Glider Spotlight: Meet Larry and John Gassman

In this monthly series, we put the spotlight on our Gliders community to celebrate individuals who inspire us. This month, we’re highlighting the Gassman twins - Larry and John!

Tell us a bit about your background and upbringing

We (Larry and John Gassman) are identical twins born in 1955 — 71 years ago — and the eldest of four children. We grew up in Whittier, California, attending schools alongside sighted peers and doing all the rough-and-tumble activities any sighted child would experience. Both of us began using white canes for travel and mobility as freshmen in high school.

Our parents, unsure at first how to raise totally blind children, consulted experts in the field and ultimately landed on a simple approach: treat John and Larry just like anyone else — a decision that shaped both of us profoundly.

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What were your first jobs?

Both of us were hired by Nextel's phone service early on — but the entire department was let go before we ever had a chance to start.

Larry went on to build a twenty-year career with Marriott, starting as a Sales Reservation Agent before being promoted to VI Coordinator, where he tested the JAWS screen reader to ensure compatibility with Marriott's internal software. He retired in 2020.

John's first real job was as a receptionist at the Braille Institute in Anaheim, California, where he later taught students to read and write Braille. After three years, he was hired as Disney's first totally blind Sales Reservation Agent, booking vacation packages for the Disneyland Resort, testing Disney software, and training 17 blind employees on JAWS. In 2019, he was nominated for — and won — Disney's most prestigious honor: the Walt Disney Legacy Award, given to those who dream, inspire, and create in the spirit of Walt Disney himself. Only half of one percent of Disney employees ever receive it. John retired from Disney in August 2023.

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What type of work do you do—both volunteer and otherwise?

Larry was already volunteering for what is now ACB Media when a paid position opened up doing exactly what he'd been doing for free. He interviewed, was hired in March 2022, and now works part-time as a contract employee.

John volunteers with ACB Diabetics in Action, where he serves as Educational Committee Chair, and is hoping to find a part-time role with a company when the right opportunity comes along.

Together, we have spent over 46 years collecting and broadcasting classic old-time radio shows — interviewing radio stars, their children, and book authors about that golden era of audio storytelling. For 20 years we have aired our programs on non-commercial stations, and since 2010, on internet radio. We were also invited to describe and host the Rose Parade for National Public Radio for three consecutive years beginning in 1987, spending time in float barns, interviewing float builders, grand marshals, and the Queen and her court in preparation for each broadcast.

We've also produced and hosted numerous assistive technology programs, including Freedom Scientific's FSCast, ACB's Main Menu, and Accessible World's TekTalk.

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You've given Glide a try a few times. What was that experience like?

Glide has always struck us as something special — the idea that one device could bring together all the technology a blind traveler could need in a single place was immediately compelling. We've been watching Glide grow since March 2024, and it took time to reach a place where we could truly trust it the way you trust a guide dog or a white cane. After 58 years of relying on our canes, we're happy to say we've reached that point, thanks in large part to using Glide at both the CSUN and ACB Conventions.

The real test, we think, will come in truly crowded environments — a massive cruise ship, a Disney park, or an ACB Convention floor. We're looking forward to it.

What also excites us is that Glide is always evolving. In a world full of subscriptions, the annual plan means the software and hardware will keep improving — and with AI in the mix, the possibilities for years to come are genuinely exciting.

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Anything else you’d like to share with the Gliders community?

We're especially curious to watch how sighted people respond as they encounter blind travelers using Glide in the wild. The world has grown accustomed to white canes and guide dogs — and now tools like Glide, smart glasses, and accessible phones are expanding the picture of what independent travel can look like. We think that's a beautiful thing.

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