Undaunted By Blindness

Concise biographies of 400 people who refused to let visual impairment define them

undaunted by blindness Concise biographies of 400 people who refused to let visual impairment define them

Clifford E. Olstrom

All We See is Possibility

Acknowledgments For ideas and assistance on this project, I’d like to thank Marilyn Rea Beyer, Rebecca Fater, Jan Seymour-Ford, Tuan Le, Patricia Nieshoff, Marianne Riggio, Gunilla Stenberg Stuckey, Ken Stuckey, Mary Zatta and a special thanks to Carl Augusto, Cindy Olstrom, and Ruth Olstrom.

Š2011 Second Edition, 2011. Perkins School for the Blind. All rights reserved.

Every effort has been made to acknowledge commercial products mentioned in this publication whose names are trademarks or registered trademarks.

ISBN 978-0-9822721-8-3 Library of Congress Control Number: 2001012345 Printed in USA This publication was funded in part by a grant from The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation of Reno, Nevada, in cooperation with Perkins School for the Blind, Watertown, Massachusetts USA.

To blind persons and librarians everywhere

h

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About the Author Clifford E. Olstrom was born in 1945 in Lansing, Michigan. Olstrom attended Michigan public schools.

He graduated from Western Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in 1967 and a master’s degree in Blind Rehabilitation in 1968. He was the supervisor of the Orientation & Mobility Department for the Bureau of Blind Services’ Rehabilitation Center in Daytona Beach, Florida from 1968 to 1969 and Orientation & Mobility Instructor in the Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tampa, Florida from 1969 to 1971.

From 1971 to present, Olstrom has been Executive Director of the Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind, a non-profit rehabilitation agency for persons who are blind or visually impaired.

Contents Foreword.....................................................6 Introduction................................................8 Biographies................................................10 Chronological Index................................305 Geographical Index..................................313

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Foreword When I was a young boy, I was diagnosed with pre-senile cone dysfunction, a disorder that would lead to eventual blindness. My parents were devastated and could not imagine how I could live independently if I became blind. Like so many other people, they did not know anyone who was blind. They knew only two extremes: the less-than-flattering stereotypes about blind people or at the other end of the spectrum, a rare individual like Helen Keller. Those who are blind or visually impaired have often told me their biggest barrier is not vision loss itself, but society’s view of them as blind people.

Having worked in the blindness field my entire adult life, I’ve met thousands of people with vision loss. They are students attending mainstream schools who are more than capable of keeping up with or surpassing their sighted peers. They’re working nine-to-five jobs and doing them well.

They are raising families, volunteering in their communities and running marathons. Simply put, they’re going about their lives, but in a world made for the sighted. And they are proving every day that blind people can do virtually anything sighted people can, despite the obstacles.

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This book will inform, inspire and sometimes surprise.

The diverse individuals profiled in the pages that follow, demonstrate that people with visual impairments can achieve extraordinary things. I’ve had the privilege of meeting several of the people featured in this volume and they are indeed noteworthy. My hope is that in reading these four hundred concise biographies, parents of visually impaired children will have hope for their child’s future, employers will be motivated to hire workers with vision loss, teachers of the blind will have high expectations for their students’ success and blind people themselves will aspire to any dream.

Carl R. Augusto President and CEO American Foundation for the Blind

“ The only limits in your life are those you accept yourself.”

— Miles Hilton-Barber B o r n 1 9 48 , H a r a r e , Z i m b a b w e Biography: page 151

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Introduction The purpose of this book is to provide concise biographical information about four hundred notable blind persons. The people in this volume are but a small sample of the many thousands of notable blind persons in history. Most of the information about their lives comes from secondary sources. Where feasible some of the subject’s own words were used.

This book came about from a love of history and from inspiration I gained in 1968 reading Ishbel Ross’s book, Journey into Light (1951). Her book, subtitled The Story of the Education of the Blind, included biographical information about many interesting people who were blind. A few years later I began collecting biographical information on a few dozen blind people and conceived of a book containing the stories of about two hundred such persons. As research continued, the list of notable blind persons grew to over eight hundred. I selected the four hundred with the most available information about their lives and those whom I thought would be of the greatest interest to the reader.

A high percentage of those included were totally or nearly totally blind for the majority of their adult lives.

However, there are also those who became blind late in life and those who had some useful vision their entire lives. All were considered legally blind, and those

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who became blind later in life had achievements or celebrity after becoming visually impaired. For the most part, I did not write about the notable’s romantic life, marriages, or families. I also did not include most awards and citations. Some exceptions were Grammy Awards, Knighthoods, Oscars, and Presidential Awards.

Although musicians and writers are the most common occupations of those listed, a wide variety of occupations are represented, including administrators, innovators, teachers, singers, politicians, songwriters, composers, athletes, poets, ministers, scientists, judges, physicians, radio broadcasters, mathematicians, philanthropists, historians, businesspeople, and actors.

Most of the people listed were well known or famous during their lifetimes. Some, such as Arthur Blake, Louis Braille, and Mary Ingalls, were not well known but became famous after they died.

Finally, much effort was made to check and recheck the information included; however, in case of mistakes, I apologize.

Clifford E. Olstrom Executive Director Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind

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MICHAEL AARONSOHN Born July 5, 1896, in Baltimore, Maryland Died February 25, 1976, in Cincinnati, Ohio Soldier, rabbi, patriot, and writer, Michael Aaronsohn displayed courage and intelligence in his life and work.

Aaronsohn attended Johns Hopkins University before volunteering for military service in 1916. He served as a sergeant major in the 147th Infantry of the United States Army in World War I. A German shell blinded him in 1918 while he was rescuing a man in his unit. After spending time in hospitals in France and England, he returned to the United States. He continued his education, graduating from the University of Cincinnati and Hebrew College in 1923.

From 1923 to 1931, Aaronsohn was a field representative of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, and for many years had special staff duty at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Aaronsohn served as national chaplain of the Disabled American Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In 1937 he was a representative for the American Battle Monuments Commission, dedicating World War I monuments in France.

Aaronsohn was active in national Republican politics for many years and was a participant in the Republican National Convention in 1940. He was highly critical of the Roosevelt Administration’s New Deal programs, saying they used communistic doctrine. In 1938 he said, “The New Deal has caused the nation, conceived in liberty, to become enchanted by the monster [communism] . . . The technique of the communists calls for class hatred. This has been the practice of the New Deal administration.”

Aaronsohn wrote three autobiographical narratives in which he recounts history in the form of a drama. The first, Broken Lights

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(1946), covers Aaronsohn’s life up to age twenty-seven and includes his family background, schooling, service in the army, becoming blind, and his rehabilitation. In it he wrote, “More than all else in the world of darkness he dreaded the unguarded pity of fellow men.

Like poisoned arrows, pity gangrened his soul, his sense of human worth.” The second, Red Pottage (1956), covers American history and Aaronsohn’s part in it from 1923 to 1943. The third, That the Living May Know (1973), recounts Aaronsohn’s life and events in American history from 1903 to 1957.

From 1954 to 1974, Aaronsohn was a visiting Jewish chaplain at Veteran Hospitals in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Fort Thomas, Kentucky.

Once, when asked why he volunteered for the Army when he was exempt from military service as a theological student, he said, “I could not go through life constantly reminding myself that at a time like this, when the country called for volunteers, I let others go while I stayed home. My conscience would never stop tormenting me.”

VIRGINIA ADAIR Born February 28, 1913, in New York, New York Died September 16, 2004, in Los Angeles, California Adair composed her first poem at age two and had many poems published in magazines. She taught English at California State Polytechnic University for many years. Adair became blind in her early eighties from glaucoma, and at age eighty-three published her first book of poetry, Beliefs and Blasphemies (1998). She subsequently published three more books, Ants on the Melon (1999), Living on Fire: A Collection of Poems (2000), and New Daughters of the Oracle: The Return of Female Prophetic Power in Our Time (2001).

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ALMEDA C. ADAMS Born February 26, 1865, in Meadville, Pennsylvania Died September 8, 1949, in Cleveland, Ohio Almeda Adams dedicated her life to teaching music, especially to underprivileged children. The daughter of a Baptist minister, she lost her sight when she was about six months old. Adams began attending the Ohio State School for the Blind at the age of seven and graduated in 1885. She studied music for two years at the New England Conservatory, and taught piano and voice from 1887 to 1901 at the Lincoln Normal University in Nebraska.

