Barb Goode’s Victoria Book Launch

Self Advocates for a Brighter Future are sponsoring a Victoria, B.C. book launch for The Goode Life: Memoirs of Disability Rights Activist Barb Goode. From their press release:

At 6:00 pm on Monday, October 17^th, 2011, the Victoria book launch of “The Goode Life: Memoirs of Disability Rights Activist Barb Goode,” written by Barb Goode with Jim Reynolds, will be held at the new Arts Centre at Cedar Hill, 3220 Cedar Hill Road.  The event is hosted by the self advocacy group, Self Advocates for a Brighter Future (SABF), in celebration of Community Living Month (October) in British Columbia.

Barb has met many of our most influential world leaders.  She was the first self advocate to speak in front of the General Assembly of the United Nations.  She was a key member of the legal team that won the right for people with disabilities in Canada to not be sterilized against their will.  Barb can be credited for sparking the move to plain language legislation in British Columbia.  Since the 1970′s, Barb has quietly done more for equal rights in Canada (and around the world) than almost anyone.

If you ask Barb for the highlights of her advocacy career she will say, “Meeting so many interesting people.”  Like many effective leaders, it is her relationships that define her.  She is the ultimate networker.  Barb sums up her career in one short phrase that says it all:  “Doing things people didn’t think I could.”

Barb will be joining us from her home in Burnaby to talk about her world travels, including her addresses to the Supreme Court of Canada and the United Nations, and her never-ending advocacy in support of equality for each person.  Barb will read from her book and copies of the book will be available for sale.

Barb was a 2010 recipient of the Community Living BC (CLBC) WOW! Award.

“The Goode Life” was published by Spectrum Press in Vancouver, B.C.  Spectrum Press is a division of Spectrum Society, a British Columbia agency committed to continuous learning and improvement through research into leadership and best practice.

For more information, please contact Kristen Kay at kkay@beconsupport.ca or at Becon Support Services, 250-727-3891, or Sharon Sinclair at ssinclair2@shaw.ca or at Kardel, 250-382-5959.

For more information about Barb’s book and/or Spectrum Press, please visit www.spectrumpress.ca.  For more information about Self Advocates for a Brighter Future, please visit www.sabf.ca.  Special thanks to Saanich Parks and Recreation for donating the use of their room for our event; and the CLBC South Island Community Council for their financial support.