Adaptation to a Disability: How a Greenville Resident Lived an Amazing Life Confined to a Wheelchair for 33 Years
Lemon Sisters & Rutabaga Brothers Jazz Group. ECU Digital Collections. https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/56640.
The late Mike Hamer, a Greenville personality, has a web presence with several folk music songs, YouTube videos, compositions, and articles written about him by his friends. Mike Hamer was well known throughout Greenville for decades because of his positive, fun- loving, helpful, and kind nature. Even after a diving accident which left him paraplegic, Mr. Hamer accepted his condition and continued to live his life to the fullest, giving joy to his friends and relatives and anyone who met him, young and old alike. He was a frequent volunteer at public events and elementary schools where he would bring his hammered dulcimer, a rare instrument that he played beautifully while the kids sang along. He had patience with kids and interacted with them kindly.
I had known Mr. Hamer after meeting him on several occasions. His biographical information in this post has been gathered from the Daily Reflector Article that was published in December 2020 by Donna Davis and Bobby Burns and from Mr. Hamer’s Obituary in the Daily Reflector in December 2017.
Mr. Hamer was born and grew up on a Vermont Farm in a Catholic family. He studied for priesthood before getting his degree in English. After college he joined the VISTA anti-poverty program to serve in New Orleans. From there, he took a temporary job in the mid-1970s at East Carolina University and ended up staying in Greenville until his passing. He learned how to play guitar and bass and started playing in The Tommy G Band and other music groups. During that time, he got his master’s degree at ECU and started teaching in the English department while creating and playing music. In 1985, to celebrate his safe return from a service trip to Nicaragua, Mr. Hamer went to Whichard’s Beach with his cousin. There, in a diving accident, Mr. Hamer broke his neck and immediately got paralyzed. He accepted his condition without feeling sorry for himself and started rehab with a positive attitude. Learning to play the hammered dulcimer was his adaptation to play an instrument as he could no longer strum or pick the guitar strings. An enthusiastic dancer prior to his accident, he designed moves dancing in his wheelchair to the music beat and danced with a partner in different clubs in and around Greenville. A recording of his dancing is available in the Joyner Library Special Collections.
Before starting his songs, Mr. Hamer used to give a small introduction to his audience and say this is a hammered dulcimer, not the same as a mountain dulcimer, which is a type of stringed instrument. This dulcimer is played with a hammer. “I choose to call it a hammer dulcimer because my name is Mike Hamer”. He let kids and adults play with the hammer and touch his dulcimer and kept interest high. Though Mr. Hamer was wheelchair bound he had an adapted van that he drove everywhere and even long-distance travel to visit his family in Vermont in the summer. He did not let his condition deter him from living a fun filled life. Mr. Hamer exuded love and kindness and encouraged people to handle life with joy and laughter. He taught everyone to stay positive and accept any situation without remorse. Mr. Hamer taught other wheelchair bound people to dance by encouraging them to express themselves on the dance floor as seen in the video below—Mr. Hamer’s words “Shake Rattle and Roll”.
Joyner Library has a collection of Mike Hamer papers located in the Special Collections. Items from this collection include songs, lyrics, sheet music, poetry, journals, postcard clippings and other miscellaneous papers.
Sources:
Michael J. Hamer Papers Collection Guide: https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/special/ead/findingaids/1348
Wheelchair Dancing Video Recording: https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/65579
Burns, B. (2020b, December 13). Mike Hamer lived “in a world of unlikely possibilities.” Reflector. https://www.reflector.com/features/columnists/mike-hamer-lived-in-a-world-of-unlikely-possibilities/article_16428117-b9f4-50b0-8942-2c6027894261.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=user-share&fbclid=IwY2xjawJg0D9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHvktI6fOuENIRd-3UWAYS08NLV1rGP_7BVUAXFZxFyhAi5m7IXXJ_l4zko23_aem_Rul2MxdcgFsexFcav2N6Nw
Legacy. (2017, December 13). Michael Hamer Obituary (2017) – Greenville, NC – The Daily Reflector. Legacy.com. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/reflector/name/michael-hamer-obituary?id=11832014