In 1901 Adams moved to Cleveland, Ohio, and taught music to children in three settlement houses (community centers). In 1912 she started Cleveland’s Music School Settlement for underprivileged children. She taught music in this program until 1948. In August 1926, Adams began a year-long trip through Europe and later wrote a book about her experiences, Seeing Europe Through Sightless Eyes (1929).

Adams said she had three guideposts she lived by: “Don’t lean on pity (stand alone); help others, for that no one needs eyesight, just insight; and have faith.” A music critic in Cleveland who was initially skeptical about her ability to teach because of her blindness later said, “Music in Cleveland needed more teachers of Almeda Adams’s ability and conscientiousness.”

GARY ADELMAN Born July 1, 1935, in Brooklyn, New York Adelman showed symptoms of diabetes when he was thirteen years old. The diabetes caused his deteriorating vision at age twentyeight, and by age thirty he was totally blind. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1957, a master’s degree

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from Columbia University in 1958, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1962. Adelman taught English from 1959 to 1963 at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. He was a professor of English at the University of Illinois from 1963 to 2006.

Adelman is the author of Political Poems (1968) and an autobiographical novel in poetry and prose, Honey Out of Stone (1970). He has also written several books on English literature, including Heart of Darkness: Search for the Unconscious (1987), Anna Karenina: The Bitterness of Ecstasy (1990), Snow of Fire: Symbolic Meaning in “The Rainbow” and “Women in Love” (1991), Jude the Obscure: A Paradise of Despair (1992), Retelling Dostoyevsky: Literary Responses and Other Observations (2001), Reclaiming D. H. Lawrence: Contemporary Writers Speak Out (2002), and Naming Beckett’s Unnamable (2004).

SALLY HOBART ALEXANDER Born October 17, 1943, in Owensboro, Kentucky A professional writer of children’s books, Sally Hobart Alexander writes about blindness and how other people are affected by it. After graduating from Bucknell University, Sally Hobart taught elementary school in Long Beach, California.

In 1967 at the age of twenty-four Hobart became blind due to detached retinas. She moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and took a training program for the adult blind at the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind. She taught for a year at the Guild and then earned a master’s degree in social work from the University of Pittsburgh.

Alexander worked as a child therapist at St. Francis Hospital in Pittsburgh from 1973 to 1976.

In 1974 she married Robert Alexander, a college professor, and they had a son and a daughter. Raising two young children, Alexander discovered a talent for inventing stories. She joined a writing group

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and began writing down her stories. She became a professional writer of children’s books. She wrote Sarah’s Surprise (1990) about a girl who helps her mother when the mother hurts her ankle hiking on a beach; Mom Can’t See Me (1990) about a nine-year-old girl’s description of her mother’s life as a blind person; Maggie’s Whopper (1992) about a seven-year-old girl who gives up a prize fish to save her great uncle from a bear; Mom’s Best Friend (1992) about the author’s loss of her first guide dog; and Do You Remember the Color Blue? (2000), questions kids ask about blindness. Alexander also wrote two autobiographical books, Taking Hold, My Journey Into Blindness (1994) and On My Own: The Journey Continues (1997). About her blindness Alexander has said, “Because of this challenge, I’ve grown in ways I never would have. It has changed me as a human being, deepened me. I’ve been asked, ‘If you could regain your sight, would you do it in exchange for everything you’ve learned and all the ways you’ve grown?’ I have to say no. I think I am a better person because of my experience with blindness.”

FULTON ALLEN Born July 10, 1907, in Wadesboro, North Carolina Died February 13, 1941, in Durham, North Carolina One of the most recorded bluesmen of the late 1930s, Fulton Allen, called Blind Boy Fuller, influenced many bluesmen including Carolina Slim, Alec Seward, and Ralph Willis. Allen lived the fast life, drinking, carousing, and constantly traveling. Despite being totally blind, Allen carried a gun that he once used to threaten his manager, J. B. Long.

Allen was born into a sharecropper’s family of ten children. Soon after his birth, the family moved to Rockingham, North Carolina.

Allen began losing his sight in his teens, and by age twenty-one he was totally blind, probably from gonococcal conjunctivitis. He learned to play guitar by listening to phonograph records. He began playing

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and singing for pay on street corners and at parties in Rockingham.

About 1929 he moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Fuller married Cora Mae Martin in 1927, and they had one adopted child. Fuller was once arrested for shooting Cora in the leg with his gun, but was released when she refused to press charges. This incident resulted in Fuller writing the song “Big House Bound” that begins, “I never will forget the day they transferred me to the county jail/ I never will forget the day they transferred me to the county jail/ I had shot the woman I love; ain’t got no one to come go my bail.”

Allen moved to Durham, North Carolina, about 1933, where he played near the tobacco factories and on street corners. There he met J. B. Long, a record store owner, who helped him get a recording deal in 1935. Between 1935 and 1940 he recorded over 130 songs as Blind Boy Fuller. On many of his early recordings Fuller was accompanied

by Blind Gary Davis, and on later recordings by blind harmonica player Sonny Terry. Some of his most well-known recordings are “Careless Love,” “Jivin’ Woman Blues,” “Rag Mama Rag,” “I’m a Rattlesnakin’ Daddy” (1935), “Mama Let Me Lay It on You” (1936), “Truckin’ My Blues Away” (1936), “Little Woman You’re So Sweet” (1940), and “Step It Up and Go” (1940).

According to one of Sonny Terry’s nephews, Fuller and Terry once argued over a song. Fuller told Terry, “I ain’t gonna get up on you.

I know you got that big knife, but if you move I’ll know where you at.” Terry had a gun as well, and the nephew said they both shot at each other. Another bluesman, Willie Trice, sometimes traveled with Fuller and knew him well. Trice said Fuller was fun to be around but carried a pistol and had a fiery temper. Trice said, “If Fuller got mad at you, you’d better stand still and not say a word.”

Fuller also made some religious recordings under the name Brother George and the Sanctified Singers. His last recording session was in June 1940. Fuller developed kidney disease in his late twenties and died at age thirty-three from blood poisoning.

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Blues expert Robert Santelli said, “Fuller sang and played in a variety of blues styles that featured intricate finger-picking passages; still others contain rough-cut bottleneck guitar playing. In short, few bluesmen from this period were more stylistically versatile than Blind Boy Fuller.”

ROBERT G. ALLMAN Born July 23, 1918, in Atlantic City, New Jersey Died May 28, 1994, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania A successful attorney, star athlete, would-be Congressman, and civic leader, Allman was a founder of the United States Blind Golfers Association. Allman was blinded in an accident at age four when he fell from the top of a railroad car he was playing on and injured his head. He attended Overbrook School for the Blind where he said, “I learned things I could do instead of things I couldn’t do.”

Allman graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1939 and earned a law degree in 1942. In college Allman was an intercollegiate wrestling star and captain of the University of Pennsylvania wrestling team his senior year.

After being admitted to the Bar he practiced general law, specializing in adoption cases for more than forty years. For a short time in 1947 he had a weekly sports radio show on a Philadelphia radio station. Commenting on all his jobs, Allman joked, “I work at law during the day, insurance at night, radio on Saturdays, and blondes anytime.”

Allman became a golfer and in 1948 founded the Middle Atlantic Blind Golfers Association. He helped found the United States Blind Golfers Association in 1953 and was its first president.

Allman was involved with many community organizations and spoke at schools about overcoming adversity. He was interested in politics

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and was a ward committeeman for many years. In 1976 Allman ran in a Democratic primary for the First Congressional District in Pennsylvania. He lost to the other Democratic candidate by a large margin, even though his opponent had died fifteen days before the election. Allman received a lot of ribbing about losing to a dead man and he joked about it as well. He ran again for the Congressional seat in 1978 and 1980 but was unsuccessful.

ALICIA ALONSO Born December 21, 1921, in Havana, Cuba One of the greatest ballerinas of all time, Alonso is considered a national treasure in Cuba.

Born Alicia Ernestina de la Caridad del Cobre Martinez Hoyo (Alicia Martinez), she was the youngest of four children in a wellto-do family. She became interested in dance as a young child and at age nine began taking ballet classes. By age fourteen she was Havana’s foremost ballerina. At sixteen she went to New York, New York, and soon after married Fernando Alonso, a fellow ballet school student who was also from Havana, Cuba. Their daughter Laura was born in 1938, and at age one and a half was sent to live with her grandparents in Cuba.

