Broadcaster, activist shattered barriers
By Paul Wood
Thursday July 3, 2008
John Dixon
Tom Jones, founder of the Tom Jones Challenger Baseball League, poses with kids from the league before a game in this file photo. Jones died Tuesday at the age of 71.
CHAMPAIGN – At a time when institutions were anything but "accessible" to people in wheelchairs, Tom Jones played basketball, visited Africa, earned two University of Illinois degrees and met his wife here, became one of the areas's first sportscasters and served as a top UI administrator.
Mr. Jones wasn't wheelchair-bound, he told people, he just happened to be in a wheelchair.
"I don't know of anything there ever was that he didn't do," says mentor and UI Rehabilitation Institute founder Tim Nugent.
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