I met Marty so many years ago both of us would never admit it. We were serving on a panel of some sort at a convention of the National Stuttering Association and I had heard of him and he had heard of me. I think we must have "met" on the Stutt-L internet discussion group in the early 90's. My vision of Marty was that he must have been an intellectual executive at some importance "back east" and his vision of me was that I was a wild west cowboy from Texas. I KNEW I was scared of him - and it was only years later that I read that he was probably even more scared of me! I think he must have thought I was going to shoot him with my six-guns or trample him with my horse. Ha, ha, ha! My big fear was that he was going to make me look like an idiot with his massive intellectual ability in front of the audience.
Nevertheless we both survived that panel discussion and we were both amazed
that we really LIKED one another! We were both passionately interested the
National Stuttering Association - we both stuttered significantly - and we
kept in touch throughout the years mainly by email as we discussed every
angle of stuttering and the people in the stuttering community. Every year
Marty and I would come to the NSA convention early and get together and
"hang out" in a restaurant or bar or anyplace we could find to simply site
down and talk endlessly. I remember one particular convention in Anaheim
in 2002, Marty and Vicki Schutter and Umberto Bellini and I met in the
lobby of the hotel and immediately went to a restaurant to grab a bite and
resume our passionate discussion from the prior year - as if no time had
passed since that time. We must have sat in that restaurant booth for two
hours talking and all of us stuttering away, no doubt driving the waitress
crazy. I think they finally threw us out!
When I took over ownership of Stutt-L when Woody Starkweather retired, I
knew that I couldn't begin to fill Woody's shoes without a LOT of help from
some of my friends. So the very first one I asked to help was Marty. And
of course he said yes, he'd be GLAD to help out. And he continued to be on
my "advisory board" up to the day he died. And I will miss his sound,
reasoned advice more than you can possibly imagine...
I remember when Marty's book "Stuttering: A Life Bound Up in Words" came
out. He gave me a copy - personally autographed no less! And I was even
mentioned in his book! I was soooo honored! Marty and I have always been
on opposite sides of the political fence. I am a conservative and he was a
dyed-in-the wool liberal. But we were very close to the same age and it
was absolutely fascinating to read about the happenings during the Vietnam
war from the polar opposite point of view. We were growing up at the same
time, but in totally different worlds. I couldn't put the book down! It's
one of the best books I've ever read. I've often thought it should be
REQUIRED reading for everyone in the stuttering community. Of course it's
mainly about stuttering, but Marty's humor and personality shines
throughout the entire book. He and I agree almost exactly about the
various aspects of stuttering and its treatment and the self help community.
I feel so lucky to have had Marty in my life. I'll miss him - and his
smile and laughter and humor and passion about all things - more than you
can ever know.
Rest of peace, Marty...
Russ Hicks
NSA Webmaster
and Stutt-L and NSACHAP owner