Alonso began touring with the American Ballet Caravan. In 1940 she tried out and was chosen by the Ballet Theatre. She was beginning to become well known as a ballerina, when in 1941 at age nineteen she lost sight in both eyes from detached retinas. After several operations on her eyes, she had to lie still in bed for several months. Her muscles atrophied and she needed assistance when she began walking again. Slowly she regained her strength and began dancing again with partial vision. Alonso relearned to move onstage with the aid of strategically positioned spotlights. She danced in the United States from 1943 to 1948.

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In 1948 Alonso and her husband returned to Cuba and formed the Ballet Alicia Alonso, touring in South America, the United States, and Cuba. In 1950 she established her own ballet school and performed again in the United States.

In 1953 Alonso again suffered detached retinas and also developed cataracts. In 1957 she danced as a guest artist with the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow, Russia. In 1959 when Fidel Castro took over the government of Cuba, he met with Alonso and gave her money to create a school and ballet company, the Ballet Nacional de Cuba.

Alonso was almost totally blind in the 1960s but continued to dance and toured Europe and the Soviet Union. In 1972 she had surgery for detached retinas and cataracts, leaving her totally blind in one eye and with some useful vision in the other eye. In 1975 she danced again in the United States.

Nearly totally blind and in her late fifties, Alonso was asked why she was still dancing. She replied, “I know people say, why doesn’t she retire and be happy? I go on dancing because it makes me feel good mentally and physically when I dance. It is a necessary thing. So far my body demands it—and so does my mind.”

In a letter to Alonso, Arnold L Haskell, the British dance historian wrote, “With you, all critics’ phrases are meaningless. How can you interpret Giselle when you are Giselle? . . . Cuba is fortunate to possess you; you belong to the world, and are already an immortal in the history of our great art.”

LON E. ALSUP Born April 25, 1898, in Carthage, Texas Died August 7, 1969, in San Antonio, Texas As a businessman, state legislator, and administrator of a state agency for the blind, Lon Alsup gained a reputation for innovation, dedication, and sincerity.

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Born blind, Alsup was educated at the Texas School for the Blind. At age twenty-three he supported himself by tuning pianos and started a music store business, which prospered. In 1930 he ran for and was elected to a seat in the Texas House of Representatives. He was reelected five times, serving from 1931 to 1942. As a legislator he was known as a watchdog of the State Treasury and helped pass legislation that created the Texas Commission for the Blind.

In 1942 Alsup resigned his seat in the legislature and became Executive Director of the Texas Commission for the Blind. He held that position from 1942 until his retirement in 1966.

During his tenure he did formative work in providing optical aids for the blind and services to parents of preschool blind children.

MIKE ANSELL Born March 26, 1905, in County Kildare, Ireland Died February 17, 1994, in Brighton, England When Michael Picton Ansell was nine years old, his father, a Lt. Colonel in the British Army, was killed in World War I. Ansell later said his father had taught him many things, but two in particular: “How to be a fine polo player and a terrific worker.�

Ansell was commissioned in the British Cavalry in 1924 and by 1935 had moved up the ranks to Commander. He was also an international polo player and equestrian show jumper. In 1940, at the beginning of World War II, Ansell was with his regiment in France waiting to be picked up by the British Navy. As the Germans advanced, Ansell and his men took refuge in a hayloft. Another group of British soldiers came upon the barn, and when told by a French farmer there were Germans in the loft, the soldiers blasted it with gunfire. The thirty-five-year old Ansell was hit in the head losing most of his eyesight. He also had severe damage to four fingers on his left hand, and the fingers were later amputated.

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Injured and trying to escape, Ansell was captured by the Germans and spent three years in a prisoner-of-war camp before he was exchanged in 1943.

After rehabilitation, Ansell headed the British Show Jumping Association from 1945 to 1964. He was knighted for his work in 1968. He wrote an autobiography titled Soldier On (1973), a book about show riding, Riding High (1974), and another book about his show jumping horse, Leopard: The Story of My Horse (1980).

H.R.H. Prince Phillip wrote the foreword to Ansell’s autobiography, saying in part, “Sir Michael Ansell’s passion for anything to do with horses has carried him through more than a fair share of crises and disasters. His talent for organization has lifted horse shows and equestrian sports to a remarkable level in this mechanical age.”

ESREF ARMAGAN Born March 9, 1953, in Istanbul, Turkey Born totally blind, Armagan received no formal education or training.

As a child he used a nail to draw familiar shapes of objects on discarded cardboard boxes. He learned the names of colors and what things were associated with each color. He began painting at age six.

With no lessons and no help, Armagan devised a method to produce oil paintings. Currently when he paints he uses a Braille stylus to etch an outline of his drawing and applies oil paint with his fingers one color at a time to avoid smearing, allowing each color to dry for two to three days.

Armagan has displayed his work at exhibitions in Turkey, the Czech Republic, China, and the Netherlands.

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THOMAS RHODES ARMITAGE Born in 1824, in Sussex County, England Died October 23, 1890, in Thurles, Ireland A doctor turned philanthropist and worker for the blind, Armitage was the sixth of seven brothers in a well-to-do Sussex family. When he was seven years old the family moved to France, and when he was nine they moved to Frankfurt, Germany. As a result Armitage became fluent in French and German. He graduated from King’s College in London with a medical degree and had a successful medical practice in London from 1846 to 1860.

Armitage had poor vision from childhood, and at age thirty-six became nearly totally blind. While he had a little remaining vision, it was not enough even to read large print. He decided to give up his medical practice, dedicating the rest of his life to work for the blind.

Traveling to the Continent, Armitage studied methods of teaching the blind. In 1868 he founded the British and Foreign Blind Association, which later became the Royal National Institute for the Blind. In his work with the blind, Armitage recognized the need for a consensus on embossed type. At the time there were several competing versions of touch writing, so he coordinated an effort to assess the various types of embossed writing. The assessment, done by blind persons who had knowledge of a particular system, took nearly two years. It was decided the Braille system should be used. After the decision Armitage worked tirelessly to popularize and encourage the use of Braille.

He helped Francis Campbell raise money to open the Royal Normal College and Academy of Music, and in 1884 helped establish a Royal Commission to study the needs of the blind in England. He wrote a book, The Education and Employment of the Blind: What It Has Been, Is and Ought to Be (1886). It was said Armitage had a positive effect on every aspect of work for the blind in England during his lifetime.

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Armitage was also known to be generous with his time and his money. A blind man came to Armitage’s office with a railroad ticket to visit relatives in the countryside, but he had no money and his coat was ragged. Armitage gave the man some money and his own overcoat. Later in the day when Armitage was getting ready to go out to a meeting, he went upstairs to get his coat and came down laughing, saying he had given away his last coat.

Possessing a good sense of humor, Armitage liked to tell the story about the time he was traveling in London and hailed what he thought was a cab. The driver of the hearse said to Armitage, “Not yet, sir.”

On holiday in Ireland in 1890, although he was a good horseman, Armitage was severely injured when his horse stumbled and fell. It was later discovered the horse had been poorly shod. Armitage died a few days later on October 23, 1890, in Thurles, Ireland.

A friend describing Armitage said, “Many of those who knew him best think that neither his generosity nor his ability formed the most distinguished trait in his character, but his loving, tender sympathy. . . . He possessed all the qualities which make a great man; he was courteous, candid, high-minded, dignified, resolute, generous.”

MARY L. ARMS Born in 1836 in Baltimore, Maryland Date of death unknown Mary L. Day’s father was a tinsmith who moved frequently to find work. When Mary was less than a year old, the family moved to New York City and a month later moved to White Pigeon, Michigan.

About six months later the family moved to Shermantown, Michigan; six months after that moved to the country about thirty miles from Shermantown; and a few months later moved to Jonesville, Michigan. When Mary was about three years old her mother died.

Mary, her sister, and three brothers were taken in by various families.

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At age eleven living near Marshall, Michigan, she became blind from an eye infection. At sixteen she traveled to Chicago to be with her sister and lived with her for three years.

