Many think of Pendergrass, born 1950 in Philadelphia, as an artist cut down in his prime by a 1982 auto accident. But if that’s all you remember about him, says filmmaker Olivia Lichtenstein, you’re missing the full measure of his inspiring story of persistence, never more evident than in the final years of his life, when he nearly succumbed to depression after the accident that paralyzed him but rallied to regain his voice and his spirit.
Local news coverage about his death in 2010 is here.