. And, oh yeah, it’s grandfathered.”

Am I ever glad they didn’t. I’ll take Botticelli over Normal Rockwell any day.

http://earthboundtomboy.blogspot.com/2015/07/dear-grandfather-please-let-gimps-in.html  

TUSCANY -- ABBEVILLE PRESS -- PART 6

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SONJA BULLATY AND ANGELO LOMEO. TEXT BY MARIE-ANGE GUILLAUME

Guillaume also recounts the Florence-based relationship between famed writer Henry James and his host (and fellow writer) Constance Fenimore Woolson (grand niece of Fenimore Cooper.)

"Here, I have attained that old-world feeling I used to dream about, a sort of enthusiasm made up of history, mythology, old churches, pictures, statues, vineyards, the Italian sky, dark-eyed peasants, opera-music, Raphael and old Michael....Perhaps I ought to add Henry James. He has been perfectly charming to me for three weeks," penned Fenimore Woolson, referring to Michelangelo as old Michael.

Guillaume's keen sense of storytelling -- coupled with Bullaty's and Lomeo's artistic capturing of said vineyards, statutes, churches, peasants and haystacks -- make Tuscany a must-have travel book.

WWW.ABBEVILLE.COM   $45

TUSCANY -- ABBEVILLE PRESS -- PART 5

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SONJA BULLATY AND ANGELO LOMEO. TEXT BY MARIE-ANGE GUILLAUME

The cathedral of Siena is portrayed in varying displays that show its pure beauty, its scale against the cityscape, its exquisite detailing in close up and its commanding view over the historic town and out into the countryside.

In telling the tale of Michelangelo's endless days of work in Florence and other parts of Italy, Guillaume shares the delicious quote by the artist himself: "I am bruised, exhausted, worn out: such is the fruit of my efforts; death is the inn where, having paid my dues, I'll have bed and board."

WWW.ABBEVILLE.COM   $45

TUSCANY BOOK REVIEW CONTINUES 
TOMORROW -- OCTOBER 2

TUSCANY -- ABBEVILLE PRESS -- PART 4

PHOTOGRAPHS BY SONJA BULLATY AND ANGELO LOMEO. TEXT BY MARIE-ANGE GUILLAUME

The full-color book is divided into chapters on: The Lure of Tuscany; The Land; Springtime and Gardens; Trees and Vineyards; Florence, Siena, and Pisa; Faces; Hilltowns and Abbeys; Marble; Windows and Doors; and The Coast.

Along with all the expected shots of the Ponte Vecchio, Palazzo Vecchio and Duomo, the Bullaty-Lomeo team's keen eye produces a haunting image of white grave markers making a brilliant geometric pattern at the American cemetery near Terme di Firenze.

In Siena, an aerial shot captures the enormity of the Piazza del Campo while a brilliant small image depicts two children, barely tall enough to walk, enjoying the fabled public plaza.

WWW.ABBEVILLE.COM   $45

TUSCANY BOOK REVIEW CONTINUES 
TOMORROW -- OCTOBER 1