In 1855 Day became a student at the Maryland Institution for the Blind in Baltimore, Maryland. She wrote an autobiography, Incidents in the Life of a Blind Girl (1859), and graduated from the Institution in 1860. After graduation Mary Day traveled in most of the states east of the Mississippi River, selling her book. About 1865 she married M.R. Arms, a Chicago-based construction superintendent. She continued traveling the country until 1877, when she returned to Chicago and began working on a sequel. Her new book, The World as I Found It (1878), recounted her life from 1855 to 1877.

In the book, Arms writes, “I have made it a guiding rule, throughout my life, never to consider there was anything which, with the proper effort, I could not do, and my experience proves a confirmation of the fact that there were very few things I could not accomplish.�

WILLIAM ARTMAN Born in 1825 in Pennsylvania Died May 25, 1912, in Sparta, New York Artman became totally blind at the age of eighteen on the Fourth of July, 1843, from fireworks exploding prematurely. He attended the School for the Blind in New York, New York, for eight years.

He and a classmate, L.V. Hall, wrote a book, The Beauties and Achievements of the Blind (1854). The book included information about more than fifty blind persons, including Thomas Blacklock, Frances Browne, Torlogh Carolan, Cynthia Bullock, Frances Jane Crosby, Daphne Giles, James Holman, Alice Holmes, Francois Huber, Richard Lucas, John Milton, and James Wilson. After traveling in several Eastern states selling the book, Artman took up farming in his hometown of Sparta, New York. He was a shrewd businessman and with hired hands managed a successful farm operation.

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TILLY ASTON Born December 11, 1873, in Carisbrook, Victoria, Australia Died November 1, 1947, in Melbourne, Australia Aston was a pioneer of services for the blind in Australia, and a writer of poetry and prose.

Matilda Ann Aston was the youngest of eight children whose father was a bootmaker. She had poor eyesight at birth and became totally blind at age six. Aston attended the School for the Blind in Melbourne from 1882 to 1890. In her second year of college, Aston struggled with a lack of Braille textbooks and dropped out of college.

With the help of friends, in 1894 at the age of twenty-one, Aston established a Braille Library in Melbourne that later became known as the Vision Australia Foundation Library. In 1895 she helped establish the Association for the Advancement of the Blind, later known as the Vision Australia Foundation. Aston was instrumental in getting federal voting rights for the blind in Australia in 1902, and legislation for free postage for Braille materials. Aston worked as a teacher for several years, and from 1913 to 1925 she was head teacher at the School for the Blind in Melbourne.

Aston authored four books of poetry, Maiden Verses (1901), Singable Songs (1924), Songs of Light (1935), and The Inner Garden (1940).

She also wrote two books of fiction, The Woolinappus (1908) and Old Timers (1938), and an autobiography, Memories of Tilly Aston (1946). In her autobiography Aston states that her philosophy and actions in life were based on Christian precepts, a spirit of independence, resistance to discouragement, integration into the sighted world, not being overly sensitive, and having a lively sense of humor.

In 1937 Aston made a recording of some thoughts about life for her niece, in which she said, “Achievement was another aim with me

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from the beginning, and whatever effect my life attainments may have upon others there has been a fair amount of personal satisfaction in my victories over circumstance. I have striven after knowledge and won a little, but the chief thing I have learned is the immensity of the store available. . . . Then as I reach the quiet atoll of maturer years with time to dream in this calm of solitude, I know that the best thing I have sought and won is the affection and loyalty of a precious circle of friends.”

J. ROBERT ATKINSON Born November 29, 1887, in Galt, Missouri Died February 1, 1964, in Los Angeles, California Atkinson was the founder of the Universal Braille Press and the Braille Institute of America, and ran both organizations from 1919 to 1957.

At age sixteen John Robert Atkinson moved from Missouri to Montana to work as a cowboy on an older brother’s cattle ranch.

While visiting Los Angeles, California, in January, 1912, Atkinson was moving a pistol from a dresser drawer when it accidentally went off. Atkinson hovered near death for nearly two weeks. His doctors determined his eyes had been irreparably damaged and needed to be removed to save his life. When Atkinson discovered he was blind he said, “I cursed the treacherous weapon for having failed to complete its job. I cursed the doctors for having brought me back to life. I wanted the death, which it seemed to me had been denied me only to force me into a life of never-ending hopelessness and misery . . .”

Two weeks after getting out of the hospital, Atkinson closed all the doors and windows in the house where he was living with his mother and turned on the gas for the fireplace. His attempted suicide failed when his mother came back unexpectedly, turned off the gas, and revived her unconscious son. After that experience Atkinson swore to himself he would never even think about quitting again.

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With his new determination, Atkinson learned a touch reading system using Moon type. He then learned Braille, teaching himself to do almost everything, including independent travel. When he discovered a book he wanted to read was available only in New York Point, he learned his third touch reading system in eighteen months.

He wanted many books for reference and began to build a Braille library of his own. Family members and acquaintances dictated to him, and he Brailled out his own personal library of nearly a million words in only four years.

Personally aware of the need for more reading materials for the blind, Atkinson made it his purpose to provide blind people with materials they could read for themselves. With a benefactor contributing $5,000 a year for five years, in 1919 Atkinson established a Braille printing operation known as the Universal Braille Press. At first the print shop was in his home in Los Angeles, California. The organization moved to larger quarters in 1922 and produced its first book, the Bible, in 1924. In 1926 the Universal Braille Press began publishing a monthly Reader’s Digest-type magazine for the blind, The Braille Mirror.

In 1929 Atkinson established the Braille Institute of America to provide comprehensive programs for the social and economic welfare of the blind. Also in 1929 Atkinson enlisted Representative Joe Crail to sponsor a bill in the United States Congress to provide funds to publish books and magazines in Braille and distribute them free to the blind. The Crail Bill did not pass but helped promote the idea of more Braille books for the blind. In 1931 the Pratt-Smoot Act was passed, establishing the Library of Congress Division for the Blind.

In 1934 the Braille Institute took over operation of the Universal Braille Press. The Braille Institute developed into one of the premier agencies for the blind in the United States.

The Institute produced a Braille dictionary in 1938 and perfected the interpoint system of printing Braille on both sides of a page.

In 1946 Atkinson developed his own line of Braille writers

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and continued to administer the Braille Institute until his retirement in 1957.

Atkinson’s determination is characterized in one of his favorite sayings: “The only impossible bridges are those we burned behind us.”

CARL R. AUGUSTO Born June 8, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut Born with poor vision, Augusto was nearly totally blind by age thirty from pre-senile cone dysfunction. He graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1968 and earned a master’s degree from New York University in 1971.

Augusto was a counselor for the Industrial Home for the Blind in 1971, and from 1971 to 1975 was a rehabilitation counselor for the New York State Commission for the Blind.

From 1975 to 1985 he was an Associate Director of the National Accreditation Council for Agencies Serving the Blind, and from 1985 to 1991 was Executive Director of the Cincinnati Association for the Blind in Ohio.

Since 1991 Augusto has been President and CEO of the American Foundation for the Blind headquartered in New York, New York.

During his tenure the Foundation has expanded its scope to influence corporate America to make products accessible to blind and visually impaired persons. He improved the Foundation’s financial position and brought various organizations for the blind together toward common objectives and greater collaboration.

Augusto has said, “I believe the keys to success for blind people are to have a good attitude about their blindness; to have a good personal appearance and social skills; to develop good adaptive skills, such as independent travel, Braille, technology, and organizational

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skills; and either to take advantage of opportunities or create their own opportunities.�

ROBERT BABCOCK Born July 26, 1851, in Watertown, New York Died June 27, 1930, in Green Lake, Wisconsin Internationally renowned as a heart and lung specialist, Robert Babcock was a professor of medicine and a highly trained attending and consulting physician as well as the author of two books on internal medicine.

Babcock lost his vision in a fireworks accident at the age of thirteen.

He attended the Institute for the Blind in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and earned a medical degree from the Chicago Medical College in 1878. After additional medical training in New York, New York, and in Germany, he began practicing medicine in Chicago, Illinois, in 1873.

From 1887 to 1892 Babcock was Professor of Medicine at the Chicago Post Graduate Medical School, and from 1891 to 1905 was Professor of Medicine at the College of Physicians & Surgeons in Chicago. He was attending physician at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago from 1891 to 1901. Babcock was the author of Diseases of the Heart and Arterial System (1903) and Diseases of the Lungs (1908).

