Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
I was invited to go to a swimming pool with a friend and her family. I remember being really excited about getting to play in a real pool. Per the admittance requirements, we all rinsed off in the locker room and waited in line. One by one, we stuck our arms out so that a park district employee could rub his or her fingers on our forearm to ensure our cleanliness. The whole thing sounds crazy now. But those were part of the rules, I guess.
Born in Colon, Panama, and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Gary Forbes had basketball on his mind when he was growing up. When he discovered he had Type 1 diabetes, he worried that it would derail his NBA plans. But, with the help of his diabetic father, he learned to navigate his way around his illness. After brief stints with the Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets, the 28-year-old athlete last played for the Chinese Basketball Association’s Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. Forbes’ latest project is TypeOneTwo.org, an online forum he created to help young people learn how to live full lives with diabetes.
For this month’s prize, I’ve teamed up with New Video, the distributor of the Scholastic Storybook Treasures series, to give away two copies of the children’s DVD BINK & GOLLIE… AND MORE STORIES ABOUT FRIENDSHIP. #WinWithJae