Brian Hubbard endured through tough obstacles

Although time and distance can do a number on even the closest of friendships, sometimes the connection lasts a lifetime.That was the case with Brian Hubbard and some of the guys he ran with growing up in East Lynn, including St. Mary’s High Head of School Raymond Bastarache.Hubbard grew up on Woodland Street, off Lynnfield Street. He attended Lynn Woods school, Pickering Junior High and English High, graduating in 1964. Bastarache moved to Den Quarry Road as a youngster back in the 1950s, graduating from the old St. Jean Baptiste High School off Franklin Street.Hubbard hadn’t lived in Lynn for the past 35-40 years, having put down roots in Rhode Island after college, but his friendship with Bastarache and some of his other Lynn friends endured.Hubbard died from cancer on July 8 at his home in Newport, R.I. Those who knew Hubbard are left with memories of a man who overcame incredible obstacles to achieve personal and professional success.Hubbard was born with Usher’s Syndrome (a form of Retinitis Pigmentosa). It’s a degenerative condition that results in full vision and hearing loss.”When we were kids, he could actually see and hear,” Bastarache said. “But gradually he lost his sight and hearing.”Bastarache said he first met Hubbard when the two were about nine years old. The two played Wyoma Little League and Lynn Youth Hockey together. They learned to skate on Cedar Brook Pond and that’s where they honed their skating skills, but once a week or so they got to play at the old North Shore Sports Center on Boston Street where there were actually boards – a much better arrangement for budding hockey players..”He was an unbelievable skater. He was a very talented player, but because he had no peripheral vision, he couldn’t see the puck when it was down by his feet. He started taking some brutal hits,” Bastarache recalled.”His parents knew he had vision problems, but they had him checked out and that was when he was told by the doctors he could no longer play contact sports,” Bastarache said.Bastarache said Hubbard’s vision worsened as he went through Pickering,English and later Bridgton Academy and by the time he went to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, he was totally blind. He had also lost his father tragically back when he was in junior high.”He faced so many challenges in his life, but he wasn’t the type of person to give in,” Bastarache said.To say that Hubbard didn’t let his disabilities rule his life would be an understatement. After UMass, he went on to receive his master’s degree in social work at Virginia Commonwealth University and with that degree, he went on to work as a clinical social worker and psychotherapist for more than 35 years.He founded Counseling for Independent Living, an agency that specialized in psychotherapy for people with disabilities. He also created a counseling style called Empowerment Therapy. In 1995, he received bilateral cochlear implants to improve his hearing which enabled him to host a radio show in Newport called “Stressbusters with Brian J. Hubbard. He also authored two books, “From Emptiness to Empowerment: How to Deal with Life’s Challenges,” and an “Sharing the Light,” which was autobiographical.His sight and hearing disabilities didn’t stop him from doing the things he loved to do, including skiing. He won three gold medals as a member of the U.S. Disabled Ski Team and had the opportunity to ski in some pretty heady locations like Switzerland and Austria. He also enjoyed water skiing.When Bastarache and others in Lynn who knew Hubbard were trying to decide where to hold a local memorial service for their friend, two places came to mind. One was Cedar Brook Pond, where Hubbard learned to skate, and the other was Gannon Golf Course (or Happy Valley as it was called back in the day), where he learned to ski thanks to the old rope tow that spared skiers a walk back up the hill. Although the details are still being worked out, it’s looking like it will be Sunday, Aug. 14, at noon