How this blog got its start

IT'S been nearly 15 years since I received my first e-mail. But I still remember
the thrill of seeing the note from Cathy Madison that day when I opened my
electronic mailbox. At that time, I was a subscriber to a service called
Prodigy, originally a joint venture of IBM and Sears.

When I returned to Minneapolis in 1993, I introduced e-mail to students at the
high school where I was teaching. I thought it could be a way to stimulate
writing. Students were assigned a "correspondent" somewhere in the US and were
to write every week or so. These correspondents were friends of mine who had
agreed to participate in the project.

The students dove into the project. Every morning they would rush to the
computer to check their e-mail box.

Students also found other people to write to in addition to the "official"
correspondents. I recall that two students even found an e-mail address for my
daughter Molly who was then away at college. They e-mailed questions to her
asking what I was really like.

Shortly after that, we started experimenting with an electronic newspaper.

What were then innovations gradually became commonplace. Now e-mail and the World Wide Web are a part of school at every level.

THIS SAME electronic evolution has occurred in workplaces, too. I was working
at the Milpitas POST newspaper when we started getting e-mail in 1992. I think
our first message was a list of soccer scores.

Here, too, it took several years for e-mail to become a regular part of life at
newspapers. Now it's an essential tool and many papers include the e-mail
addresses of reporters at the end of every story.

E-mail newsletters were still something new when the Bill's Coffeeshop
Newsletter started in 2000. Now many coffeeshops and other businesses have
newsletters like this one.

This "Abilities Awareness" weblog began as a supplement to the educational mission of Bil's Coffeeshop. It has also become a discussion forum for students enrolled in "Disabilities" classes.

Parents' wisdom brought changes

THERE were always parents who doubted the wisdom of separating individuals with disabilities from their families and communities. But it was not until the late 1950s that the voices of those who questioned institutions like Faribault State Hospital were listened to in the state legislatures and meeting rooms of professional societies.

ARC was one of those voices. Originally, Association for Retarded Children, this group brought together parents and others who wanted services for children with disabilities provided in communities. Finally, in the 1960s, Minnesota and otherstates began changing their policies to encourage community-based programs. In addition, state hospitals started sending residents back to their communities.

Bill Sackter was sent back "home" to Mineapolis in 1964. In theory, that was a good idea. But Bill hadn't lived in Mineapolis in nearly half a century, and had neither family nor friends in the city. Resettling in the city was a struggle for Bill. (You can find some of the stories of this struggle in "The Unlikely Celebrity," a biography of Bill by Tom Walz.)

Eventually, Bill settled into a job at the Minikahda Country Club on the edge of Minneapolis. That's where he met Barry and Bev Morrow. You may know the story from there, particularly if you have seen the movie "Bill."

Bill and the Morrows became friends and eventually ended up in Iowa City, where Barry had been offered a job at the University of Iowa. The coffeeshop opened as a job for Bill.

But it quickly became much more. There was something about the spirit of Bill
which filled the coffeeshop.

That same spirit still fills the coffeeshop, even though Bill died more than 20 years ago. But that's another story.

Extraordinary impact of Bill's story

The story of Bill Sackter and Bill's Coffeeshop continues to have an impact,
especially around the Midwest. Whenever I am introduced as connected to Bill's Coffeeshop, people ask me how the coffeeshop is doing and then tell me a
story. It could be a story about Bill, a story about the coffeeshop, or a
story about one of the Bill movies.

Recently, for example, I met a woman who had been a volunteer at Faribault state hospital more than 30 years ago. That's the place in Minnesota where Bill had lived for nearly half a century. She had known the story of Bill, and had seen the movie. But she did not know that the hospital where she had volunteered was the one where Bill had lived.

I remember once meeting a man who was delighted to discover that Mickey Rooney had played Bill in the two movies, "Bill" and "Bill on his own." In his late 70s, the man had been a great fan of Rooney's early movies. "I grew up in an orphanage and loved watching his movies," he told me. He also knew the story of Bill, though he had not seen the movies. He was thrilled to learn that the lives of Rooney and Bill Sackter had converged twice.

Occasionally, people have assumed I am Bill. I have even been introduced as Bill. I chuckle at that, and point out that if he were still alive, Bill would now be in his 90s.

All of this is an astonishing legacy for a man who died more than 20 years ago (1983). Who would have guessed that Bill Sackter's story and Bill's coffeeshop would have had such an influence. This legacy will be explored in a forthcoming documentary, scheduled to be released later this year. "Bill Sackter: A Special Spirit" includes recently discovered film footage of Bill, plus a look at the coffeeshop today and interviews with people who knew Bill. Look for more details on the film's release in the fall.

Contributions invited to Bill's Coffeeshop Fund

For over 30 years Bill's Coffeeshop has provided employment opportunities for
individuals with disabilities and service learning opportunities for students.
Coffeeshop sales and financial donations from support the work of the
coffeeshop. You can support this work through a donation to the Bill's
Coffeeshop Fund, established by the UI School of Social Work. Look for a
brochure about the fund in the coffeeshop. Donations may be sent by mail to:
Bill's Coffeeshop Fund, University of Iowa Foundation, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa
City, IA 52244.