{"id":1338,"date":"2011-01-25T16:14:14","date_gmt":"2011-01-26T00:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/?p=1338"},"modified":"2011-01-25T16:14:14","modified_gmt":"2011-01-26T00:14:14","slug":"life-is-a-continuous-adventure-for-this-75-year-old-texan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/life-is-a-continuous-adventure-for-this-75-year-old-texan\/","title":{"rendered":"Life Is a Continuous Adventure for This 75 Year Old Texan"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Larry P. Johnson is proof that disabilities can be conquered. He lives life fearlessly and with zest because to him it\u2019s all an adventure.<\/p>\n

The transplanted Chicagoan has been a radio disc jockey, TV newscaster and telephone company human resources director. The San Antonio resident of more than three decades is a family man, author and motivational speaker.<\/p>\n

Larry is an amazing individual despite being blind for 74 \u00bd years of his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhatever have been my achievements in life I owe to my mother,\u201d he says. \u201cMom taught me at a very early age the importance of independence and resiliency. She didn\u2019t believe in coddling or shielding me from the bumps and bruises of life just because I happened to be blind.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry\u2019s sight disappeared at 6 months old. He loved school and was graduated from John Marshall High on Chicago\u2019s North Side. It was about the only school that offered a special visional impaired curriculum.<\/p>\n

Then he attended Northwestern University where he majored in speech. Before graduation, he hosted a radio program on campus and interviewed international students about their customs and cultures, which whetted his appetite to travel and become a broadcaster.<\/p>\n

Larry was 18 when he first visited Mexico. He loved the country so much that he returned to get his master\u2019s degree in economics and Latin American studies at Mexico City\u2019s La Universidad de Las Americas, which was founded in 1940.<\/p>\n

While a graduate student, he worked at a local radio station and became a top disc jockey on the Mexican airwaves. He also was the first blind TV newscaster in that country.<\/p>\n

During his 17 years south of the border ending in \u201974, he worked for the bilingual station Radio Capital XEL. His disc jockey show was in English.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am fully fluent in Spanish and, at one time, also spoke French fairly well, but I have since lost that,\u201d he points out. \u201cDuring the 1968 Olympics, I co-anchored a show broadcasting the events. The broadcast of the 1969 Apollo 11 lunar landing was in Spanish with a team of Mexican announcers over a nationwide radio network. I also did a morning television newscast in English.\u201d<\/p>\n

When at Northwestern, however, his dean advised against studying broadcasting. \u201cIn his mind, he saw too many obstacles, too many problems for a blind person to have to overcome.\u00a0The truth is that most obstacles I had to overcome were not due to the physical limitations caused by my blindness, but due to the attitudes of persons like him who were reluctant to give me the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

So he decided to write a book \u201cto share some of my unique experiences and adventures with people who have lived in or visited Mexico, to let my children and grandchildren know something of that incredible period of my life. And, perhaps, I wanted to serve as a role model for people with disabilities or families with children with disabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry has six children and three times as many grandchildren.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSecondly, and even more importantly, my reason for writing \u2018Mexico by Touch\u2019 <\/a>was to somehow encourage and motivate all people to follow their dreams and to face life\u2019s adversities and challenges with confidence, patience and a sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry had decided to visit Mexico because \u201cI loved the history, the music and the language.\u00a0 I\u2019d just finished four years of studying Spanish and wanted to try it out.\u00a0 Also, with my guide dog Tasha (for seven years), it was an opportunity for me to do something on my own \u2013 something a little daring.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has been adventurous on more than one occasion, like the first time he drove a car. \u201cIt was on the Kennedy Expressway in Chicago.\u00a0 I was, I guess, 22 or 23 at the time.\u00a0 I had a friend, Norman, in whom I had total trust.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne early morning, about 4, we were driving on the expressway when I said, \u2018You know, I\u2019d sure like to know what it feels like to drive a car.\u2019 And Norman said: \u2018OK, let\u2019s do it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cHe stopped the car, came around to my side, and told me to slide over behind the steering wheel. I next thing I knew I am driving his car with him giving me verbal directions. It was an exhilarating experience. So, 10 years later, I did it again, with the program director at the radio station where I worked in Mexico City.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>One of his most memorable experiences was interviewing Stevie Wonder at a Mexico City nightclub when the entertainer was about 19.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was appearing at a nightclub in the El Camino Real and I went with a friend to interview him for my radio show.\u201d Larry recalls. \u201cBut his manager at the time hesitated. I persisted and Stevie agreed to the interview after the show in a restaurant at the other end of the hotel.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was 3 a.m. and I got this strange urge. I don\u2019t why, but I asked him if he\u2019d like to race to the restaurant. It was a half block or so away. It was a wide corridor. He hesitated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI persisted, \u2018let\u2019s race.\u2019 So we did. He won.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry, married to his Diana for nearly half a century, spent 22 years as a radio and TV broadcaster. He also was human resources manager for SBC Communications in San Antonio for more than two decades before retiring eight years ago.<\/p>\n

But he\u2019s still active, mainly as an international motivational speaker for more than a quarter-century. His workshops are timely, ranging from rumor control to perceptions of disability.<\/p>\n

He has written three books that includes another personal memoir, \u201cInside My World<\/a>,\u201d based on what his mother would tell people, \u201cHe\u2019s in his own little word.\u201d<\/p>\n

The world of the blind, Larry points out is smaller, closer and more personal. \u201cEach of us is in our own little world. It is our uniqueness and individuals that makes our existence so precious.<\/p>\n

\u201cNearly everyone\u2019s mom was at home when the kids got home from school Families grew victory gardens. You could buy candy for a penny. Kids played war games using sticks for guns. And a foot of snow was a dream comes true.\u201d<\/p>\n

His other book is \u201cYou Can, If You Think You Can\u201d<\/a> \u2013 a how-to guide to overcome failure, adversity and disappointment. He firmly believes success and happiness are a matter of attitude and choice, determined by an individual\u2019s ability to rebound from adversity and follow his or her dreams.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Larry practices what he preaches and shows no sign of slowing down.<\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Greg Melikov Bio:<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>Greg Melikov is a retired newspaperman that continues to produce articles and columns on a variety of subjects for print publications and websites throughout the world. He grew up in Chicago, worked in South Florida as an editor and writer at The Miami Herald and Sun-Sentinel for more than 40 years, and has resided in Greater San Antonio for a decade. He can be contacted at gmelikov@satx.rr.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Back to <\/strong>Stories<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Larry P. Johnson is proof that disabilities can be conquered. He lives life fearlessly and with zest because to him it\u2019s all an adventure. The transplanted Chicagoan has been a radio disc jockey, TV newscaster and telephone company human resources director. The San Antonio resident of more than three decades is a family man, author […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,31,22],"tags":[139,121,10],"class_list":["post-1338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blind","category-empowerment","category-thriving-2","tag-blind","tag-self-realization","tag-thriving"],"aioseo_notices":[],"views":3440,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1338\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thriveinlife.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}