LiteratureSylvia Longmire
The Next Big Adventure
by Mary McGinn
I saw Sylvia Longmire for the first time at Stardust Video & Coffee where the local Sanford
author was reading in a storyteller’s showcase. I watched as she captivated the audience
with sass and sauce. Weeks later, I asked Ms.
Longmire to meet me at Spacebar for a Vita
Luna coffee. I knew she was a writer, but
over the course of our two-hour conversation,
I learned that she’s so much more than that.
Sylvia Longmire is both a freelance writer
and published author. She’s a border security
expert who has appeared on major news outlets like MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, and BBC.
She’s also a singer, single mom, successful
entrepreneur, founder of a non-profit organization, and a medically retired military veteran
living with multiple sclerosis. I learn she’s Ms.
Wheelchair Southern USA, and in the running
for Ms. Wheelchair USA 2016. I leave the bar
buzzing with caffeine and inspiration. I have
a new hero.
January 9, 2016, Sylvia speaks to CNN about “El Chapo” Guzman
now, but from a very early age, they’ve had to tion regarding her border security work can
learn to do things on their own, or have had to be found at LongmireConsulting.com and on
do things by themselves. They inspire me every Twitter @DrugWarAnalyst.
single day. They’ve gotten older and become
more independent. I’m so proud of them. They
Fast-forward a few months. We meet again make their own meals. They wake up and get
You can see more at:
over another Vita Luna beverage, this time themselves dressed for school. They’re incredSylviaLongmire.com
in the coffee shop’s new home at the District ible, independent kids and they’re only eight
photo by Nick and Lauren Photography
at Mills50, a co-op close to Virginia on Mills. and six.”
Longmire has just returned from a solo road
trip across the United States—a victory lap af- Inspired, Longmire founded the PreJax Founter being crowned Ms. Wheelchair USA, a title dation, a 501c3 nonprofit that exists solely to
she secured with the performance of a stun- provide college tuition assistance in the form
ning, three-minute slam poem.
of $1,000 scholarships. According to the organization’s website, scholarships are awarded to
We snag a table and I ask her about her next exceptional students who either have a parent
big adventure: Iceland. She booked the trip with MS or have, themselves, been diagnosed.
through a tour company run by her friend,
Cory Lee, a paraplegic travel blogger. “Part “I had been wanting to give back for a while,”
of the interesting adventure that comes with Longmire recalls. “I don’t know how the
traveling when you’re in a power chair, or a scholarship idea came about, but probably
scooter, or anything, is the variety of levels of because I was serving in Tucson, and I was
accessibility everywhere.” At this point in the serving on education committees for both
conversation, she lights up. “One of my goals, the Tucson Chamber of Commerce and the
while I have the title of Ms. Wheelchair USA, Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. I’ve
is not just programs for kids of parents with always been a strong proponent of education;
disabilities, but just general accessibility. The I went to college on scholarship.”
thing I hear over and over and over again from
able-bodied people who just don’t know is, More information about The PreJax Foundation
may be found at ThePreJaxFoundation.com.
‘Oh, I didn’t think about it that way.’”
Her competition winning slam poem lives
Longmire plans to use her new title as a plat- on her YouTube channel, smlongmire, and
form on which to advocate for those with dis- you can follow her adventures on Facebook
abilities, and their children. “My kids are older @MsWheelchairUSA2016. Further informaOrlando’s Art Scene, v. 1.4
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