'Blind to his own good works'

Here's part of Blind to his own good works, a beautifully written story by Amy Starke in the Oregonian (warning: the link may soon vanish):

Larry VanWyngarden believed his blind clients could accomplish just about anything.

Larry was the most exuberant employee the Oregon Commission for the Blind ever had. He made sure his clients got out into the community rather than sitting at home.

He took blind people on tandem bike rides to the San Juan Islands. He took them cross country skiing, crabbing at the coast, white-water rafting. Then four years ago, he started a dragon boat team so blind people could become more confident about themselves and about life.

His pocket calendar was jammed with times, dates, people, things he was going to do. Larry was dogged for much of his own life with both profound and minor depression. He found staying busy could stave off the black cloud.

He routinely worked until 9 p.m. He moonlighted. If you passed by the office on a weekend, he'd be working. He helped blind clients move, or gave them rides home even if they lived 50 miles away. He helped a single mother of a blind child buy shoes. Just call Larry; he'd say yes. He was always running late. He couldn't fit it all in, and the work didn't seem to ever tire him.

Work had always helped pull him out of depression. Retiring last fall, due to changes in PERS, was the worst thing he ever did. His life spiraled downhill and he was never able to crawl back up. He took his own life on May 23, 2005, at age 58.

The good news is that he is both well-remembered and well-missed:

This year, [members of a blind dragon boat teams]dedicated their Rose Festival races to Larry. On June 12, the first team, Blind Ambition, won a silver medal. Several members qualified for the world championships in Germany. When they beat 40 other teams with a time of 2:52.36, they could clearly see how far they had come.

David Faucheux heard from Ms. Starke, when he inquired about a permanent link, and here's part of what she wrote:

I'm always pleased to see how far afield my stories go...

I think that Larry's bipolar was far beyond the scope of a drug like Lexapro to handle--he actually took lithium and that class of meds. But in my experience as a feature obituary writer, bipolar is a very difficult illness to treat, and it often ends in suicide. It is too bad.

It is an ironic twist that thanks to the manic side of his illness, he helped a lot of people get adventures they might never otherwise have had. And being on a dragonboat team really helped a lot of his clients, who were newly blind, climb out of a bit of depression themselves.

Glad you are reading our life stories--I was pleased to hear from a blind person last week who uses JAWS software to read OregonLive. I had never heard of that kind of software; I learn something new every day.