Dear Friends and Colleagues,
This is sad news. Ed and Toni Eames are long term
SDS members and important teachers and founders
and encouragers of work on anthro and disability
who went on to even more important work as
advocates in the assistance dog movement.
Tomorrow, as I drive to Petaluma to pick up a
rescue basset hound named Honey who is about to
share my life, I will think of Ed and Toni and
their guide dogs, past and present, both three and four legged.
In Remembrance,
Devva
Please see more on the Memorial to Ed Eames and
his dedicated work for the Disability Community, at link below.
Thanks for the link from Maxine & Missy!
http://www.iaadp.org:80/gbook/iaadp_ed_memorial.html
>We have lost an esteemed anthropologist,
>disability studies sholar and leader, in the
>Disability Community. Please see article and
>links to the Memorial, for Ed Eames, at the link
>below and /or the website at the International
>Association of Assistance Dog Partners
>www.iaadp.org Those of us that have benefited,
>from the extensive work that Ed has
>accomplished, on our behalf, are deeply
>affected, by his passing. Please see all
>assoicated links to this Memorial to a man who
>has touched so many lives. Maxine Hayden & Missy
>Subject: Ed Eames, Service Dog Advocate, Dies in Fresno -Vin News
>http://news.vin.com/VINNews.aspx?articleId=14293
Ed Eames, service dog advocate, dies in Fresno
<mailto:[log in to unmask]:%20Article%20-%20Ed%20Eames,%20service%20dog%20advocate,%20dies%20in%20Fresno>Send
us feedback about this article
November 13, 2009
By: Timothy Kirn
For The VIN News Service
It is perhaps appropriate that in condolences for
the passing of Ed Eames last month, many
expressed sympathy for his Golden Retriever, Latrell.
One can assume Eames would have wanted it that way.
“As hard as it is to lose an assistance dog, I
can't imagine being in Latrell's paws right now,
as the person he devoted his life to protect has
gone,” wrote a woman named Karen, on a
<http://www.iaadp.org/gbook/gbook.php>Web page
bulletin board dedicated to eulogizing Eames.
Eames, a renowned advocate for disability and
service dogs, died on Oct. 25, after contracting
a systemic blood infection. He was 79 years old and lived in Fresno, Calif.
Eames founded the International Association of
Assistance Dog Partners in 1993 with his wife,
Toni, and Joan Froling, a service dog trainer, at
a conference of Assistance Dogs International in
St. Louis. The association has since educated and
advocated for guide dogs, hearing dogs, service dogs and their owners.
During the years since, Eames and his wife, who
also is blind, traveled extensively and
tirelessly to testify and lecture in support of
their cause. Eames authored books on guide dogs and numerous magazine articles.
While traveling, the couple boarded planes with
their dogs in the passenger compartment, and on
trips overseas, their dogs were exempted from the
need to be quarantined upon arrival
accommodations for assistance dogs that advocacy
like theirs helped bring about. They spoke at and
visited many veterinary medical schools.
Eames’ own veterinarian, Cheryl Waterhouse, DVM,
of the Waterhouse Animal Hospital, in Fresno,
said she felt lucky to have Eames as a client
because whenever he brought in Latrell, or
Keebler, Toni’s dog, or any one of the four cats
they also owned, she and her staff got the entire
course that Eames gave when he spoke at
veterinary schools. That is, he gave them
direction on what things they needed to be aware
of when dealing with a blind person and his or her working dog.
Much of the directions are fairly simple, but
they are the kind of things one does not
necessarily think about unless prompted, she said.
“When we are working in our office, we don’t
necessarily announce who we are every time we
enter the exam room,” Waterhouse said. “It was a
lot of little things like that.”
Eames and his wife “did so much for the community
and for the whole world,” she added.
He began his career as an anthropologist at
Temple University, following with field work in
India. Eames was at Temple for 15 years, and
then, in 1970, moved to Baruch College, a branch
of City University of New York, located in Manhattan.
Two years later, Eames was diagnosed with
retinitis pigmentosa and was told to prepare for
blindness. He had given up driving seven years
prior to the diagnosis when, one day, he stopped
at a red traffic light that never turned green.
“After realizing it was a Christmas ornament near
a traffic signal, I decided to turn in my car
keys to protect the public and me,” he once wrote.
In 1987, Eames was on sabbatical and went to
Fresno, where he and his wife jointly taught a
class on the sociology of disabilities at the
city's California State University campus. When
he retired, the couple became active in the community.
"He was a fighter, but he also was a thinker,"
said Fresno City Council Member Henry T. Perea,
in an
<http://www.fresnobee.com/obituaries/story/1687807.html>article
in the Fresno Bee. "He knew the issues, but he did his homework."
In an
<http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/story/1690533.html?storylink=mirelated>editorial
eulogizing Eames, the Bee said: “Mr. Eames, who
lost his sight at age 42, fought to improve bus
service, lobbied for more sidewalks and battled
against the growing trend of roundabouts and
traffic circles in Fresno intersections because
they make it difficult for the visually impaired
to cross the street. Mr. Eames also founded an
organization for people who use assistance dogs.
“He made a difference, and our community is better for his work.”
In another eulogy, Peter Gorbing, president of
Assistance Dogs International, wrote, “I am still
coming to terms with the implications for the
assistance dog movement of losing such a wonderful advocate as Ed.”
Mary Harris, a local puppy raiser, said Eames'
dog Latrell is being well cared for. Latrell has
been seen in public wearing a “retired” guide dog jersey.
“We will all make sure Latrell gets lots of
attention,” Harris said. “He is not likely to be lonely at all.”
Eames is survived by his wife, Toni, two daughters and eight grandchildren.
It is estimated that about 20,000 people in this
country have an assistance dog, and there are at
least 60 groups that train them.
Cell Phone: 510-206-5767
Devva Kasnitz, PhD
Anthropology
EMAIL: <[log in to unmask]>
Eureka Home Mailing Address:
1614 D St
Eureka, CA 95501
Voice: 707-443-1973
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