Morris E. Goodman

Morris E. Goodman passed away on January 27th of 2026.

https://www.maitlandfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Morris-Everett-Goodman?obId=47130019 Morris E. Goodman (born November 9, 1945) is an American motivational speaker and author. Goodman has been called "The Miracle Man" following his recovery from a plane crash which left him paralyzed and unable to move, breathe, talk or swallow.

Biography In the summer of 1970 Goodman "was a college dropout, lacking purpose and direction" according to his 1985 autobiography. as well as other books and tapes by motivational speakers such as Zig Ziglar. Following this, Goodman sought a sales career in the insurance industry, where his uncle worked. Within a year, he had joined the Million Dollar Round Table, an association of insurance salesmen. Within ten years, he was running his own company, Morris Goodman and Associates. As he approached the runway, the plane flew through a low-hung set of power lines, crashed to the ground, and flipped over. Goodman broke his C-1 (atlas) and C-2 (axis) cervical vertebrae, and was left fully paralyzed. He was unable to breathe, talk, or swallow on his own, and could only communicate by blinking his eyes.

After initial treatment at a local hospital in nearby Nassawadox, Virginia, Goodman was moved to Norfolk General in Norfolk, Virginia, where surgery was performed. Goodman's sister, Pat Waldo, realized that Goodman was conscious by noticing his limited eye movement. Waldo constructed a series of charts which contained the alphabet and other important subjects, each item correlating to a particular number. Goodman was able to blink his eyes for the number of times to relate to a particular object on each chart, which allowed Goodman to communicate in a limited capacity. and a feature film of his story, written and to be directed and produced by filmmaker Brian Jude is currently in development.

Goodman also appeared in Rhonda Byrne's documentary film and book The Secret together with his wife, Cathy Goodman, who died of breast cancer in 2009.