SAMUEL BACON Born May 10, 1823, near Cortland, Ohio Died February 12, 1909, near Nebraska City, Nebraska Bacon helped establish three schools for the blind and was their administrator in his twenty-nine year career.

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Born in eastern Ohio, Bacon lost his sight at age eleven after contracting scarlet fever. He attended the Ohio State School for the Blind in Columbus beginning in 1838, and attended Kenyon College in Ohio from 1844 to 1846. He returned to Columbus and worked as a teacher at his old school before leaving for Illinois in 1847.

Settling in Jacksonville, Illinois, he helped establish a school for the blind, and ran the school from 1849 to 1850. Two years later Bacon established a private school for the blind in Keokuk, Iowa. In 1853 the school became the Iowa State School for the Blind and was relocated to Iowa City. Bacon was superintendent of the school from 1853 to 1862 and during this time the school moved to Vinton, Iowa.

In 1875 Bacon helped establish the state school for the blind in Nebraska. He ran that school in Nebraska City from 1875 to 1877.

Personal details of Bacon’s life are sketchy; however, in school he studied Greek, Latin, and French, and had a reputation for an outstanding memory and for being an excellent mathematician. A plaque erected by friends in 1911 at the Nebraska School for the Blind said of Bacon, “He taught the blind can win by worth and work—and proved it by his life.”

LUDWIG VON BACZKO Born June 8, 1756, in Lyck, East Prussia Died March 27, 1823, in Konigsberg, East Prussia Ludwig Franz Josef von Baczko earned a law degree in Konigsberg in 1777. The same year, at age twenty-one, he became blind. Baczko taught history at a military academy in Konigsberg, and later was the head of the Institute for the Blind in Konigsberg. He wrote novels, plays, books on Prussian history, and the words for three operas.

Baczko also wrote an autobiography, Geschichte meines Lebens (1824), that was published posthumously. His most ambitious work was a history of Prussia, Geschichte Preufens (1800).

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AMADOU BAGAYOKO Born October 24, 1954, in Bamako, Mali Bagayoko had poor vision from birth due to cataracts and became totally blind at fifteen years old. He began playing the guitar about age ten, and met his future wife, vocalist Marian Doumbia, at the Institute for Young Blind People in Bamako, Mali. They became known as “the blind couple from Mali” when they traveled and performed in Barkina Faso and Cote D’Ivoine in 1988 and Europe in the 1990s. Bagayoko composed songs in the Bambara and French languages, and he and his wife have recorded several albums.

EDWIN A. BAKER Born January 9, 1893, near Kingston, Ontario, Canada Died April 7, 1968, in Collins Bay, Ontario, Canada Besides building a comprehensive national organization for the blind in Canada, Baker promoted special provisions for disabled veterans, eye-saving classes, education, library services in Braille, and medical research into disabilities.

Baker graduated in electrical engineering from Queens University in 1914 and enlisted in the Canadian army. He was blinded by a World War I sniper’s bullet in Belgium at age twenty-two. Baker received rehabilitation training at St. Dunston’s in England. Sir Arthur Pearson, who headed the training program, wrote Baker’s mother, “He is getting along excellently in his studies and is as cheery and bright as he can possibly be. He is quite the most confident, self-reliant young man of all the 160 blinded soldiers with whom I have come into personal contact so far.”

Baker returned to Canada in 1916 and got a job with the Ontario Hydroelectric Power Commission as a typist. In two months he had

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moved up to a position where he assembled trouble reports from electrical substations. In 1917 he began doing public speaking on behalf of the Canadian Free Library for the Blind, and in 1918 made numerous speeches in the United States to help the war effort. In 1918 Baker helped establish the Canadian National Institute for the Blind and worked in Ottawa in the Department of Soldiers’ Civil Reestablishment. In 1920 Baker began working for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, and worked at the Institute for forty-two years, the last thirty as Managing Director.

Baker was active in many national and international organizations and served as president of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind from 1951 to 1964.

M. ROBERT BARNETT Born October 31, 1916, in Jacksonville, Florida Died March 10, 1996, in Jacksonville, Florida Marvin Robert Barnett was blinded in an accident at age fifteen when he and several other teenagers were stealing oranges as a prank.

The orange grove owner, who had been troubled by poachers, fired a shotgun blast that missed the friends but blinded Barnett. He graduated from the Florida School for Deaf and Blind in 1935 and from Stetson University in 1940. Barnett worked for Stetson University as Director of Publicity, and was an instructor in journalism from 1940 to 1942. In 1943 he became manager of the Deland Bureau for the nearby Daytona Beach newspaper and was a correspondent for the Orlando and Jacksonville newspapers.

In 1944 Barnett began work as a placement officer and supervisor for the Florida Council for the Blind, and from 1946 to 1949 was the Executive Director of the Council. From 1949 to 1975 he was the Executive Director of the American Foundation for the Blind.

During his tenure at the Foundation, he provided leadership in

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promoting integration of blind children into public schools, developing sensory aids, promoting programs for the elderly blind, and upgrading teacher training programs. Barnett also worked closely with Helen Keller to promote the Foundation and various causes on behalf of the blind.

HENRY BARRY Born June 18, 1911, in Rockland, Massachusetts Died January 20, 1983, in Brockton, Massachusetts Barry enlisted in the United States Army in 1942 and was blinded in a World War II battle in Germany, when he received a head wound from a shell blast. After spending time in hospitals in France and England, he received rehabilitation training at Valley Forge Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and Old Farms Convalescent Hospital in Avon, Connecticut. After training, Barry got a job with the Veterans Administration in Brockton, Massachusetts, where he worked for twenty-six years. Barry wrote about his experiences in the Army and rehabilitation in his book, I’ll Be Seeing You (1952).

FLORENCE GOLSON BATEMAN Born December 4, 1891, in Lowndes County, Alabama Died October 21, 1987, in Wetumpka, Alabama Florence Golson spent her childhood in Wetumpka, Alabama.

She became blind in an accident at age fifteen. She attended the Tennessee School for the Blind from 1913 to 1915, and Hunting College in Montgomery, Alabama, from 1916 to 1917. She graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music in Ohio in 1920, and studied music in New York City, touring for three years.

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In 1923 she married Winton Bateman and moved to College Park, Georgia, where she taught music. When her husband died in 1942, Bateman studied music again and taught music in Montgomery and Wetumpka until she retired in 1967. Bateman said, “Music stimulates the mind and feeds the soul. Most fine music touches the emotions also.” Bateman composed the melodies to many songs.

The best known were “Rest” and “The Bird with a Broken Wing” (dedicated to Helen Keller). She also composed a choral cantata, “A Spring Symphony.”

ADELINE BECHT Born March 11, 1937, in Muskegon, Michigan Becht became deaf-blind in her teens from drug treatments for osteomyelitis. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Cascade College in 1964, a master’s degree from Louis & Clark College in 1976, and a Ph.D. there in counseling and clinical psychology in 1982.

Becht worked in private practice from 1980 to 1989 and was a professor of counseling psychology at Lewis & Clark College from 1987 to 1992.

BELA II Born in 1108 in Esztergom, Hungary Died February 13, 1141, in Szekesfehervar, Hungary Known as the Blind King of Hungary, his name at birth was Masocik Tak. His father led a rebellion against Bela’s uncle, King Coleman.

The rebellion was put down, and Bela and his father were blinded.

King Coleman’s son became King Stephen II, and as he had no offspring, he chose Bela as his successor. Bela was King of Hungary from 1131 to 1141.

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THOMAS A. BENHAM Born December 30, 1914, in Hartford, Connecticut Benham became blind when he was two years old from an eye infection. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College in 1938 and a master’s degree in physics in 1945. Benham worked as an engineer from 1941 to 1942, and from 1942 to 1943 was an instructor in radio engineering and physics. He was a professor of engineering at Haverford College from 1947 to 1977. In 1954 he established Science for the Blind, a nonprofit organization providing scientific information for visually impaired scientists, laymen, and technicians. He ran the organization from 1954 to 1973.

JOHN L. BERKENHEAD Born c. 1765 in England Date of death unknown A blind organist and music teacher, Berkenhead immigrated to America in 1795. He was organist at Trinity Church in Newport, Rhode Island, from 1796 to 1804, composed songs, and traveled in New England giving concerts. He was also a music teacher, and one of his students was Oliver Shaw, the blind performer and composer.

