Connie Panzarino Explained

Connie Panzarino
Birth Name:Concetta Jean Panzarino
Birth Date:November 26, 1947
Birth Place:New York City, United States
Death Place:Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Occupation:Disability rights activist, writer, art therapist

Concetta Jean "Connie" Panzarino (November 26, 1947 – July 4, 2001)[1] was an American writer and activist for disability rights and LGBTQ rights.

Early life and education

Panzarino was born in New York City, and raised on Long Island, the daughter of Frank V. Panzarino and Antoinette (Anne) Panzarino. She was born with spinal muscular atrophy type III, a progressive neuromuscular disease also known as Werdnig-Hoffmann disease.[2] [3] In 1960 she appeared on posters for a fundraising appeal for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.[4] She graduated from Massapequa High School in 1965.[5] She completed a bachelor's degree from Hofstra University in 1969,[6] and a master's degree in art therapy from New York University.[7]

Career

Panzarino worked in social services in Nassau County as a young woman, but had to quit when her income left her ineligible for the in-home supports she required.[8] [9] She was a registered art therapist and director of the Boston Self Help Center from 1986 to 1989. She worked with survivors of abuse and lectured on sexism, homophobia, and ableism. She also served on the boards of several organizations supporting disabled people, including the Disability Law Center and the Boston Center for Independent Living. She lobbied and marched in Washington, D.C. in the 1970s,[10] for Section 504 and for work opportunities for disabled people.[11] "I really don't lead a calm life," she told a New York Times reporter in 1977. She created Beechwood, a cooperative living community for disabled women. She wrote a memoir, The Me in the Mirror (1994).[12] [13] Her memoir was adapted for the stage and performed at the Women on Top Theatre Festival in Boston in 2000.[14]

Publications

Personal life and legacy

Panzarino had a close relationship with disabled Vietnam War veteran and activist Ron Kovic.[21] They went to high school together, and he thanked her in his memoir Born on the Fourth of July, saying "She stood by me like no one else, listened through nights and days, caring and loving, understanding and encouraging, wiping the tears from my eyes."[22] She identified as a lesbian,[23] [24] [25] and a photograph of Panzarino by Joan E. Biren appeared in Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians (1979).[26] She died in 2001, at the age of 53, in Boston. Her work is frequently the subject of scholarship on intersectional queer/disabled identities.[27]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Brewer . Judy . 2001-08-10 . Connie Panzarino Passes . 2023-05-26 . Access Press . en-US.
  2. News: Goldman . Ari L. . 1977-06-19 . An Activist And Her Fight . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-05-26 . 0362-4331.
  3. Woodcock . Scott . 2009 . Disability, Diversity, and the Elimination of Human Kinds . Social Theory and Practice . 35 . 2 . 251–278 . 10.5840/soctheorpract200935215 . 23562572 . 0037-802X.
  4. News: 1960-11-18 . Appealing . 33 . Newsday (Nassau Edition) . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  5. Massapequa High School, Sachem (1965 yearbook): image 78. via Ancestry
  6. News: Ashkinaze . Carole . 1970-05-22 . Campus Apathy a Test for Handicapped . 6 . Newsday (Nassau Edition) . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  7. News: Briscoe . Daren . 2001-07-08 . Connie Panzarino, 53, Activist for the Disabled . 39 . Newsday (Suffolk Edition) . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  8. News: Lahart . Kevin . 1974-09-03 . 'Be an Invalid', They tell Her . 3 . Newsday (Nassau Edition) . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  9. News: 1975-05-30 . Enabling legislation . 9 . Newsday (Nassau Edition) . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  10. News: Lowe . Ed . 1974-07-05 . This RIder is Along for the March . 9 . Newsday (Nassau Edition) . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  11. News: 1975-02-28 . A Challenge to Laws from a Wheelchair . 27 . Newsday (Nassau Edition) . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  12. Book: Panzarino, Connie . The Me in the Mirror . 1994-04-11 . Basic Books . 978-1-878067-45-6 . en.
  13. Book: Mintz, Susannah B. . Unruly Bodies: Life Writing by Women with Disabilities . 2009-01-05 . Univ of North Carolina Press . 978-0-8078-7763-0 . 98–110 . en.
  14. News: Ascheim . Skip . 2000-03-10 . Feminist 'Eve'; 'Mirror' on a life of trials . 59 . The Boston Globe . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  15. Panzarino, Connie. "whose festival?." Off Our Backs 12, no. 11 (1982): 27-27.
  16. News: Goldman . Ari L. . 1994-09-01 . A Rare Disease and a Rich Life . 99 . Newsday (Nassau Edition) . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  17. Panzarino, Connie. Rebecca Finds a New Way: How Kids Learn, Play, and Live with Spinal Cord Injuries and Illnesses. National Spinal Cord Injury Association, 1994.
  18. Panzarino, Connie. "To my other bodies." Pushing the limits: Disabled dykes produce culture (1996): 85-86.
  19. Panzarino, Connie. "No Decision Here." International Journal of Sexuality and Gender Studies 4, no. 1 (1999): 113-114.
  20. Panzarino, Connie. "Camping with a Ventilator." Access Expressed! Very Special Arts Massachusetts News 11, no. 28 (2001).
  21. News: Kindall . James . 1994-10-03 . The 46 Years of Connie Panzarino . B4, B5 . Newsday (Nassau Edition) . 2023-05-26 . Newspapers.com.
  22. Book: Kovic, Ron . Born on the Fourth of July: 40th Anniversary Edition . 2016-06-13 . Akashic Books . 978-1-61775-470-8 . en.
  23. Web site: Brownworth . Victoria A. . 2020-10-20 . The Intersection Of LGBTQ History And Disability . 2023-05-26 . Philadelphia Gay News . en-US.
  24. Web site: June 21, 2022 . Happy LGBTQ+ Pride Month! . 2023-05-26 . Institute for Community Inclusion . en.
  25. Web site: Boujaoude . Mary . June 28, 2020 . Disability Pride: Five Disabled LGBTQ Activists Who Connected Communities . 2023-05-26 . Cripple Media . en-US.
  26. Book: Nestle . Joan . Eye to Eye: Portraits of Lesbians . Flash . Lola . Lindsey . Lori . Corinne . Tee . 2021 . Anthology Editions . 978-1-944860-37-0 . en.
  27. Corbman . Rachel . 2018-01-02 . Remediating disability activism in the lesbian feminist archive . Continuum . en . 32 . 1 . 18–28 . 10.1080/10304312.2018.1404672 . 148871788 . 1030-4312.

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