Jo Franz is an award-winning author who began speaking in 1984 for women. It wasn’t long before she began speaking at conferences and National MS Society events, as well as for high schools, youth events, and colleges.

Jo speaks for various venues, contact her regarding your event!

In 1984 Jo was among the first certified peer-counselors trained by the Rocky Mountain Chapter in Colorado of the National MS Society. In 1993 she was honored to be given the MS Achievement Award by the Orange County Chapter in California of the National MS Society.

In 1977 strange symptoms bombarded Jo, and one year later she was told, “You have multiple sclerosis.” Though the diagnosis was sobering, Jo wasn’t surprised because she had raised funds for the National MS Society the year before due to a friend having the disease. At that time patients were given little hope. There were no disease altering drugs available. “Rest a lot and don’t overdo” was the typical advice given by doctors.

When Jo read a newspaper article about how exercise could retrain nerve pathways which sent signals to muscles and body parts, as well as keep the body from deteriorating with disease progression, Jo immediately made an appointment with the nurse espousing this theory. Shocked to realize how much ground she had already lost, Jo began an exercise program specifically prepared for her needs. She has followed physical therapists’ regimens ever since. She doesn’t walk well, but she does SOAR!

Jo realized life is a gift and she determined to make it an adventure! Though her life took a devastating personal hit in 1984, Jo learned she could go on, and her empathy for those in emotional pain grew from this experience and others.

When Jo could no longer backpack up 14,000’ peaks in the Rockies, she horse-packed into the wilderness with a girlfriend. They were left alone for three days without the horses! She traveled alone through Sweden, Norway, and England using her forearm crutches while pulling a suitcase on wheels. In Israel she worked on an archaeological excavation team, and new friends literally lifted and carried her so she could experience what was off-limits to the disabled. When riding a bike alone was no longer an option, she rode the back of a tandem. Jo learned to ski using outriggers while having her ski tips hooked together at the Winter Park Center for the Disabled. And so much more . . . even a cervical spinal cord injury that should have left her paralyzed or dead didn’t stop her (though she did need her never-give-up attitude to overcome!)

Jo and her husband Ray continue to live that life of adventure through traveling, wild-life viewing, jeeping in the Rockies and just about anything (although taking a kayak out turned into a disaster they can now laugh about.)