John Tasker Howard wrote in his book, Our American Music (1946), “Evidently Dr. Berkenhead had one lamentable weakness that called upon him the wrath of the vestry of Trinity Church. On his way to church the organist was in the habit of calling on a friend who had some excellent Scotch whiskey. He became confused in the order of his program after one of these visits, and the clerk called out, ‘Mr. Berkenhead, you are playing the wrong tune!’ Undaunted, the bibulous Mr. Berkenhead calmly pulled apart the curtains in front

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of him and called the clerk a liar. In his next contract the vestry specified that his tenure of office was to exist ‘during good behavior and punctual attendance.’”

THOMAS GREENE BETHUNE Born May 25, 1849, near Columbus, Georgia Died June 13, 1908, in Hoboken, New Jersey Probably a nineteenth-century autistic savant, Bethune exhibited bizarre behavior such as clawing the air with his hands, applauding for himself, and making wild gyrations, but he had a genius for mimicking sounds and language. Known widely as Blind Tom, he performed a wide variety of music, including his own compositions, for forty-seven years.

Bethune was nearly totally blind from birth, and throughout most of his life had a slight bit of vision in his right eye. His father, Domingo Wiggins, and his mother, Charity Greene, were both slaves bought in 1850 by James N. Bethune, a Columbus, Georgia, lawyer and politician. His parents were married; however, a common practice of the time was for female slaves and their children to use the name of their owners. Therefore Tom was named Thomas Greene Bethune.

When he was three or four years old Tom played songs on Bethune’s piano that he had heard Bethune’s daughters play. They discovered Tom was a musical prodigy and could play a song perfectly after hearing it a single time. James Bethune’s daughters taught Tom to play the piano, and by age six he was creating his own musical compositions. He said birds, rain, and wind taught him the melodies. In October 1857 Tom gave his first performance in Columbus, Georgia.

In 1858 James Bethune hired Tom out to a concert promoter, and he toured the eastern United States. Tom so impressed a piano manufacturer in 1860 that he was given a grand piano at age ten. Also in

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1860 Tom performed for President James Buchanan in Washington, D.C. During the Civil War Tom entertained Confederate troops, and in 1864 James Bethune had himself appointed Tom’s legal guardian. After the Civil War James Bethune established an indentured contract that lasted until Tom was twenty-one years old.

Throughout his career Tom had a traveling companion, usually a member of the James Bethune family.

In his performances Tom played classical music, marches, salon pieces, battle pieces, popular ballads, and his own compositions. He composed over one hundred songs for piano, including “Cascade,” “The Music Box,” and “The Battle of Manassas.” Once asked how he was able to play so well he said, “God taught Tom.” A newspaper article in the December 27, 1865, issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer reads, “Blind Tom—one peculiarity about this extraordinary genius is; that rough, uncouth as he appears, he has the power to draw around him the elite of the city. Men of intellect, men of mind all go to see Tom—not to witness his antics, not to listen to his imitations, but to be astonished, confounded, and amazed, at the effect he produces on the piano. His notes are so thrilling, and his execution so perfect and so startling as to amuse every listener.”

Tom was billed as an untaught pianist, but he did occasionally receive piano training throughout his career, almost always to increase his repertoire. He was also billed as being able to play any song requested or repeat any song played for him one time. This was usually true; however, some extremely difficult pieces he would have to practice a few times. Tom also recited poetry or prose in several foreign languages, perfectly repeated long speeches made by orators and politicians including all the inflections, and could mimic sounds made by animals and musical instruments. Another astounding feat Tom performed was to play “Fisher’s Hornpipe” with his right hand on the piano, play “Yankee Doodle” with his left hand, and sing “Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys are Marching” all at the same time.

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In 1866 and 1867 Tom toured the larger cities in Europe. The Dundee Advertiser, a Dundee, Scotland, newspaper said, “I presume you have not heard Blind Tom play? If not, you never heard a better performer. Like most people, of course, I was inclined to regard this wonderful prodigy as a wonderful humbug; but I assure you, that, so far from this being the case, or anything like it, Tom is as genuine an artist, and possesses as much (and, for anything I can tell, a great deal more) musical talent or power, either as regards the execution of the compositions of others or of his own, as either Thalberg, Halle, Madame Goddard, or anybody else you ever listened to.”

In 1870 when Tom turned twenty-one and his indenture ended, James Bethune went to court and had Tom declared legally insane.

James Bethune had himself appointed legal guardian. The Bethune family made money from Tom’s performances throughout his career but treated Tom as a member of the family. In 1887 in a family and legal dispute, the court ordered Tom to be turned over to General Bethune’s ex-sister-in-law Eliza Bethune and Tom’s mother. Eliza took over managing Tom’s career as he continued to tour the United States, performing under the name of Thomas Greene Wiggins. After retiring in 1904 Tom lived at Eliza’s home in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Three weeks before he died Tom had a stroke that affected his right side. He tried to play, but when he could not, he wept and said, “Tom’s fingers won’t play no mo’.” He died on June 13, 1908, at the age of fifty-nine.

ALICE BETTERIDGE Born in 1901 in New South Wales, Australia Died September 1, 1966, in Sidney, Australia Sometimes known as the Helen Keller of Australia, Betteridge became deaf and blind at age two from viral meningitis. In 1908 she began to study at the Royal Institute for Deaf-Blind Children

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and was the first deaf-blind child to receive a formal education in Australia. Her teacher was Roberta Reid. Betteridge finished her education in 1921 but stayed at the school for nine more years.

She moved to Melbourne to marry Will Chapman, a blind pen pal. Betteridge lived in Melbourne for nine years, but when Will suddenly died from a heart attack, she moved back to Sidney to be near her family.

Fulfilling a long-term dream, Betteridge met Helen Keller at the Wahroonga School for the Blind during Keller’s visit to Australia in 1948.

USHA BHALERAO Born June 30, 1940, in Shujalpur, India Bhalerao became totally blind at eighteen months from trachoma.

She learned music as a child, but did not learn to read until her early twenties, when her father learned Braille and taught it to her.

She became a voracious reader. Bhalerao earned a bachelor’s degree from Government Girls College in 1970 and a master’s degree in 1972 from Sandipani College. She earned a Ph.D. in sociology from Vikram University in 1975. She taught music at a government girls secondary school in Ujjain, India, for many years.

Bhalerao is the author of Blind Women’s Emancipation Movement (1986), Eminent Blind Women of the World (1989), and Blind Welfare in South Asia (1993). She also wrote an autobiography, From Darkness Into Light (2000).

In the epilogue of her autobiography, Bhalerao offers advice to parents of blind children: “Parents help to give children a sense of the self. Instead of moaning over the cruel hands of fate or assigning them demeaning status, a parent needs to recognize that his/her child is different but not defeated. The child has special needs that

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need special skills. They may take more time, but ultimately they can achieve whatever they want to.�

KARL BJARNHOF Born January 29, 1898, in Vejle, Denmark Died June 19, 1980, in Copenhagen, Denmark As a child, Bjarnhof had poor vision from glaucoma. His vision progressively worsened until he was totally blind in his twenties. He was educated at the Royal Institute for the Blind in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Paris, France. He became a professional cellist, making concert tours in Germany, France, and Scandinavia. After giving up his musical career, Bjarnhof worked as a newspaper writer and editor, and wrote several novels. He also became widely known as a radio interviewer.

Bjarnhof wrote two autobiographical novels, The Stars Grow Pale (1956) and The Good Light (1957).

DAVID SCOTT BLACKHALL Born May 9, 1910, in Cirencester, England Died September 14, 1981, in England Blackhall lost the sight of his right eye at the age of fifteen. At age forty-one he began losing vision in his left eye, and by age forty-six was totally blind. He was a radio broadcaster of poetry and religious shows, and for many years hosted a monthly radio program for the blind called In Touch. He wrote a book of poetry, Alms for Oblivion (1957), and two autobiographies, This House Had Windows (1962) and The Way I See It (1971).

Blackhall also wrote a radio play about his experiences, titled Dark Is a Long Way, that was broadcast in Britain in September, 1958.

