TERRE HAUTE —
Seven immortals were enshrined recently during ceremonies at the International Tennis Hall of Fame and Museum in Newport, R.I.
Three were Australians. One was an American. The others were from Belarus, England and Puerto Rico.
The sole American is Brad Parks. Now residing with his wife and two children in San Clemente, Calif., he is the son of Dr. William T. and Larrie (Hope) Parks, Jr., Terre Haute natives and Indiana State graduates. Bill Parks, a dentist, and Larrie live in Laguna Niguel, Calif.
Thurston Parks and James P. Parks — Dr. Parks’ father and grandfather — founded Parks Purity Pies at 2002 Wabash Ave. during the 1920s.
An extraordinary all-around athlete, Brad played basketball, football and baseball and liked to surf, water ski, scuba dive, swim and do flips off the diving board. He also enjoyed snow skiing at Big Bear, Mammoth and Park City, Utah. After watching acrobatic skiers perform tricks, he refined his skills at a summer camp at Crystal Mountain, Wash.
As an 18-year old freshman at the University of Utah in 1976, Parks was participating in a freestyle skiing tournament in Park City when things went awfully wrong. While executing a back flip, he landed awkwardly on the hard-packed snow.
“I just felt a snap and that was it,” he told a few journalists later. “I did not lose consciousness but I knew immediately that I was paralyzed from the waist down, that it was irreversible and that I would never walk again.”
After spending time in a Utah hospital, Parks went to Rancho Los Amigos Medical Center for rehabilitation. Upon being discharged, Brad visited Aunt Margie Bopp — Larrie Parks’ sister — and other relatives in Terre Haute. According to writer Peter Bodo in the July/August 2010 issue of Tennis magazine, the visit had enduring significance:
“ … a local tennis enthusiast took him out on the court to hit a few balls. Parks was a little surprised by how satisfying it was.
“‘You know how it is,’ he says. ‘Hitting the ball, making contact, is fun. I was paralyzed from the waist down but there was nothing wrong with my arms. You hit a ball, it feels sweet.’
“Parks was hooked even though he was playing in a wheelchair he described as ‘something you’d see in an airport.’”
Now, 34 years later, Parks, 52, is being inducted into the most prestigious tennis hall of fame in the world as “the pioneering founder of wheelchair tennis.”
The tennis enthusiast who inspired him was Duane Klueh, legendary Indiana State athlete and basketball and tennis coach. Klueh went to college with Brad’s parents.
Upon returning to California, Brad met recreation therapist Jeff Minnenbraker and the two united to design an ultra-light sport wheelchair. Before the year was over, Parks was obsessed with helping people with spinal cord injuries.
John Chambers and Mary Kay Gerski, two recreational therapists, held the first-ever organized wheelchair tennis tournament at Griffith Park in Los Angeles in 1977. Parks and 28 others competed.
Though he was deeply involved in several wheelchair sports, that event convinced Parks that he wanted to be an ambassador for wheelchair tennis. The rules needed fine-tuning but Brad looked forward to the day when wheelchair athletes could compete against able-bodied people.
On several trips to Terre Haute, Parks reunited with Klueh.
“Brad was very athletic and a great competitor,” Klueh recalled recently. “We would play tennis for an hour or two and then go over to Marks Field and race at full speed for several miles in his wheelchair.”
In August 1979, the Saturday Spectator, a popular Terre Haute weekly, did a feature story about Brad as he began preparations for the 1980 National Wheelchair Games in Champaign, Ill., and the 1980 Paralympics in Arnhem, Holland.
At the U.S. meet, Parks won every race he entered: 100 meters, 800 meters, Mile run and 4 x 100-meter relay. In the 1980 Paralympic Games, he won three medals in racing: two gold medals (100 meters and 1600 meters) and one silver (800 meters).
WTWO covered the Champaign meet and Parks spoke to the Terre Haute Rotary Club on June 3, 1980, a week after winning four titles and setting two American records.
He also gave a local wheelchair tennis exhibition. Greg Hulbert — oldest son of former Rose-Hulman president Sam Hulbert and a good college player — was his opponent.
Though labeled by some as “the best wheelchair racer in the world,” Parks abandoned track for the tennis court. In 1980, he founded the National Foundation of Wheelchair Tennis to promote the sport worldwide through clinics, camps, exhibitions and tournaments. As more athletes became involved in the sport, the Wheelchair Tennis Players Association was organized.
Parks also founded the U.S. Wheelchair Tennis Open in 1980 at Irvine, Calif., the sport’s first international event. In 1981, Jean Pierre Limborg of France was the first international player to compete in the Open. Brad was tournament chairman for the first 18 years of the U.S. Open’s existence. He also won three of the first seven singles titles ihn the Open and 10 doubles titles.
Today the Wheelchair Tennis Tour consists of 157 tournaments in 41 countries. More than $1.5 million in prize money is distributed annually.
As a result of increased international participation, World Team Cup competition was launched in 1985. The Davis Cup-style event has been contested by 52 countries and boasts men, women and junior competition.
Labeled “The Godfather of Wheelchair Tennis” by Sports ’n Spokes magazine in November 2008, Parks has conducted clinics throughout Europe, Asia and the Pacific.
When the International Wheelchair Tennis Federation was formed in 1988, Parks was chosen its president. In 1998, the IWTF was merged into the International Tennis Federation, the first disabled sport to become a part of its international counterpart.
