‘A kid who would never give up’

Film details life of Linn Hendershot, who died from Polio in 2008

LEWISBURG -- "He was constantly told, 'You could never do this, do that.' He would thank them for their point of view, and then go do it."

Those are just some of the inspirational words Tom Hendershot uses to describe his late brother, Linn Hendershot. Linn's career spanned from a brief time serving as Bucknell University's sports information director, to working with an NFL team, to an extensive career in professional motorsports.

Linn passed away in 2008 following a nearly lifelong battle with health issues, resulting from contracting polio as a child. A documentary detailing his life, "Extra Innings: The Linn Hendershot Story," was recently released.

"It's amazing, his story," Tom said. "And all that he was interested in doing was helping other people."

According to Tom, his brother was diagnosed with polio when he was 2. The family grew up in Warfordsburg, just north of the Maryland border.

"Our dad was the kind of guy that, there was no such thing as 'can't,'" Tom shared, adding that their father used that to drive Linn forward as he battled his illness. "Polio hit (Linn) real hard.

"Linn had crutches," Tom continued. "He was told he would probably never walk and never go to school. ... He walked into first grade. He had crutches, and 20 pounds of weights (on his legs)."

That determination is a hallmark which followed Linn throughout his life.

"Linn never met a challenge that he didn't try to overcome, to the point where he would play ball with the guys," Tom recounted. "He would hit, somebody would run for him. ... When it got to the point where they were playing Little League, he would keep score. In high school, same thing, he would keep score for baseball, softball."

For his senior year, Linn's school was relocated from a one-story to a two-story building.

"It was recommended he go into (high school in) Hancock, Maryland, it was a one-story (building)," Tom recalled. "(Linn) said 'I would never do that.' … He would have buddies who would carry him up and down the steps (in the new school). He was the manager for the baseball team, the basketball team."

Because of his physical challenges, it was recommended to Linn that he attend a small college.

"He looked for the biggest school he could find," Tom said. "He went to the University of Maryland."

While there, Linn ended up handling public relations for the baseball team.

"During his freshman year, the sports information director there asked him to come to work for him," Tom said. "Linn ended up, for the four years he was at the University of Maryland, as a sports information director. ... He ran into a lot of guys that were kind of amazed at what he could do."

At the time of Linn's graduation from the University of Maryland, one of that university's assistant football coaches joined the coaching staff at Bucknell.

"Bucknell, they didn't have a sports information director," Tom shared. "(Linn) was hired. He was 21 … the sports information director at Bucknell, right out of college."

While Linn only worked in Lewisburg during 1967, he was grateful for the opportunity.

"He talked about the lady who hired him, and what an amazing influence that she had on him," Tom said. "She was such a professional, and he learned so much from her."

In the documentary, Linn describes the lady he worked for at Bucknell -- Tinny Isley -- as "a true-blue pro."

Linn resigned from his position at Bucknell upon receiving an offer to work in publicity for the Atlanta Falcons.

"From Bucknell to the Atlanta Falcons, to becoming the head publicist for the United States Auto Club, the organization that ran the Indianapolis 500," Tom said, while detailing his brother's career. "Bill France from Daytona Beach, the guy that founded NASCAR, called him and asked him to work with him."

Among his motorsports endeavors, Linn helped with the establishment of the Texas World Speedway, worked in publicity at Pocono Raceway and served as an owner of the Great American Truck

Racing series.

"Linn's career, in itself, was pretty special," Tom said.

In 1997, Linn nearly died after going into total respiratory failure.

"He was actually living in Atlanta at that time, and spent about three months in intensive care," Tom said.

"He went on a ventilator immediately," he continued. "He didn't anticipate living beyond 40, to be real candid."

Linn was eventually transferred to the Western Maryland Hospital Center in Hagerstown.

"The reason the movie happened, he spent about two years in Western Maryland," Tom explained. "During that time, he started a computer lab (at the hospital)."

Prior to falling ill in Atlanta, Tom said his brother was helping senior citizens do genealogy research on the internet.

To assist with Linn's anxiety of being on a ventilator, a computer was brought to his room at the medical center, so he could continue with research work.

When Linn's computer arrived, a 45-year-old patient who had been at the hospital for approximately 30 years asked if he could assist in setting it up.

"Over a two-year period, they created a computer lab for patients," Tom said. "When (Linn) was released from the hospital, the executive director hired him as the communications director there."

It was Linn's work setting up the computer lab while recovering, and subsequently gaining employment with the hospital, that inspired a family member to begin documenting his life.

"We have a first cousin… Will Furman… that was out in California and was a film major," Tom explained. "He got on an airplane and spent three or four weeks, and did 70 hours of video… interviews with Linn, interviews with people in the community."

While that occurred in 1999 and 2000, Furman began working on his own projects and didn't have time to edit the interviews.

"He gave (the interviews) to us," Tom said. "We gave it to a nephew thinking maybe he would do something with it… He didn't."

The nephew did advise Tom on the type of computer and software to buy in order to transform the footage into a documentary.

However, it wasn't until 2021 that work on editing the footage into a 90-minute documentary actually started.

"I was talking with a former girlfriend of this nephew in California," Tom recounted. "She said, 'Linn's story needs to be told.'

"We started with the idea that Linn was being inducted into the All Sports Hall of Fame in Fulton County, Pennsylvania," he continued. "He was very involved with motorsports, the Falcons, with Bucknell… My thought was we were going to be doing a 10-minute 'This is Your Life' (documentary). It started getting legs."

Tom served as executive producer of the documentary, with Teri Hitt being the director.

The film debuted at the Maryland International Film Festival in Hagerstown, where it won in the Best Documentary category.

"Hagerstown is where (Linn) spent the last decade of his life," Tom noted. "He ran for city council there, and won, while on the ventilator."

The documentary, Tom explained, was named as the result of a 2003 feature on Linn which appeared in the Baltimore Sun. In that story, Tom said the writer outlined the "extra innings" Linn was given in life, after he nearly died.

The documentary was recently screened for the Rotary Club in Key West, Florida, where Linn spent some winters earlier in life.

"Rotary has a universal goal to eradicate polio," Tom shared. "Linn was the perfect example of someone who had the wrong end of the vaccine, but did a lot of things. He is inspirational.

"(The documentary) is sharing a kid who came from a small community, who would never give up."

The Rotary screening was held as a fundraiser for the organization's international efforts to eradicate polio.

"We're taking (the documentary) where it takes us," Tom said. "We want to raise money for Walk the Walk, to continue Linn's legacy."

Walk the Walk is a nonprofit started by the Hendershot family. Tom said the goal of the organization is "to create as much technology as we possibly can for the people that need help."

For more information on Linn Hendershot, and the documentary, visit linnhendershot.com.