The superman effect: Myth or fact?

Here's the start of Analyst David L. Gregal Dies; Repair Whiz Defied Disability, the Washington Post article on which David Faucheux is commenting:

David Louis Gregal, 65, who died Aug. 30 of colon cancer at his home in Washington, was a Department of Labor policy analyst for 25 years, writing regulations and traveling the country to ensure that federal labor standards were observed. Before that, he spent 11 years as an administrator with the U.S. Job Corps, also in the Labor Department.

But his neighbors and friends remember Mr. Gregal more as a man who was generous with his time and his help, whether it meant repairing broken plumbing in the middle of the night or talking people through hard times. Known for his uncanny mechanical wizardry, he kept many of the cars in his Tenleytown neighborhood in running order.

David admires Mr. Gregal's accomplishments, but cautions that the sighted world too often expects miracles from blind people--even though, just like the sighted, they come with variations in abilities.

--Text added by David Rothman.