AQ alumnus Tim McGuire writes about his life story and overcoming the challenges given to him in, “Some People Even Take Them Home: A Disabled Dad, a Down Syndrome Son and Our Journey to Acceptance,” published in 2014. “I think it will make people think differently about down-syndrome, and that is a lot of what the book is about,” McGuire said.

Currently a professor at Arizona State University (ASU), McGuire has accomplished a great deal in his career. “It has been gratifying and humbling to see how many people have responded personally to me since the book was published,” he said. “People who have intense personal experiences with disability have been effusive. Just as powerful for me, though, have been the intense response from people who are not connected to disability but have found the book moving and life-affecting. Those people have reported that my message that family, friends and love can propel us beyond seemingly insurmountable challenges has instilled deep hope.”

"Tim’s book touched me in a very personal way," said Aquinas President Juan Olivarez, Ph.D. "I grew up with a brother with Down syndrome and eventually became his legal guardian. I can relate with his title 'Some People Even Take Them Home' because my parents did the same thing with my brother, even as others discouraged them. The approach to his book is brilliant, inspiring and full of hope for parents, brother, sisters, relatives and friends."

McGuire graduated from Aquinas in 1971 with a major in political science. When asked about his minor, he said he didn’t really have one but then quickly decided his minor was “shenanigans. Anyone who knew me will endorse that,” he joked.

“Aquinas was probably one of the most important things in my life,” he said candidly, “but for some strange reason I was a very sketchy student. My behavior was very sketchy. It’s now obvious to me that it was an essential part of my life and I needed to be able to do that. Then I recovered from it well but the whole theme of the book is how much my adolescence and my college years I attempted to prove I was normal. Despite my disability I was out to show people that I could drink more, go out more, do everything else more than anybody else and that made me normal. I was attempting to be so normal. I became abnormal because I was crazy.”

“There is a whole chapter in the book that goes to the point, in some detail, about Aquinas and my experience there,” McGuire said. “At one point I was called a bum by a group of women and they weren’t all that wrong. But Aquinas allowed me to go out and press the boundaries but yet not go across them and I think that was one of the most important things in my life. I got out of Aquinas and got a couple of breaks. I was one of the youngest editors in the state of Michigan, one of the managing editors of the metropolitan newspaper and was able to have a tremendous career. Aquinas had much to do with that but not in the classic academic way, more in the fact I was able to screw around but still have the basic values I think Aquinas instills. I was not a model student by any means.”

"I have known Tim since we started at Aquinas as freshmen in 1967 and am proud to call him a friend," said Dr. Olivarez. "I was never surprised by his many accomplishments after college, since he was always ahead of his time and smarter than any of us. I always felt he was a ‘senior’ even when we started as freshmen. In his book, Tim’s personal reflection on his own challenges is eye opening because I never saw Tim’s physical condition hamper his ability to do anything. He was as active as any of us. He had – and still has – a great sense of humor."

McGuire started the book in 1994 and got serious about it in late 2012/early 2013. He was almost done with the book when his wife passed away. He talked about the effects this brought to the book, “After she died, my son and I learned a lot about life, troubles, and grief. I felt like I needed to incorporate that in the book, so I went back and wrote a new last chapter that included her death.”

When something doesn’t work out, it’s easy to say that the world is just against you. Tom McGuire has a different outlook. “In the book I say I’m not sure why I always avoided ‘Why me.’ I just always thought it was cheap and almost thought it was simple. I guess I always felt ‘Why not me’ and I hope that I never felt sorry for myself. There is quite a bit about that with my down syndrome. I don't know where it came from, but it’s been with me from the beginning and I believe we all get our cards and we play those cards the best way we can.”

In addition to his son Jason, who is featured in the book, McGuire has two other children. His daughter is a special education teacher, and his son is a producer at ESPN.

Not long after retiring at 53, McGuire was asked to teach at ASU. He called it the perfect situation. “I like to reflect and examine the newspaper industry which meant so much to me even if it is in dire trouble,” he said. His advice for those studying journalism: “Don’t think in terms of newspaper or television. Think in terms of online and reinventing the business.”