Ray Myers, in love with music (8 photos)

When you want to devote all of yourself and all your time to the work of your whole life, then some physiological problems will not become an obstacle.





Ray Myers clearly proved this with his personal example. Ray was born in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on January 2, 1911. The boy was the fifth child in a family of nine children. But while his sisters and brothers were in good health, Ray was born with a rare genetic anomaly - congenital amputation. The child had no arms.



With mother, brothers and sisters

But the boy did not lose heart. And since he was very attracted to music, already at Allentown High School he began playing the trombone in the school orchestra. Ray Myers later acquired a ukulele, which he kept under his bed until he learned to play it.





After graduating from high school, Myers performed at local events such as church fairs and amateur talent competitions. It was at one of these that someone from the Lancaster radio station WGAL was so impressed with Myers' talents that they offered him his own weekly radio program.



It was thanks to this program that Myers came to the attention of Cowboy Loye, a popular country music performer. In 1937, Loye heard the performance of “The Armless Miracle” and invited him to a joint concert. This performance exposed Myers to other musical directions. And soon the guitarist was performing on radio stations throughout the southern United States.



In 1947, Myers played guitar with the Brewster Brothers on the popular WVOK show "Dixie Jamboree." In addition to weekly radio broadcasts, they also performed live concerts. People flocked in droves to watch and listen to Myers play some good old-fashioned music. Immediately after the performance, many visitors headed straight to the parking lot to see another impressive sight - the sight of Ray Myers behind the wheel of his own car. At that time, he was the only licensed driver in the United States who was born without arms.



By 1953, Ray Myers was hosting a daily radio show on WPDX in Clarksburg, West Virginia. In addition to the uniqueness of his playing, Myers was also highly regarded as a classical musician. His long tenure as a radio presenter, when no one saw that he had no arms, is one testament to his abilities.



Ray Myers died in Gordonville, Pennsylvania, in May 1986, going down in history as one of the examples of combining talent and amazing determination to achieve a goal.



With a family