In Remembrance of Randy Snow By Gail Davis | Monday, December 07, 2009
Randy Snow was a great person, a special friend and professional speaker. He passed away suddenly on Thursday, Nov 19 while volunteering at a wheelchair tennis camp in El Salvador, doing something he loved.
Since 2003, we booked Randy 46 times for our clients. He always got great reviews. He was a dream to work with from our perspective as well as our clients’. He loved meeting people and sharing his message.
I am writing this blog to record my special memories of Randy Snow. Randy reached out to us back in 2003 and said he was getting into the speaking business and he knew we were a locally based bureau so he wanted to stop by and bring us lunch. At the time, we were an all female staff with typical female concerns regarding food…..all health conscious and watching our weight. We agreed for Randy to bring us lunch. I will never forget him wheeling up the sidewalk with a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, gravy and two liters of Mountain Dew! I laughed so hard and teased him about not knowing women at all!
Randy was so accessible and reasonable that he became our “go to” speaker for folks with limited budgets. We crafted some great deals. We really hit the jackpot back in 2005 when Randy spoke to Nestle Waters and created a talk on safety. The word spread and we booked him eight times for various plants across the country.
I knew Randy as a speaker and a friend. Since his death I have learned so much more. A harsh reminder of how we often do not really know those in our own midst. This past year, I have been taking my car to a dealership in Arlington and always turn on Randy Snow Road. I always thought it was funny and kept intending to mention it to Randy. I learned after his death that the street was named after him. He had transferred to UTA from UT and joined the fledgling Mavericks wheelchair basketball team. The street was named after Randy in 1984 when he attracted world-wide attention at the 1984 Summer Olympics when he finished second in the 1,500 meter wheelchair race immediately after Carl Lewis won a gold medal in a race. The publicity gave wheelchair athletes an unprecedented platform to show the world what they could do. A few weeks later, the city of Arlington renamed Midway Road as Randy Snow Road for his silver medal performance.
I also read a quote in Randy’s obituary from his father saying that “overcoming drug addiction was probably his biggest battle.” How did I not know that? What kind of a friend/listener am I?
Randy was one of the most successful and recognized disabled athletes in the world. Not in one sport but three! He held records in wheelchair basketball, tennis and track. The memorial was filled with coaches, teammates and competitors talking about his mean serve, his strength and the many records he set. All that led him to him being the first Paralympian to be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame.
Yesterday, I attended a Memorial Service for Randy in Terrell. When I arrived at the memorial, the first person I saw was Mike Schlappi. Mike is another speaker who is also in a wheelchair and also a wheelchair athlete. He had come from Salt Lake City to pay his respects. Mike laughed and said, “Randy was always reinventing himself—I never knew what to expect”. That comment really made more sense as I sat and watched the slide show….short hair, mullet, beard, blond highlight, dark hair, long silver hair…Jane Pauly’s changing hairstyles had nothing on Randy Snow!
Randy’s motto was NO EXCUSES which he sometime spelled NOXQ’S . It was perfect for him. His accident occurred when he was 16. At the time, he was nationally ranked junior tennis player. He was crushed by a hay bale as he worked on a farm. The injury left him paralyzed from the waist down. What could have been the “end” of an active life was actually a “beginning”. Stephen Covey has that great concept about starting with the end in mind. As I sat in Randy Snow’s memorial and I heard countless tales of how much fun he had, his kindness, how much he loved life…skydiving, scuba diving, parasailing, traveling and sports; as I looked at the photos and kept seeing that smile…..the one that makes your eyes twinkle…..and as people talked about how Randy “engaged’ in relationships…..I was reminded that that is how I want to live my life.
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