The life story of Max Starkloff, Founder of the Starkloff Disability Institute and Disability Rights pioneer, is told by Charles E. Claggett, Jr., in this captivating biography, Max Starkloff and the Fight for Disability Rights. 

Not only do you get a signed copy of Max’s remarkable story, but you also get to have lunch with the author, Charlie Claggett!

Charles E. Claggett, Jr., is a writer, author, retired advertising and marketing executive behind some of Budweiser's most iconic ad campaigns. He was elected to the St. Louis Media History Foundation Advertising Hall of Fame in 2008. He was named by Advertising Age as being one of the top 100 "Brightest and Best" people in advertising, and has received more than 80 national and international creative awards. Charlie is most noted for authoring the line "This Bud's for you" in 1979.

Max Starkloff and the Fight for Disability Rights has won two awards: A bronze medal in the national biography category from the Independent Publisher Award (IPPY), and the Award of Merit for excellence from The American Association for State and Local History (AASLH).

In 1959, at the age of twenty-one, Max Starkloff was in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down. His doctors doubted he would live longer than a few days, and, if he survived, the hope for his quality of life would be minimal. How did this young man with barely a high school education become the leader of a powerful disability rights movement and the founder of the Starkloff Disability Institute? This is his remarkable story.

Max Starkloff and the Fight for Disability Rights takes readers on an extraordinary odyssey of hope and resilience—from Starkloff’s twelve years in a nursing home to his successful family life and career as a nationally prominent human rights leader. At the time of Starkloff’s accident, millions of Americans like him were confined to institutions with no hope of ever living life independently as respected members of society. But Starkloff and other disability rights leaders formed what became known as the Independent Living Movement, enabling thousands of disabled people to move out of nursing homes by encouraging local governments to remove physical barriers, make public transportation and housing accessible, and pass laws preventing job discrimination. Using firsthand accounts and interviews with Starkloff and those who knew him best, Charles E. Claggett Jr. powerfully retells how Starkloff became an influential advocate for people with disabilities and how today, his legacy continues to better the lives of disabled individuals throughout the country.

Image description: Photo of Charles E. Claggett, Jr., next to the cover of Max Starkloff and the Fight for Disability Rights featuring a black and white photo of Max Starkloff seated in his power wheelchair, grinning at the camera. Text overlaid reads Lunch with Author.