Linthicum, James

Deaf at 18 months from meningitis; grew up in a Maryland dairy-cattle family, attending unspecified schools for the deaf through 9th grade. He raised a champion steer as a 4-H project, which led to a string of champion animals and then to judging other people's cattle, beginning with the West Virginia State Fair in 1976. His hearing daughter worked with him, interpreting for him. They relocated to Oklahoma in 1978, and he and his daughter continued to raise and judge cattle at least into 1994.