His accomplishments as a writer, singer, actor, producer and athlete are impressive by any standards. The fact that Tom Sullivan is blind never has stopped him from competing in this world ... it's just made him try harder.

As a boy, he found himself fenced in his back yard, but he refused to be fenced in by blindness. Tom and his father invented "Sullivan's Rules" so he could play baseball with the neighborhood boys. It became the most popular game on the block, and "Sullivan's Rules" became the rules to play by in the sighted world. And that meant playing almost anything.

Tom competed in the 1968 Olympic trials in wrestling and he rowed with the Harvard crew. He's run marathons, he snow skis with his family every year, and he's a terrific golfer.

His autobiography, If You Could See What I Hear, was made into a major motion picture in 1982. Tom composed and sang much of the music, the coming-of-age story of a uniquely talented young man.

Tom first gained recognition as a singer and composer, playing in summer resorts in New England. He gained national prominence with appearances on The Tonight Show, recorded several albums and performed in Las Vegas and other resorts. A highlight of his musical career came when he sang the national anthem for football's 1976 Super Bowl.

He is the author of five books, including two for children, was a special correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America and has guest starred in such television shows as Designing Women, Highway to Heaven, Fame, M*A*S*H, Mork & Mindy and WKRP in Cincinnati. He's been nominated twice for Emmy Awards.

From 1979 to 1991, Tom and Patty Sullivan organized the annual Tom Sullivan St. Patrick's Day 10-kilometer run, which raised more than a million dollars for programs for blind infants and their parents.