Marta Russell first came to California from the Mississippi Delta in her early 20s, answering the call of Hollywood. After working in visual effects for several years, she left the field as her disability progressed (it was before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, she noted). Since then, Russell has written extensively on awareness and policy analysis about disability, and is author of Beyond Ramps. Read more about her below.

Q. What music have you listened to today?
A. I listen to Jack, I’m embarrassed to say it. But sometimes my daughter and I both agree on that. Jack FM is the best.

Q. What’s your favorite word?
A. Yes.

Q. When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
A. An artist, and I did end up being an artist in some respects because of my work in the visual effects industry.

Q. What is your favorite cocktail?
A. I don’t drink.

Q. What is your greatest extravagance?
A. Food.

Q. What is your favorite thing about Los Angeles?
A. I like that there’s so many things going on all the time.

Q. What is the last thing that inspired you?
A. Reading Naomi Klein’s book The Shock Doctrine, since I write a lot about political autonomy.

Q. What is your fondest childhood memory?
A. Riding my horse.

Q. What is the best advice you have ever received?
A. To always speak your mind.

Q. What promise do you make to yourself that you break the most often?
A. Food. Don’t eat too many sweet things.

Q. Who is the one person living or dead that you’d most love to meet?
A. Bertrand Russell. I was always sorry I wasn’t related to him.

To read more about Russell’s panel, on the California’s Armageddon budget cuts, click here.

*Photo by Sarah Rivera.