So many Sams

Sportsman, inventor, bibliophile, pianist. Speaks Cantonese. Keen astronomer and a student of Greek philosophy. Ardent hiker and camper. Ac...

Sportsman, inventor, bibliophile, pianist. Speaks Cantonese. Keen astronomer and a student of Greek philosophy. Ardent hiker and camper. Activist, councillor and a munificent man too. That8217;s Sam Sullivan, a man of many parts, who crams more into a day than most do in a week.

When I initiated our epistolary friendship in the early 8217;90s, I never knew Sam was such a lustrous lodestar. Having been in a bad patch since June 1988, I looked up to him as he had conquered adversity and proved that there8217;s life after disability.

In January 1979, at age 19, a tumble while skiing crushed Sam8217;s cervical spine and rendered him a quadriplegic paralysed neck down. Though he remained upbeat in the hospital and rehab, life at home spiralled into depression. He convinced his childhood flame, Lynn Zanatta to disunite. Despair drove him into contemplating suicide. Then he had an epiphany. It kindled his renaissance.

He embraced two mottos: one, he would never let his disability be an excuse for anything 8212; even if it was; and two, he would never allow the wheelchair to imprison him. He committed himself to reach out to disabled people. He first founded the Tetra Society, which recruits technically-skilled volunteers to contrive assistive devices for disabled people. He co-invented the 8220;Trailrider8221; system to allow disabled people access to the wilderness and the 8220;Martin 16 sailboat8221; to sail unassisted. He also floated the Reach Disability Foundation, and through its six affiliated non-profit societies, helped disabled people to qualitatively elevate their lives, for which he was conferred the Order of Canada.

Exhibiting inexhaustible sap, Sam plunged into the world of civic politics in 1993, and has been a member of the city council since. He raised awareness with legislators and community leaders of the vast potential that people with disabilities offer to society. His crowning feat was his election as Mayor of Vancouver on November 19. Recently, the Economist Intelligence Unit8217;s survey rated Vancouver as the best city to live.

Winning mayoralty was sweet, but Sam gallantly concedes that reuniting six years ago with Lynn was sweeter! Of course, the new Mayor of Vancouver has his work cut out. Good luck and Godspeed, Sam.