In Memoriam

1956 – 2015



Frank Barham1956 – 2015

I t th during his 302-mile ADA 25th Anniversary roll from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.



With only 30 miles left to go and almost a day ahead of schedule, the escort car following Frank was rear ended by a gasoline-laden tractor trailer, the impact causing the van to slam into Frank. Also killed was Margaret Kargbo, called “a shining presence on Atlanta’s arts scene” and “one of Atlanta’s promising young art professionals and community activists” who was a passenger in the escort van.



Frank was following the route that General Sherman took as he burned a swath on his famed Civil War “March to the Sea. “ As Frank told us last December, “I would like to ‘burn’ the minimizing attitudes that continue to haunt and limit people with disabilities. However, this time, the ‘fire’ will be my music, the ADA Legacy Tour, and a sheer determination to help my brothers and sisters with disabilities.” Frank was raising funds to provide RoughRider wheelchairs to low-income Americans.







In the ten days of Frank’s journey, he traveled the back roads between Atlanta and Savannah, meeting people along the way with the message of disability rights and empowerment, receiving support and encouragement from everyone he encountered. Whirlwind Executive Director, Marc Krizack, described Frank as “the Johnny Appleseed of wheelchairs. He wanted to help people in Georgia and then repeat what he was doing there around the country, so people who can’t afford a good wheelchair could get one." Frank had already raised more than $10,000 through his Wheel2Live Project which he intended to use to purchase RoughRider wheelchairs to donate through Atlanta’s



Frank was also an accomplished musician, playing chromatic harmonica in his band Brazilian Fusion. You can learn more about Frank’s musical life on his



Leaders like Frank don't come along very often. His untimely death is a great loss for everyone who knew him personally, for the Atlanta music and arts community, and for the hundreds, if not thousands of people in Georgia and across the United States who would have gotten a good wheelchair through his tireless efforts. Good-bye Frank. We will miss you. is with great sadness that we report the tragic death of musician, disability rights activist, wheelchair rider and Whirlwind supporter Frank Barham who was killed on May 20during his 302-mile ADA 25Anniversary roll from Atlanta to Savannah, Georgia.With only 30 miles left to go and almost a day ahead of schedule, the escort car following Frank was rear ended by a gasoline-laden tractor trailer, the impact causing the van to slam into Frank. Also killed was Margaret Kargbo, called “a shining presence on Atlanta’s arts scene” and “one of Atlanta’s promising young art professionals and community activists” who was a passenger in the escort van.Frank was following the route that General Sherman took as he burned a swath on his famed Civil War “March to the Sea. “ As Frank told us last December, “I would like to ‘burn’ the minimizing attitudes that continue to haunt and limit people with disabilities. However, this time, the ‘fire’ will be my music, the ADA Legacy Tour, and a sheer determination to help my brothers and sisters with disabilities.” Frank was raising funds to provide RoughRider wheelchairs to low-income Americans.In the ten days of Frank’s journey, he traveled the back roads between Atlanta and Savannah, meeting people along the way with the message of disability rights and empowerment, receiving support and encouragement from everyone he encountered. Whirlwind Executive Director, Marc Krizack, described Frank as “the Johnny Appleseed of wheelchairs. He wanted to help people in Georgia and then repeat what he was doing there around the country, so people who can’t afford a good wheelchair could get one." Frank had already raised more than $10,000 through his Wheel2Live Project which he intended to use to purchase RoughRider wheelchairs to donate through Atlanta’s Friend’s of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC) which has a state-wide program to provide free and low cost wheelchairs and other equipment.Frank was also an accomplished musician, playing chromatic harmonica in his band Brazilian Fusion. You can learn more about Frank’s musical life on his Facebook page, and you can find his music on YouTube . He was using his music to raise funds for the Wheel2Live project and Whirlwind Wheelchair. In February, Frank gave a long and in-depth interview to the Internet Magazine Wheel:Life about his personal evolution following the auto accident in which he became a paraplegic at the age of 26. We strongly encourage you to read it to understand why we need wheelchair riders like Frank to continue to fight for access and disability rights and to ensure that every person with a disability who needs assistive technology should be able to get it regardless of income level. http://wheel-life.org/paraplegic-frank-barham-uses-music-support-whirlwind-wheelchair Leaders like Frank don't come along very often. His untimely death is a great loss for everyone who knew him personally, for the Atlanta music and arts community, and for the hundreds, if not thousands of people in Georgia and across the United States who would have gotten a good wheelchair through his tireless efforts. Good-bye Frank. We will miss you.



Frank met supportive folks all along the way. Left: A woman and her two dogs out for a morning walk. Above: A County Sheriff. Above: Frank on stage with his band Brazilian Fusion. Center: Frank at an outdoor concert. Far Right: Frank taking a break.

