CELEBRATING 205,000 READERS

+ MY ONLY SIBLING'S 51ST BIRTHDAY

First off, Happy Birthday to my successful brother Keith.

His 51^st was on the 20^th of August.

Our dad died a few years ago and mom has dementia – so my baby bro is about all I have left of the Wright family.

His photo is below.

We’re proud to have more than 205,000 unique visitors to this blog.

We have posted more than 2,300 stories to it.

For the past three years, we have posted highlights of the blog daily on Twitter and Facebook.

We continue to focus on travel, urban design, wheelchair access and human rights advocacy.

In 2019, we have stepped up the advocacy for the human rights of people with disabilities.

With the current state of affairs in Washington, DC – we have to.

But we continue to have a lust for life, so there have been plenty of travel images and stories from Paris, Marrakech and far beyond.

Thanks for visiting and please share this blog with someone you know.

My brother Keith -- fishing in Virginia Beach for his 51st birthday

A TRIBUTE TO KEN WRIGHT 1935-2014 PART 12

MY DAD TAUGHT ME...TO FOCUS ON THE BIG PICTURE

Sometimes I can be the most impatient and easily frustrated person on the planet.

But a foundation of values, created by my father and polished by my beautiful wife, has taught me to get over life’s maddening setbacks while focusing on the long journey and big picture.

That is why I have used humor in my words to describe my father's influence in my life.

I understand the tears of all the people touched by the life of Kenneth Lee Wright. But I feel this is more of a celebration than a ritual of sadness. 

My dad did most everything he wanted to do, saw most everything he wanted to see and raised two sons to ages 46 and 50.

In his 70s, the healthy as a horse Midwesterner who probably missed fewer than 10 days of work in 40 years, fought a combination of maladies that robbed him of his energy and tranquility.

That suffering has gracefully ended and why I have created a dozen blog posts to remember the man who taught his oldest son to be a man...

...a man that I hope he is proud of (he always told me he was proud of me and I loved him for saying it).

I am proud of him and I will tell his good story till the day when the time comes for my body to be at restful peace forever.

A TRIBUTE TO KEN WRIGHT 1935-2014 PART 11

MY DAD TAUGHT ME...
TO DUST YOURSELF OFF AND GET BACK INTO THE BATTER’S BOX

Sorry for another sports analogy, but dad’s words and actions taught me resiliency. 

My unconventional career path has easily been marked by as many colossal failures as victory dances in the dugout.

Had my dad not taught me persistence, I'd have given up after a couple setbacks and been living under a bridge.  

Instead, I have been able to discuss Dali’s Persistence of Memory with the curator of MOMA during a private tour.

A TRIBUTE TO KEN WRIGHT 1935-2014 PART 10

MY DAD TAUGHT ME...TO CALL THE PLUMBER!


My grandpa was one of the greatest handymen in all the Great Lakes region. 

He built most of his own house and probably never paid a cent to a repair man, electrician or plumber -- because he could fix anything with his hands, no instruction booklet required.  

Dad, well, did NOT genetically inherit those skills. 

After a few broken faucets, fried electrical outlets and hammer smashed thumbs (with requisite high volume, multi-syllable cursewords that I'm pretty sure we were not allowed to repeat) -- dad proved the point that sometimes it’s best to dial the experts before even trying. Dad learned to dial the experts. 

I learned my lesson and never tried to grow up to be Mr. FixIt.  

I simply figured a way of selling enough prose and poetry to pay for the plumber.


This is a 12-day tribute to my dad, who died a few days before Thanksgiving this year, from his first-born son. 

A TRIBUTE TO KEN WRIGHT 1935-2014 PART 9

MY DAD TAUGHT ME...TO NOT GET OBSESSED WITH SPORTS

Though I would have swapped my soul to become the starting 3rd baseman for the Cleveland Indians, anybody saw me on the little league diamond knew I'm I was going to make it to the locker room, it would be as a sportswriter, not as an athlete. 

Learning how do adapt from jock wannabe to journalist allowed me to cover pro sports. Eventually, as policy advisor to the Chairman of the Miami City Commission, I helped negotiate a stadium deal with Major League Baseball to keep the Marlins in Miami.

(my clause in the contact, requiring that the Florida club renounce its 97 World Series title to the rightful champion Tribe was deleted by the baseball commissioner!).