In 1966, when I was 10, I was in an accident and lost a great deal of my left hand. My mother was devastated that I would not be able to type, a skill that was very important to her. From the Orthopedic Hospital in Los Angeles, where I stayed for about 2 months, she marched to the phone. She asked to be put through to the giant of the 1960's typewriter industry, IBM. Once connected, she demanded to talk to the President! A very nice man came on the line. She told him about the accident. He said, "This is really odd, but I have a one hand typing manual on my desk right now. I don't know how it got here, but let me send it to you as my gift."

It wasn't until 35 years later that my mother and I realized the miracle that had happened. She could not have been talking to the President of IBM. She had asked the operator to put her through to IBM in Los Angeles. IBM had no large office in LA at the time. They must have connected her to a some repair, or sales office. Yet, there was a one hand typing manual waiting for her call.

In 1987 I started booking professional speakers for a speakers bureau my mother, Dottie Walters, owned. Soon I began to write books about the speaking industry. Some about how to be a better speaker, like Secrets of Successful Speakers, and What To Say When You're Dying On the Platform. Others are about how to advance your career as a speaker, like Speak and Grow Rich. (see amazon.com for a complete list of my work)

Two of the speakers I worked with decided to create a book with the signature stories speakers use in their talks. They asked my mother and I to contribute. Those books, the Chicken Soup for the Soup series, became very popular. In the second book, my mother told the story of how I learned to type with one hand. As the book sold in the millions, I began getting calls every day about one hand typing! "Where is that typing manual? I need one!" So, in 2000 I began to write The One Hand Typing and Keyboarding Manual.

In all of my books, I use quotes from famous people. For my typing manual I went to those I knew who had a disability and asked for motivational quotes: Sen. Bob Dole, Art Berg and Bree Walker. On a day I was working on gathering those quotes, I walked through the living room while my husband was watching baseball on TV. I stopped and asked him who came to mind when he thought of those with hand or arm challenge. Pointing at the screen he said, "You should call that guy, Jim Abbott." The TV was showing clips of Jim at that exact moment!

I don't follow sports and had never heard of Jim. "Really? Is he famous?" My husband just sighed in disgust at my ignorance.

I called Jim and asked if he would give me some motivational quotes for the children who would need my manual. Remarkably, he immediately said yes. At the time I didn't realize magnitude of his heart. He always says yes.

I began to book Jim as a speaker occasionally. The more I got to know him, the greater my respect, admiration and love.

In 2003, even though, according to Jim, and my husband Marty, I know less about baseball than anyone in the world, I began working just for Jim.

Today I keep Jim's very busy calendar, book his speaking engagements, take care of his blog and answer your questions.

My hobby is painting just about anything! I love to do face painting in my home town of Claremont, California. I paint on fabric, and have fabric painting patterns. I wrote a book on how to paint cement floors to look like cobblestones, and another on how to paint glass jars to look like cobblestone cottages.

I am married to Marty Schermerhorn, a polygraph lie detector examiner, in Claremont.

I am very active in Claremont Presbyterian Church, and sing in the choir.

I can't imagine how I could be more blessed or more happy.

I look forward to hearing from you.

- LillyWalters Schermerhorn

Lilly@jimabbott.info, 909-398-1228, fax 408-228-8752