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Photographer: Xavier Vargas

Jerry was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. At the age of 13 he was walking home late with a friend when he was shot by an unknown assailant. He spent the next six months in the hospital learning how to live as a quadriplegic.

He went to Fordham University where he majored in English Literature and wrote for the school newspaper. He also became a member of the National Theatre Workshop of The Handicapped and during his ten years there acted in numerous productions, wrote and produced several one-act plays, and taught playwriting.

Jerry has acted in several short films and is the author of the memoir, Dear Marcus: A Letter To The Man Who Shot Me (Random House, 2012). He is currently living in Oregon where he is at work on two writing projects and a play.