His initial involvement with the organization stemmed from participating as a singer/songwriter in the annual local Woody Guthrie Memorial Concert and Fundraising Event for H.D. This was an offshoot event of the NYC Woody Guthrie Memorial Concerts and the Kansas Chapter was privileged to have Marjorie Guthrie in attendance on several occasions. She was wonderfully organized and a strong motivational speaker. Marjorie always “hung her hat” on making use of Woody Guthrie’s musical heritage in an effort to help people feel better and make changes for improvement. As a guitarist, singer/songwriter, Larry developed a special bond with Marjorie through his participation in the organizational meetings held in Boston, Kansas City, San Francisco and various other cities in the U.S. Additionally, his creation and implementation of an annual Free Throw Classic event held in Wichita from 1982 to 1998, raised substantial funds in support of the various program services of the Chapter and later, the Donald J. Allen Memorial H.D. Clinic in Wichita. The Kansas Chapter and the Clinic has been able to accomplish numerous breakthroughs in research. In particular, the Kansas Chapter was one of, if not the first to successfully develop a brain tissue donor program.

Larry’s special strength as Executive Director and President was in the areas of promotion, media and advertising. He conducted in-service presentations at a variety of healthcare facilities throughout the state where he addressed medical doctors and specialists. Furthermore, he developed a multi-media public service campaign including the creation and production of a TV/Radio Public Service Announcement spot entitled Race Against Time featuring Kansas native Jim Ryan, utilizing the rare film footage of Mr. Ryan breaking the world’s record in the one-mile run. With Jim’s assistance, Larry was able to obtain that film footage directly from the head of ABC Sports, Roone Arledge, resulting in the TV PSA airing nationally through the National H.D. Organization media campaign. Larry also produced the PSA for the Free Throw Classic fundraising event.