Published Dec. 16, 2009
Sara Schilling, Tri-City Herald
KENNEWICK Larry Seifert isnt quite done with his autobiography but he already has a title picked out.
Hes going to call the book Larry Seifert: He Overcame because his life has been about meeting challenges in the face of tough odds.
Seifert, 58, of Kennewick, suffered brain damage as an infant and is developmentally disabled. As a child he was called mentally retarded and his mother was urged to institutionalize him.
But hes since earned a GED, attended college, gotten a pilots license and traveled the world telling his inspiring story. Hes made headlines across the country and has appeared several times in the Tri-City Herald.
A 1986 Herald story tells how Seifert shared his study methods with special education students in Los Angeles.
An article six years later tells how CBS This Morning visited the Tri-Cities to document his graduation from Columbia Basin College.
Larry is just a wonderful story, a CBS producer told the Herald at the time. Hes the little engine that could. He keeps on working at it and working at it and working at it.
Friends say that still holds true today. Seifert works as a custodian at Kamiakin High School in Kennewick, a position hes held nearly 30 years. Hes meticulous about budgeting and owns his own home, where he lives independently.
Larry is just amazing. Ive never met a more driven individual. If theres something he really wants to do and sets his mind to it, he really, really works to accomplish it, said Korey Van Kampen, Seiferts pastor at King of Kings Lutheran Church in Kennewick.
Seifert is proud of the work hes done on his home, including adding an extra bathroom with a jetted tub to help his bad back. Ron Greer of Pasco, a retired contractor and Seiferts longtime friend, helped with the project.
(Seifert) is as honest a person as you ever want to meet and a good, hard worker, Greer said. Hes just a good guy.
The Kennewick man has been working on his autobiography for several years. He writes in his home office, which is filled with pictures and certificates chronicling his achievements.
Theres a photo of him with the Beach Boys and others with politicians such as former Washington Gov. Booth Gardner.
There also are snapshots of him behind the controls of an airplane.
When Seifert was a little boy, he dreamed of becoming an astronaut or pilot. Hard work helped him make his dream of flight come true, and hes writing the book to inspire others to overcome their own obstacles, he said.
Seifert has had plenty of help along the way from his late, beloved grandmother, Meta Eliason, to friends in the Tri-Cities and across the country. He has a long list of people who are providing input on his book via e-mail.
Seifert hopes to have the autobiography published so that his tale of overcoming obstacles can reach even more people.
I need to open doors for others, he said. I need to show employers (that people with disabilities) can do good work.
He also wants to show people with disabilities that they can own property, travel, be independent like everybody else, he said. No matter what kind of handicap you have, you can work around it.
Additional news stories can be accessed online at the Tri-City Herald.
via fastcompany.com
On Thursday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will decide whether to take action on the reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act — a critical law that provides states with funding and requires them to follow a set of guidelines aimed at improving conditions for juvenile prisoners and reducing recidivism.
