Tim Nugent, director of rehabilitation services at the University of Illi-
nois, organized the first wheelchair basketball tournament in the
United States in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1949 ( DePauw and Gavron
1995, 59). More than 45 years later, he was helping Erica, whose
Brownie troop experiences I profile in Chapter 6, to get the therapeutic
services she needed. It was Erica's grandmother who informed me
about this retired professor whom she knew to be a pioneer in recrea-
tion for people with disabilities. And thus do the trails between what we
call the "world of research" and the "world of practice" lead back and
forth in unpredictable ways.

I could not have conducted the research for this book without the
cooperation of Leonard Schmidt, Bob Nuchols, Ruth Kulmala, Betty
Gregg, Susan Jean, and Mike and Di Ostrander. I am also grateful for
the assistance provided by Chris and Ken Bilek, Deborah Bruns, Sam
Burdette, Mary Coash, Karen Comeau, Deanna Eddy, Stephanie Eddy,
Vickie and Richard Eichenlaub, Sandy Heins, Karla Hill, Pam and Pau-
lette Hurd, Laura Lieb, Robert and Sandra Lindsay, Sandy McAuley,
Beckie Neal, Ron Oser, Janie Hughes-Oser, Mark and Debra Owen,
Danita Perkins, Teri Post, T. C. Randolph, Marcia Roberts, Mary Sar-
baugh, Deborah Schmidt, William Shields, and Wanda White.

I left the community I called Wabash with very fond feelings, owing
to the courtesy and warmth that so many people there extended to me.

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