The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, September 13, 1982, Page 4, Image 4
Inspiration behin
By Vicki Jinnette
An intelligent man with a gift for humor, 4
Harold Eliot Krents is not to be overlooked.
Krents, who is blind, recently gained local j
notoriety with his USC spring graduation
address. His involvement with President J
Reagan's Committee on the Employment of |
the Handicapped and the Broadway play
and movie "Butterflies are Free," have |
gained Krents national recognition. .
Krents spoke to the Gamecock football
team Friday night at the Roost as a special
weekend guest of USC President James B.
Holderman. "The chance to talk to a foothall
fpnrn is A ffrMt rlrpam for a nhilH
especially a blind one." he said.
"A FOOTBALL TEAM is coached
throughtout a week, trained and led, but the
filial analysis of their ability comes on
Saturday night at the game. Then the
coaches must stand on the sidelines, and the
team must do it alone-win or lose. So it is
with each of us in veryday life."
Krents was the inspiration for "Butterflies
are Free," a moving drama about a
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Krents has been blind since he was nine
years old. He said he gave the leading
character an attitude and a personality, but
some of the events in the movie were very
different from his life.
"Goldie Hawn (co-star in the movie)
never lived next door to me when I was 19!"
AS A MEMBER of the President's
committee, Krents has been involved in
extensive projects in large cities, such as
Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York.
He works with major corporations, urging
the hiring of the handicapped.
These corporations make available a
certain number of jobs for the disabled, then
community organizations that work with the
handicapped fill the jobs with qualified
employees or irain someone tor me jod.
''Unfortunately, this is not the typical
procedure," he said. 4'Toomany times the
handicapped are trained to do only one job
so they hope their resources will fit the
needs of the employer. One out of every four
on the unemployed list is handicapped, so it
is a major problem.''
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id 1 Butterflies I
'I don't envy you going
through college or grad school
ind coming out trying to find
obs at this point in time. The
market is cluttered all over the
place. We're in a recession. I
think getting jobs today is
difficult/
? Harnlri Flint K rents
Krents said the White House throws its
prestige behind these projects, but it doesn't
try to tell them what to do. He said with the
government cutbacks, organizations for the
handicapped can no longer depend on
survival through government money, so
they must establish business relations with
the corporate community.
"MY JOB is to put the projects together,
make sure that it's working smoothly, then
get out!"
Krents has helped form a corps of athletes
who volunteer during their off-seasons to
work with the disabled. He said the athlete
gets to choose what activities he'll like to
work with and gets to sit on the board of the
corps with corporate leaders.
Krents said athletes make valuable
contacts on the board, which give them
somewhere to turn when their sports
careers end.
Krents noted this is the National Year of
the Disabled and the Year of the Bald Eagle.
"We're trying to find a disabled bald eagle,"
he laughed, "then we'll have both areas
covered at once!"
KRENTS GRADUATED cum laude from
Harvard in 1967 and from Harvard Law
School in 1970. Though it's been more than 12
years since he's been in college, Krents
seemed like a typical student when he
recalled his days as an undergraduate.
"Harvard men had a reputation for being
very fast," he said, "but I felt it was unjustified.
If you took a girl out from
Wellesley College, which was a good hour
away from Boston, by the time you got her
to the party it was 8:30. With a 1 o'clock
c a
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curfew you couldn't waste time on the
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"During my junior year a young lady,
along with a friend of mine, got expelled for <
skinny-dipping in a nearby pool. Six years
later when my sister was going to Harvard, 1
they posted hours to let everyone know when
skinny-dipping would not be going on! The
rules have done a complete reversal since I i
was in college."
Krents said he has detected the return of
apathy among college students. He said
when he was in college, they all felt they
could make things better, although they
aian t always go aoouc it in tne ngnt way. "College
students have really changed over
the years," he said. |j
"I DON'T ENVY you going through *
college or grad school and coming out trying
to find jobs at this point and time," Krents r
said. "The market is cluttered all over the ^
place. We're in a recession. I think getting *
jobs today is difficult." *
In 1977, Krents suffered a massive stroke.
He was 32. He credits the stroke with his
renewed spirit of life. J
"At 32 I thought I was indestructible.
Recovering from a stroke was probably the
most exhilarating experience in my life. I
don't recommend it for everybody, but it
made me sit down and take a really good
look at myself. I had to ask, 'Who am I?' ana
'What am I?' I wasn't very pleased with
what I saw. Secondly, I had to decide what I
really wanted to do."
"I began to wonder, would I ever get my
heel off the ground, would I ever be able to
scratch my nose again, would I ever quit
stammering? No longer did I worry about
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"YOU CAN completely lose sight of the s
day you have. You have to take it, and live it \
to its fullest.
Krents is working on a sequel to his t
autobiography, "To Race the Wind." After t
"Butterflies are Free" became popular, ;
publishers urged Krents to write his own 1
story. He did, and in 1972, " To Race the
Wind" was released. He said it did well but 1
is out of print.
Then "Coming Home", a movie about a ;
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Jon Voight, came out and was sucessful. <
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m at, i inuugni i was indestructible.
Recovering from a
stroke was probably the most
exhilarating experience in my
life. I don't recommend it for
everybody, but it made me sit
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look ot myself.'
- Harold Eliot Krents
'Hollywood being Hollywood, suddenly the
landicapped were 'in' - like the Hula-Hoop,
^hey were desperately looking for anything
hat dealt with disability."
In 1978, CBS bought Krents book and
nade it into a movie with the same name.
>teve Guttenberg, who played in "Boys
rom Brazil" and "Diner", starred as
Crents.
KRENTS WAS USC's commencement
speaker in May. He received an honorary
ioctor of humane letters degree.
"Receiving an honorary degree is a great
privilege, and the fact that the university
vanted to recognize some of the things that
['ve done was one of the greatest honors of
ny life, so therefore I have a very special
jlace in my heart for USC.
"Secondly, you have decent sports. At
harvard it's a painful experience. I got up at
>: 15 last Sunday morning to find out how you
lid against Pacific.''
Krents said he's looking forward to doing
i tew wnite House-supported demonstration
)rojects with the university.
"THE THINGS you've done, not only in
Columbia, but throughout the university
jystem, deserve to be noted and recognized
jy the nation," Krents said.
Some of the things he was referring to are
he special care area for the handicapped,
he large number of handicapped students
at Carolina, and the positive attitude USC
las about educating the handicapped.
"I think down here the handicapped are
viewed as an opportunity, not an obstacle.
"USC seems to be pioneering in so many
areas. You're not only assisting your state,
but in many areas, your nation," Krents
concluded.
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