Illuminating Disabilities via Audiobook

Longtime Santa Barbara Friends Collaborate to Bring Neil Marcus’s Legacy to a Wider Audience

Pamela Dillman Haskell and Rod Lathim | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

Neil Marcus described himself as “a poet, humorist, writer, actor, and adventurer — a fantastic spastic creatively endowed with disability.” He saw his life as performance art, according to his obituary in The New York Times —he died at age 67 in 2021.

He left behind a body of work that illuminated life with a disability. Marcus, who had dystonia, a neurological disorder that causes involuntary muscle contractions and affects speech, is best known for his groundbreaking autobiographical play, Storm Reading, which had its 1988 premiere at the Lobero Theatre and went on to be performed nationwide, including at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and the Doolittle Theatre in Los Angeles.

Rod Lathim in the recording studio for the audiobook of ‘I, Spas-tic’ | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

Directed and produced by Santa Barbara native Rod Lathim, the play was a breakout hit for Lathim’s innovative Access Theatre company, launching the pioneering accessible theater group onto the national stage with what was at the time, a revolutionary and groundbreaking message: “Be who you are, and don’t let anyone else limit you.” The company ran from 1979 to 1996, with Storm Reading as a signature work that toured for nearly six years in England, Canada, and across the U.S. (See a video of a 1996 performance of Storm Reading at the Lobero at youtu.be/XVT9eqeiDdc?feature=shared.)

Revived as a benefit for Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation in 2018, the play and his longtime relationship with Neil Marcus have held a seminal spot in Lathim’s life.

It’s not hard to imagine how honored — and how terrified — Lathim was when he was tasked by his sister Kendra with the responsibility of turning Marcus’s autobiography I, Spastic, co-written with SH Chambers and published in 2024, into an audiobook. CUNY Professor of Disability Studies Devva Kasnitz, PhD, wrote, “Neil’s long-awaited stunning contribution is compelling for the public and a ‘must read’ for disability studies students.” Actor Anthony Edwards, a longtime supporter of Access Theatre, wrote, “Neil lived his life as both an artist and also as a work of art. His memoir gives a fourth dimension to one of the most beautiful humans I have ever met. The honesty, clarity, and precision in his writing is a manual on how to live an examined life with complete commitment to love and art.”

“No pressure, right,” laughed Lathim.

Luckily, he had an expert on speed dial. His friend since junior high, Pamela Dillman-Haskell owns an audiobook production company, Unforgotten Books (unforgottenbooks.org) and knew all of the ins and outs.

Lathim told her about the book, the play Storm Reading, Access Theatre and touring, and his relationship with Neil Marcus. Lathim said, “And she said, ‘Well, I just have one question for you, Rod — why aren’t you recording it?’ I said, ‘Well, I haven’t thought of that. I’ve never done one before, and I don’t really know anything about recording an audiobook.’”

Dillman-Haskell agreed to guide him through it. She said she told him, “Nobody is more aligned with this project than you are. You’re a trained performer from the days of old. You’re the perfect person. You need to do this.”

Lathim got a grant to pay for the studio time at Katas Sound and donated his own time to produce it. Dillman-Haskell donated time, too, and rehearsed and strategized with him on how to do the reading, mostly left him on his own to record in the studio, and worked on the back-end post-production.

“I’m so glad that Rod agreed to do it, because I honestly can’t imagine who else could have done this,” said Dillman-Haskell, who is herself a well-established audiobook actor and often hires other actors for projects under her production company. “If I had hired an actor who had no relation to Neil, there’s just — I can’t imagine, no matter how good an actor he was, that there could have been the emotional connection and understanding that Rod had.”

“I see this as an extension of the work of Access Theatre and am proud to have been a part of making the audiobook a reality,” said Lathim. It is now available on Amazon, Audible and Spotify, as well as Kobo (Walmart), Play, Storytel, NOOK Audiobooks, and Libro.fm.

“It was a beautiful, you know, the perfect storm,” said Lathim. “Pun intended — it was the perfect storm of energy and time to make it happen.”