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Uptown Bill's small Mall is named after Bill Sackter, a mentally challenged man, who became one of the best-known and well-loved Iowa Citians during the late 1970s and 1980s. Though involuntarily committed to a state institution for 45 years-entering at age seven-Bill returned to the community to become "a gift" to those who knew him. His remarkable life was memorialized in an Emmy award-winning movie "Bill" and a sequel "Bill on His Own!" His celebrity is recorded in a biography of his life "The Unlikely Celebrity" published by Southern Illinois University Press.
Bill operated a coffee shop on the University of Iowa campus from 1974 to 1983 until he died at age 70. Wild Bill's Coffeeshop is still a part of the University of Iowa's School of Social Work (located on the 1st floor of North Hall) and is operated by people with disabilities.
A documentary, "Bill Sackter: A Special Spirit" by Iowa City filmmaker Lane Wyrick is in the works and will premiere down the road in 2003.
For more information, go to Uptown Bills small Mall's website.
