St. Louis Book about Disability Rights Trailblazer Max Starkloff Wins National IPPY Award

MAY 11, 2015, St. Louis, Missouri…Starkloff Disability Institute (SDI) is pleased to announce that the book Max Starkloff and the Fight for Disability Rights, about the St. Louis man who helped create a political and social movement that changed the world for people with disabilities for the better, has won the national Bronze IPPY Award in the biography category.

The IPPY Awards honor the year’s best independently published titles from around the world. Published by Missouri History Museum Press in November 2014, the inspiring 400-page Max Starkloff and the Fight for Disability Rights is the powerful story of Max J. Starkloff’s life and legacy, and his work carried on today at the Starkloff Disability Institute.

SDI Board Chairman Charles E. Claggett, who wrote the book with local author Richard Weiss, said, “It is a huge honor to be recognized by the IPPY. My thanks go to so many people who made this book possible. It was a ten-year labor of love.”

SDI Co-Director Colleen Starkloff, who was married to Max Starkloff and worked by his side until his death in 2010, said, “It is my hope that this IPPY Award will introduce more people around the world to Max’s vision and determination to improve quality of life for people who are disabled today.

“People who are disabled are entitled to good jobs, quality healthcare services and a many civil rights that have been denied them for decades, despite advancements made possible by passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990.”

More than 2,750 independent authors and publishers participated in the 2015 Independent Publisher Book Awards contest, which originated in 1996.

In 1959, at age 21, Max Starkloff was in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Doctors doubted that he would live yet he survived and spent 12 years in a nursing home. From his confinement, Starkloff co-founded a nonprofit independent living center, called Paraquad, and met and married a young physical therapist, Colleen Kelly.

This dynamic team helped create and expand the Independent Living Disability Rights Movement that would benefit millions of people with disabilities across the United States. Max moved out of the nursing home in 1975 and lived with Colleen and their children in St. Louis’s Central West End. A few of Starkloff’s many extraordinary accomplishments before his death in 2010 include:

· Securing barrier-free legislation for local and state curb cuts

· Enabling disabled parking legislation

· Successfully lobbying for disabled access to public building and schools

· Gaining local government commitments to equip new buses with wheelchair lifts

· Founding the St. Louis Chapter of the National Paraplegia Foundation

· Lobbying to help ensure passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act

· Working to ensure that St. Louis’ new light rail system offered total accessibility

· Serving on many advisory boards and boards of directors of influential business, healthcare and government organizations

“Max’s trailblazing work is respected by advocates for people with disabilities and civil rights leaders across the U.S. and around the world,” said Colleen. “Award recognition of this important book is a tribute to Max and a wonderful credit for the authors Charlie Claggett and Dick Weiss. We couldn’t be more proud.” The IPPY awards ceremony will occur in New York at the end of May.

Founded in 2003 by Max and Colleen Starkloff and David Newburger, the Starkloff Disability Institute works to create a world that welcomes people with disabilities.

For information, email lbecker@starkloff.org, call 314-588-7090 or see the website http://www.starkloff.org.

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