Arthur Honeyman

Arthur Honeyman (10 May 1940 – 8 December 2008), also known as Art Honeyman, was a poet, author, and disability rights activist.[1][2][3] His book Sam and his Cart was adapted into a movie in 1981.[4] [5] Honeyman is one of the main characters in the 2007 film Music Within.[6]

Personal life

Honeyman was born to Elizabeth and Charles Honeyman, and was raised with three siblings in Sharon, Massachusetts. Because he had cerebral palsy Honeyman was not allowed to attend a public school. His parents kept requesting education for their son, and beginning in 1947 he was provided with a tutor for homeschooling. From 1952 until his high school graduation in 1959, Honeyman attended Massachusetts Hospital School, a school for disabled students.[7]

His mother developed schizophrenia and was committed to a care facility. Honeyman's father moved with his children to Reno, Nevada, and then to Portland, Oregon.[7]

Career

Wheelchair user Honeyman worked in house-to-house selling from age 19 for four years. People behaved rudely, complained, or even called the police.[7]

He had difficulties being accepted by a college as an undergraduate.[3][7]

In the 1960s, Honeyman experienced communal living in an urban commune and as a co-owner of a communal farm in Oregon. He participated in anti-Vietnam War and civil rights activism. He also burned his draft card, and was arrested three times as protester against the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant in Rainier, Oregon. As a protest action against the lack of wheelchair access on busses, he pushed his wheelchair from Portland to Salem.[7][1]

Honeyman achieved a Bachelor of Science degree in History in 1965, and a Master's degree in Literature from Portland State University in 1974.[3][7]

At the university, Honeyman met disability rights advocate Richard Pimentel, who often describes a situation in a pancake house where Honeyman was denied services as a key moment for his own activism.[8] Honeyman's positive attitude inspired Pimentel.[9]

At age 20, Honeyman had begun writing. Beginning in 1974, he published multiple poems and essays. His first book was the children's story Sam and his Cart, published in 1977: Sam drives in a wheelchair-like cart and sells light bulbs from door to door for living. He is confronted with tragic reactions by others.[5][7]

From 1975 to 1978 Art Honeyman worked as a teaching aide at Adams High School (Portland, Oregon), from 1979 as a research analyst for the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, serving on the Commission for the Handicapped board in 1983 and 1984.[7] He became director of Oregon's Handicap Research Project.[5]

Art Honeyman campaigned for a school board seat in Portland, and twice on a "Spastic Power" platform for the Oregon Legislative Assembly.[5][7]

A variety of publications followed until 2005. Honeyman also wrote manuscripts of his autobiography from about 2005 to 2008. They remain unfinished. He passed away in December 2008.[7]

Movie Sam and his Cart

The movie Sam and his Cart, based on Honeyman's first book, was published in 1981.[4] The film won an American Film Festival Award.[5]

Movie Music Within

In 2007, Warner Brothers released the full-length motion picture Music Within of Richard Pimentel's life story including his friendship with Arthur Honeyman, starring Michael Sheen as Art.[3][6][8]

Publications

Arthur Honeyman published the following:[7][10]

Wheel Press publications (books), 1980-1987

  • Sam and His Cart, 1977 - 1985 (3 editions)
  • The Claws and the Horns, 1981
  • Sam and His Bright Idea: A Christmas Sequel for Young People Everywhere, 1985 (2 editions)
  • Epic: poetry, 1982
  • Vernal Verse, 1987
  • Brownie and His Friend, Sam: Another Dog and Boy Story, 1986
  • Journey: essays, 1982
  • Mr. Johnson Speaks Out On: The Follies of Sexism in the Civilized World, 1986
  • Los manos del poet: poems = the hands of the poet, 1984
  • Umbly Yours: random poems & cover design, 1992
  • Coffee Me a Cup of Fix: Poems for Your Coffee Table

Writings, 1974-2005

  • Poems and essays for a variety of different publications

Autobiography manuscripts, circa 2005-2008

  • Art for Arts Sake: An Autobiography of a Spastic.

References

  1. 1 2 OregonLive.com (7 July 2007). Art Honeyman Hits the Streets. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  2. ↑ OregonLive.com (9 December 2008). Art Honeyman: 1940 - 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Mental Health Association of Portland (10 December 2008). In Memorium: Art Honeyman. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  4. 1 2 Sam and his Cart - YouTube (1981). Sam and his Cart. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Weekly World News (26 May 1981). Crippled man turns heartbreak into award-winning documentary. Volume 2, No. 33. ISSN 0199-574X. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  6. 1 2 IMdB. Music Within (2007). Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Portland State University Library Special Collections & University Archives: Arthur Honeyman Papers, 1974-2008. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  8. 1 2 Portland State Magazine, Lisa Loving (19 May 2008). Pushing for Fairness. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  9. ↑ Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities (December 2007 & January 2008). Informing Indiana About Disability Issues (PDF). Volume 20. Number 11/12. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  10. ↑ WorldCat: Arthur Honeyman. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
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