‘Putting It in Writing–Meeting a Champion with Spina Bifida in London,’ by David J. Marcou.

    In 1981 London, Pinki Virani, a noted author today in India and then one of my housemates, suggested I take a stroll down to Thames Day celebrations on that great river. I didn’t have a better story-idea in mind that day, so I did.

    I approached the festivities from a northern direction, and photographed some people ascending a stairway along the river, after I’d crossed one of the Thames bridges. On that stairway was a girl about age 12 with pigtails ascending ahead of me. Other people, including perhaps her girlfriend, were on the stairway, as well, and a silver-haired man in light jacket and eyeglasses, I believe, was standing along the railing, looking right, at the river. It was a nostalgic-looking photo, revealing Britain between the antique and the modern eras, for me, at least. I had the photo for a while in the States later, but I believe I lost it in 1987, if not before. I wish I had that photo today, because outside of my Bert Hardy portraits, that photo was the best one I took in Britain that autumn.

    I proceeded further along the river, until I was directly across from the Houses of Parliament. I noticed some young men in kayaks coming up to the riverbank nearby, so I approached them, after I’d photographed their approach. I met some of the young men and their teacher-leader from Alton, England. One of the group was a muscular Anglo-African man by the name of Rudi.

   My Columbia Missourian story began: ‘Rudi Christopher wants to drive trucks someday: semitrailers, dump trucks, even buses. Whether he ever will, only time will tell. But if the size of a young man’s courage has anything to do with success, then Rudi is headed in the right direction. He has spina bifida, a congenital disease in which the spinal cord is separated from the column.’

   At the time, Rudi attended Lord Treloar College in Alton. He also lived on-campus, with roommate Simon Singlesby, who said, like Rudi, ‘I want to get on with my life.’

   Rudi was an average student, but a great athlete. He won the 100-yard dash at the National Paralympics, and he also bench-pressed 300 pounds. Rudi’s housemaster, Thomas Potter, said, ‘Rudi won’t sit back and let things happen.’ The young man also loved music, and was a star drummer.