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In 1969 Blackhall organized a group of fourteen blind persons and himself, who climbed to the summit of the highest peak in Britain, Ben Nevis. He worked as a housing officer in Elstree Rural District from 1939 to his retirement in 1971.

THOMAS BLACKLOCK Born November 10, 1721, in Annan, Scotland Died July 7, 1791, in Edinburgh, Scotland Blacklock lost his sight from smallpox at the age of six months. His father read to him the works of Addison, Milton, Pope, and Spenser, and readers helped with his other subjects, including Latin. In 1741 he went to Edinburgh to study for ten years, where he became good friends with David Hume, the wellknown historian.

At the age of twelve Blacklock began writing poetry, and at age twenty-five published a volume titled Poems (1754). With an increased interest in religion, he became a licensed preacher in 1759.

In 1762 he married Sarah Johnson, daughter of a physician, and soon after obtained through patronage connections an assignment as minister of Kirkcudbright Parish Church. He served there from 1762 to 1764, but the parishioners objected to Blacklock because of his patronage. He was encouraged to retire with a small annuity after two years of legal dispute.

A friend, Reverend Jameson, wrote about Blacklock’s demeanor: “It was pleasant to hear him engaged in a dispute, for no man could keep his temper better than he always did on such occasions. I have known him frequently very warmly engaged for hours together, but never could observe one angry word to fall from him. Whatever his antagonist might say, he always kept his temper.”

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Blacklock returned to Edinburgh, ran a boarding house, and tutored students from 1764 to 1787. Some of Blacklock’s other publications were “An Essay Towards Universal Etymology or, the Analysis of a Sentence” (1756), “A Panegyric on Great Britain” (1773), “Paraelesis: or Consolations Deduced from Natural and Revealed Religion” (1773), and “The Grahame” (1774), a historic ballad intended to promote harmony between England and Scotland. He also advocated for a school for the blind in Edinburgh, which was established after his death.

In a letter to his friend Dr. Laurie, Blacklock praised Robert Burns’s poems. Burns was planning to leave Scotland when Dr. Laurie showed him Blacklock’s letter. Burns decided to stay in Scotland and his literary career took off. Blacklock also encouraged the young Walter Scott and opened his library to the future poet.

Blacklock wrote an article on blindness for the Encyclopedia Britannica (1783) that included advice to parents of blind children: “Parents and relations ought never to be too ready in offering their assistance to the blind in any office which they can perform. . . . Let a blind boy be permitted to walk through the neighborhood without a guide not only though he should run some hazard, but even though he should suffer some pain. . . . Scars, fractures, and dislocations in his body are trivial misfortunes compared with imbecility, timidity or fretfulness of mind.”

BARBARA BLACKMAN Born December 25, 1928 in Brisbane, Australia Barbara Patterson graduated from the University of Queensland in 1950. She began to go blind at age eighteen. In 1950 she married painter Charles Blackman, and they were married for thirty years before divorcing. She was a model at the Art School in Melbourne, a magazine columnist, a producer for Radio for the Print Handicapped,

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and an oral historian for the Australian National Library. She wrote a book of autobiographical reflections, Glass After Glass (1997).

Selected to carry the Olympic Torch in Australia, Blackman said, “I am honored to be selected to run with the Olympic 2000 Torch. I hereby make a solemn promise of the following: I will not endanger bystanders with flamboyant gestures; set my hair on fire with the torch for dramatic effect; paint BLIND IS BEAUTIFUL on my uniform; refuse to hand the torch flame on at the end of the first kilometer; piggy-back grandchildren on request; accept champagne of any kind while mobile; sit down on the job in protest; leap frog over friend or animal; sell my story for a fortune to News of the World; sing. Not for anything!�

ARTHUR BLAKE Born c.1895 in Florida or Georgia Died c.1933, location not known Known as Blind Blake or Blind Arthur Blake, little is known about his personal life. Some sources say he was born in Jacksonville or Tampa, Florida, and other sources say he was born in Georgia, perhaps near Sea Island. There is no documentation for his death, although there were rumors he was murdered in Joliet, Illinois, in 1932, or that he was hit by a streetcar in Atlanta, Georgia, about 1935. What is known is that Arthur Blake was one of the founders of the East Coast blues style, and he made more than eighty recordings that demonstrated his impressive guitar skills.

Blake became blind at an early age. He was a street musician in Florida and Georgia as a teenager before moving to Chicago, Illinois, in the early 1920s. Sometimes known as Arthur Phelps, he was most often billed as Blind Blake. Playing blues, ragtime, and show tunes, Blake was regarded as a good singer and one of the best guitarists of his time. Blake played or recorded with musicians such as

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Johnny Dodds, Ma Rainey, Elzadie Robinson, Irene Scruggs, and Leola Wilson.

Blake had a reputation as a hard drinker and a good independent traveler. Apparently he could do both at the same time. Banjo player Gus Cannon said of Blake, “We drank so much whiskey! I’m telling you we drank more whiskey than a shop. And that boy could take me out with him at night and get me so turned around I’d be lost if I left his side. He could see more with his blind eyes than I with my two good ones.” Another musician, Little Brother Montgomery, said about Blake, “He drank a lot of moonshine especially when he played his blues. But he never lost his senses and he always knew where he was. That boy could hear himself all around the Southside [of Chicago].”

From 1926 to 1932 Blake toured the South and the Midwest, made recordings, and traveled with a vaudeville show, “Happy Go Lucky,” in 1930 and 1931. Some of his best-known songs were “Early Morning Blues” (1926), “West Coast Blues” (1926), “He’s in the Jailhouse Now” (1927), “Southern Rag” (1927), “Cold Hearted Mama Blues” (1928), “Chump Man Blues” (1929), and “Diddie wa Diddie” (1930). Blake was an extraordinary guitar player and his complex finger-picking technique influenced many guitarists. “Blind Gary Davis” studied Blake and said, “I ain’t never heard anybody on a record yet that could beat Blind Blake on guitar. I like Blake because he plays right sporty.”

Blake liked to say before playing one of his songs, “Here’s something gonna make you feel good.”

DAVID BLUNKETT Born June 6, 1947, in Sheffield, England Nearly blind from birth from an undeveloped optic nerve, as a child Blunkett could see only a little, helped by thick glasses. He was

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totally blind by his thirties. He attended the Sheffield School for the Blind, the Royal Normal College for the Blind, and Shrewsbury Technical College. He graduated from the University of Sheffield.

At age sixteen Blunkett joined the Labour Party, and was elected a local Labour Councillor in Sheffield at age twenty-two. From 1973 to 1981 he was a lecturer and tutor in industrial relations and politics at Barnsley College of Technology.

Blunkett was elected to Parliament in 1987 from Sheffield Brightside.

From 1997 to 2001 he was the United Kingdom’s first blind Cabinet Minister as Secretary of State for Education and Employment. From 2001 to 2004 he was Home Secretary in the British Cabinet. In 2004 Blunkett resigned his position as Home Secretary after being accused of fast-tracking a resident visa application for an ex-lover’s nanny.

Blunkett coauthored with Keith Jackson Democracy in Crisis: The Town Hall Responds (1987) and wrote an autobiography On a Clear Day (1995) and Politics and Progress: Renewing Democracy and Civil Society (2001).

ANDREA BOCELLI Born September 22, 1958, in Lajatico, Italy A performer and recording artist, Andrea Bocelli sings operatic tenor and popular music. He became an international recording star, touring in many countries. Bocelli had impaired vision at birth from glaucoma. He began playing the piano at age six. He became totally blind from a brain hemorrhage at age twelve, when he was hit on the head playing soccer. He graduated from the University of Pisa Law School and worked as a public defender for a year before beginning a singing career. American singer Al Jarreau, who sang with Bocelli in 1995, said, “I have the honor to sing with the most beautiful voice in the world.”

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Bocelli wrote The Music of Silence (1999), a memoir of his life up to age forty. By 2005 he had recorded a dozen albums that sold over fifty million copies.

ELLIS BARKETT BODRON, JR. Born October 25, 1923, in Vicksburg, Mississippi Died February 17, 1997, in Jackson, Mississippi Blind from childhood, Bodron graduated from the University of Mississippi in 1946 with a law degree. He practiced law with various firms in Mississippi from 1947 to 1983.

