ThumbsUp for the Inspirational Kerry Gruson

KERRY GRUSON is an inspiration to all.

I was introduced to Kerry Gruson by Dr. Eva Ritvo, one of the leaders of the Bold Beauty Project (see our ArtSpeak video interview) in 2021.

Gruson was born in London in 1947 but grew up all over the world because both of her parents were journalists who were asked to relocate periodically.

Gruson graduated from Harvard University, where she wrote for the Harvard Crimson.  In 1974, she cobbled together assignments from several newspapers to report on the end of the Vietnam War, which had faded from the headlines in the U.S.

She stopped in Hawaii on her way to Vietnam and interviewed a Green Beret, who had a hallucination, thought Gruson was an attacking Vietcong, and strangled her – leaving her for dead.

Gruson survived and was flown to New York City for treatment, but remained permanently paralyzed, her head tilted to the right and her speech impaired and difficult to understand.

Most people would have given in to these circumstances, but Kerry flew to Puerto Rico to be with her boyfriend, a marine biology student, whom she eventually married and lived with in Miami, where she eventually worked for the New York Times for 27 years.

But Gruson truly started to envision her life’s purpose when she teamed with others — most especially her soulmate Caryn Lubetsky — to participate in competitive sports such as marathons, triathlons, and sailing – eventually co-founding ThumbsUp International.org.

Caryn Lubetsky is a mother of three, an endurance athlete, an attorney, a coach, an educator and Kerry Gruson’s racing partner.

It was an honor to interview Kerry Gruson in her apartment on Venetian Causeway, where she has a spectacular view of Biscayne Bay and the city of Miami.

— Raymond Elman

The videos below are organized by Success Factor, and run between 30 seconds and 10 minutes. Click on any video. You must be connected to the Internet to view the videos.

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