Adaptation

His name is John E. Allen. He is an actor, endowed with
charm and intelligence and attraction, and one of the
realities of his existence is being a dwarf. I met him
at a neighborhood bar; we were seated together on stools
He told me about his life in England, where he was born.
He told me of his normal-sized family, and what it was like
to grow up different. The indifference of girls was hard.
He felt sorry for himself until he was taught to swim by
a man with no arms or legs. He sews his own clothes. He
is writing the biography of a late actor, also a dwarf,
so that people might understand such lives. I said the
story would be universal; not all handicaps could be seen
He told me he got stuck writing sometimes, and I offered
to help. He took my card. Before tucking it into his
shirt pocket, he folded it in half.