Bob Dylan’s Family In Fund Raiser For People With Disabilities

Even the bard of the 60s, the famous artist Bob Dylan lives in the shadow of disabilities

By Stephen Pate – The article Stacy Dylan: This mom is rockin’ the cause for Crohn’s Disease enlightened us that Bob Dylan’s grandson is coping with a severe disability. Of course, Dylan himself is said to be living with at least a moderate disability.

Lowell Dylan (Facebook photo)

Dylan’s grandson, Lowell Dylan, has Crohn’s Disease. Lowell is the son of Samuel and Stacy Dylan. Samuel Dylan is Bob Dylan’s 4th of 6 children and a brother of Jakob Dylan of The Wallflowers.

“Lowell is now 14, and taking care of him, the younger of two children, is ‘a full-time job and more,’  Stacy Dylan said. His care requires special diets and monitoring, along with ‘dealing with tutors, doctors, specialists, massage therapists, hypnotherapists. I’m basically a case manager, mom and a cook.'”

Lowell’s mother Stacy Dylan, along with providing care-giving for Lowell, is a marriage and family therapist. Since 2010 she has been active in fund-raising and advocacy for people with Crohn’s and colitis. She and another mother of a child with colitis have started a non-profit charity to raise money for others called Connecting to Cure Crohn’s and Colitis. Facebook

This year they are holding their 4th fund-raiser at the famous Troubadour Club in Hollywood. “The headliner will be Jakob Dylan, lead singer and songwriter for The Wallflowers.” Both Jakob and Samuel are the sons of Bob Dylan.

Disability conjures up negative images in the minds of some but that is not realistic. A person with a disability is simply someone who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity.

Disability is a fact of life for 50 million Americans and one-in-six people.  People with disabilities have normal lives, go to university, marry, raise families and have successful careers. Disability does not make someone useless or stupid. It simply means they need an accommodation or adaptation for doing what others take for granted.

I’ve lived with disability from polio for 64 years. I had 10 children, started 5 businesses, including a successful software IPO, and performed in rock and folk bands.

Almost every family is touched by disability including plenty of artists like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Mia Farrow, Alan Alda and Genesis drummer Phil Collins.

While he hasn’t admitted it, Bob Dylan is rumored to have arthritis so severe that he can no longer play guitar on stage.  For many years, Dylan accommodated that disability by playing keyboards. Lately, he has even abandoned playing keyboards for singing, harmonica playing and less keyboard playing.

Guitar playing was certainly for Bob Dylan a major life activity. It’s not unusual that Dylan might have a disability. He will be 74 years old this year. 37% of people aged 65 and older have a disability. It’s simply a fact of life that we become disabled as we age.

Those accommodations  allow Dylan to perform with his arthritis. More than half a million fans around the world are glad Bob Dylan makes the effort to continue performing, despite any change in his abilities.

Rock the Night to Cure Crohn’s and Colitis will be held on April 18 at 7 p.m. at the Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. For more information, visit connectingtocure.org. Twitter @connectingtocure Facebook

Find Jakob Dylan on Amazon.com and iTunes Store – Jakob Dylan

Jakob Dylan 2014 Fundraiser for Connecting To Cure Crohn’s and Colitis (all photographs from Facebook and the property of Connecting To Cure Crohn’s and Colitis – no commercial use allowed)

Dana Zatulove, Butch Walker, Stacy Dylan, Ryan Bingham, Jakob Dylan at 2014 Fundraiser (all photographs from Facebook and the property of Connecting To Cure Crohn’s and Colitis – no commercial use allowed)

Jakob Dylan and the band at 2014 Fundraiser (all photographs from Facebook and the property of Connecting To Cure Crohn’s and Colitis – no commercial use allowed)

Dylan siblings (Samuel, Stacy, Mike McCready, Jakob, (unidentified), Jesse, and Dana Zatulove at 2014 Fundraiser (all photographs from Facebook and the property of Connecting To Cure Crohn’s and Colitis – no commercial use allowed)

Jakob Dylan and Butch Walker at 2014 Fundraiser (all photographs from Facebook and the property of Connecting To Cure Crohn’s and Colitis – no commercial use allowed)

Stacy and Jakob Dylan at 2014 Fundraiser (all photographs from Facebook and the property of Connecting To Cure Crohn’s and Colitis – no commercial use allowed)

Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) Jakob Dylan at 2014 Fundraiser (all photographs from Facebook and the property of Connecting To Cure Crohn’s and Colitis – no commercial use allowed)