History
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Man with local ties inducted into Tennis Hall of Fame
- History
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Terre Haute Works of Allis-Chalmers closes
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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GENEALOGY: BMD website great for tracing England, Wales
If you have ancestors who trace back to England or Wales within the past 175 years, then the Free BMD website at RootsWeb, at freebmd.rootsweb.com/, is the place to visit.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: WBOW introduced some fine Valley talent
When it first began broadcasting in 1927, station WRPI (Rose Polytechnic Institute) focused on educational programing.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Inventor John B. Deeds and highwayman William G. Murray
Among the many unsolved local history mysteries is the fate of master machinist and inventor John B. Deeds.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: This little-known compromise may have saved the union
When the Constitution was signed in September of 1787 and sent to the Congress that then existed under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was instructed to send that Constitution to the states to be ratified … or not. The message to the states was clear: Accept the Constitution or reject it, but don’t try to change it.
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Traveling Civil War exhibit makes history personal
Civil War history will come alive for visitors to the Sullivan County Public Library who experience “Faces of the Civil War,” a traveling exhibition created and managed by the Indiana Historical Society.
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GENEALOGY: Virginia Historical Society takes on ambitious project
Over the past few months, the Virginia Historical Society has launched an ambitious project to scrutinize more than 8 million 17th, 18th, and 19th century documents in order to identify the enslaved population of those times.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: The Legacy of ‘The Old Silkworm House’
In 1837, and for several years thereafter, a gray sandstone obelisk was installed next to a one-story frame residence at the northwest corner of Sixth and Eagle streets.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A blast from valentines past
Valentine’s Day — it brings to mind simple paper valentines and the elaborate, fancy store-bought cards with multiple verses and glittery covers.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Flu outbreak forces Schulte closed
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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Original copy of 13th Amendment at Lincoln Library & Museum
A fully signed and recently restored copy of the Congressional resolution for a 13th Amendment to the Constitution, the official act that would abolish slavery in the United States, will be on display in the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum’s Treasures Gallery.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Freedom of religion — beliefs and actions
Because religious faith is, arguably, the quintessential example of our right to privacy, to say nothing of its prominent place in our First Amendment, throughout our history court cases involving the free exercise of religion have been handled with great trepidation and with particular care. One of the milestone “free exercise” religion cases, Davis v. Beason, was decided by the Supreme Court this week (Feb. 3) in 1890.
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GENEALOGY: SoCal Genealogical Jamboree coming up in June
The Southern California Genealogical Society announces its 43rd Annual Jamboree, to be staged for three days on June 8-10, at the Los Angeles Marriott Burbank Airport Hotel in Burbank, Calif.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002: Disco Ernie featured on Maury
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Flashing the mayor's badge
This mayoral badge was presented to the Vigo County Historical Society by Elizabeth K. Schultz, the granddaughter of Samuel E. Beecher Sr., who served as mayor of Terre Haute from 1936 to 1940.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Deadly tornado devastates York in 1907
John T. Staff loved water and, particularly, the Wabash River.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Notorious Western desperado Ellsworth Wyatt captured in Clay County
In October 1892, Terre Haute police received a circular from the State of Kansas containing a description of Ellsworth Wyatt and offering a $1,200 reward for his capture.
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LOOKING BACK: 2002: ISU students honor Martin Luther King Jr.
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: News letter filled with wonderful local news
We recently received five bound volumes of copies of the “Terre Haute Onizette,” the Owen-Illinois Glass Company news letter for the Terre Haute Plant.
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GENEALOGY: Peyton, Downey, Fifer queries and a plea for help from Scotland
This week, we have several queries.
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Extension plans seminar on land use
The Purdue Extension Land Use Team is hosting a video seminar titled “Welcome to the Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals” from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday.
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BRUCE'S HISTORY LESSON: Kennedy, Camelot, and other myths
This week (Jan. 20) in 1961, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as our 35th president, and his tragic death by assassination notwithstanding, his was a mediocre presidency that, undeservedly, became the stuff of legend — in part because of his assassination.
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Actor to portray Lincoln at dinner for historical society
A special program, “And Lincoln Wrote,” is coming to Harlan Hall in Marshall, Ill., with a featured presentation by Dick Benach as Abraham Lincoln and Chuck Hand as the publisher of the Prairie Beacon.
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GENEALOGY: Celebrate MLK Day with the Indiana Historical Society
On Monday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Indiana Historical Society will offer free admission to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Light Guards savor military and social experiences
Never during the Civil War was there a time when the City of Terre Haute was in danger of hosting an armed conflict involving one or more armies.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: 87 high school hoops teams compete in 47th annual Wabash Valley Tournament
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: A bottle of clove oil at the pharmacy
The Historical Treasure for today is a bottle of Clove Oil.
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LOOKING BACK: 1987: St. Mary’s Parish congregation celebrates 150th anniversary
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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HISTORICAL TREASURE: Fire up the jukebox for a great night
The jukebox existed long before Glenn Miller’s “Juke Box Saturday Night” swing version.
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GENEALOGY: 1752 is one memorable year for genealogists
The year 1752 is one to remember if you have ancestors who lived in areas controlled by Great Britain; and this includes the American colonies.
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LOOKING BACK: 1962: Terre Haute Works of Allis-Chalmers closes
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