Bodron was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1948 and served until 1952. He was then elected to the Mississippi Senate in 1952 and served there until 1984. For more than twenty of those years, he was Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

Bodron often memorized long portions of legislative bills and amazed fellow legislators with his ability to handle complicated financial issues in his head. As Finance Committee Chairman, he secured funding for many highway and bridge projects. In 1982 his initial opposition to a tax increase for an Education Reform Act caused a decline in his popularity, and he lost his Senate seat when he was beaten in the Democratic primary in August, 1983.

Shortly before his retirement from the Senate, his fellow senators passed a resolution expressing admiration for “One of the most noteworthy of legislative careers, both in accomplishment and duration.”

The resolution went on to say, “His intelligence and parliamentary skills led him to the forefront of those members with whom he served and prompted his appointment as Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, a position in which he skillfully and assiduously guarded the fiscal integrity of Mississippi and in which he also became noted for his staunch protection of the Mississippi Public Employees’ Retirement System.”

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From 1984 to 1996 Bodron was a state lobbyist for liquor, tobacco, health care, and insurance interests.

JOE BOLLARD Born in 1936 in Dublin, Ireland Bollard, the tenth child in a family of thirteen, became blind from a mastoid infection. He later said, “I became blind before I was two years old. I don’t care for the expression to ‘lose one’s sight’— anyway I didn’t lose mine, it was taken from me.” He attended St. Mary’s School for the Blind in Dublin. In 1941 the family moved to Liverpool, England, and Joe went to St. Vincent’s School for the Blind in Liverpool, a boarding school, where he learned to play the piano.

After graduating Bollard returned to Ireland in 1957 to play in the Jack Ruane Band, which toured Ireland and England but was based in Dublin. In 1962 the band played in Boston, New York, and Chicago in the United States. In 1962 he quit the band to have more time with his wife and three sons, and earned a living playing for local wedding receptions. In 1965 he moved to Bray, Ireland, and played in a pub. From 1992 to 1995 Bollard did long distance tandem bicycle rides for charity in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Europe. He wrote an autobiography, Out of Sight (1997), about his life up to age fifty-nine.

JOHN WILLIAM BOONE Born May 17, 1864, in Miami, Missouri Died October 4, 1927, in Warrensburg, Missouri Known as Blind Boone, John Boone was a ragtime music pioneer and toured the United States giving concerts for nearly forty years.

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Boone’s mother, Rachel Boone, was a runaway slave who had been owned by descendents of Daniel Boone. She became a cook for the Union Army camp near Miami, Missouri. She had a relationship with a white Army bugler that produced John. Shortly after his birth, his mother moved to Warrensburg, Missouri, where she worked as a domestic servant. Boone lost his eyesight when he was six months old from brain fever, when doctors decided to remove his eyes to relieve swelling in his brain. He had an early interest in music, imitating birds and banging on a tin pan. He soon learned to play the harmonica and piano. At age five he organized a sevenmember band of young boys who played together for four years.

At age nine Boone left Warrensburg to attend the Missouri School for the Blind in St. Louis. He loved music but hated his other classes.

After two and a half years he was expelled for sneaking out of school at night to listen to ragtime music in bars and brothels.

In 1879 at age fifteen Boone met John Lange, Jr., a black contractor and philanthropist who managed Boone’s career until Lange died in 1916. Lange and Boone had a long and successful relationship, and in 1889 Boone married Lange’s sister Eugenia.

On April 18, 1880, a tornado struck Marshfield, Missouri, killing 185 people. A story was read to Boone about the tornado, and he composed “Marshfield Tornado,” a song that became a favorite with his fans. Boone supposedly played it at every concert for the next thirty-five years. From 1879 to 1927 he traveled the United States, Canada, and Mexico giving concerts. He also wrote songs, including, “Rag Medley No. 1,” “Blind Boone’s Southern Rag Medley No. 2,” and “Marshfield Tornado.” Some of the religious songs he performed were “Nearer My God to Thee,” “Holy City,” “He Is My Friend,” and “You Can’t Go to Glory.” Boone supposedly made recordings in 1926 but they have been lost.

Besides his musical talents, Boone was known for having an exceptional memory. His wife and hired readers read him newspapers and

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books, and he was considered to be a walking encyclopedia. There were many stories where he remembered people by only their voices after not seeing them for twenty years. It was also said that in some of his walking travels he carried a small child on his shoulder to serve as a navigator.

JORGE LUIS BORGES Born August 24, 1899, in Buenos Aires, Argentina Died June 14, 1986, in Geneva, Switzerland A giant among twentieth-century writers, Borges had poor vision starting at age twenty-eight, and by age fifty-six he was totally blind from cataracts and a detached retina.

Jorge Francis Isidero Luis Borges Acevedo grew up reading and writing Spanish and English. He later learned Latin, French, and German. At the age of fourteen Borges moved with his family to Geneva, Switzerland, where he earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Geneva in 1918. For a year he studied at Cambridge in England, and from 1919 to 1921 he traveled and wrote in Spain.

Borges was a prolific writer, publishing his first poem in 1919 and his first book, Fervor de Buenos Aires, in 1923. For the next sixty-three years he wrote poetry, short stories, essays, screenplays, and literary criticisms, but chiefly he was a poet and short story writer. Borges once said, “In the course of a lifetime devoted chiefly to books, I have read but few novels, and in most cases only a sense of duty has enabled me to find my way to their last page. I have always been a reader and re-reader of short stories.”

From 1937 to 1946 Borges was a librarian in Buenos Aires. He was a teacher of literature at several schools in Argentina and Uruguay from 1946 to 1955, and was the Director of the National Library in Argentina from 1955 to 1973.

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Borges’s writings are hard to categorize. In a 1986 obituary, Edward A. Gargan wrote, “[Borges’s] writings explored the crannies of the human psyche, the fantastic within the apparently mundane, imaginary bestiaries and fables of obscure libraries and arcane scholarship. His prose provoked the literary imaginations of general readers, scholars and critics, and many of the latter hailed him as the most important Latin American writer of this century.” Borges himself wrote, “I am neither a thinker nor a moralist, but simply a man of letters who turns his own perplexities and that respected system of perplexities we call philosophy into the forms of literature.” In 1975 the writer John Updike wrote, “Borges’s driest paragraph is somehow compelling.”

Borges’s perceptiveness and writing skills are illustrated in a short movie review. In the book Borges In and On Film (1988), edited

by Edgaredo Cozorinsky, Borges wrote about the movie King Kong (1934). “A monkey fourteen meters high (some of his fans say fifteen) is obviously charming, but perhaps that is not enough. This monkey is not full of juice; he is a dried out and dusty contraption with angular, clumsy movements. His only virtue—his height— seems not to have greatly impressed the photographer, who persists in not shooting him from below but from above, a plainly mistaken angle that invalidates and annuls his tallness. It should be added that he is hunchbacked and bowlegged, features that also shorten him. To ensure that there is nothing extraordinary about him, they make him fight monsters far stranger than he and find him lodgings in fake caverns the size of a cathedral, where his hard-won stature is lost. A carnal or romantic love for Miss Fay Wray brings to perfection the end of this gorilla and of the film as well.”

In his later career Borges lectured all over the world, and was a visiting professor at the University of Texas from 1961 to 1962, the University of Oklahoma in 1969, the University of New Hampshire in 1972, and Dickinson College in 1983.

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Revered by many throughout the world, Borges did have his critics, who were mostly unhappy with his political positions or lack of political involvement. He once said, “Anytime something is written against me, I not only share the sentiment but feel I could do the job far better myself.”

CHARLEY A. BOSWELL Born December 22, 1916, in Ensley, Alabama Died October 22, 1995, in Birmingham, Alabama A successful businessman and blind golf champion, Boswell used his interest in golf to raise money for charity, heading the Charley Boswell Celebrity Golf Classic for many years.

Boswell graduated from the University of Alabama where he played baseball and football, and ran track. He was drafted into the Army in 1940. In 1944 during World War II he was blinded by a shell burst while rescuing a fellow soldier from their tank in Germany.

He received rehabilitation training at Valley Forge Hospital for Rehabilitation in Pennsylvania, where he learned to play golf.

Boswell established an insurance business in Birmingham, Alabama, and developed his golf game. He was National Blind Golf Champion seventeen times and International Blind Golf Champion eleven times. He was President of the United States Blind Golf Association from 1956 to 1976 and raised money with his charity golf tournament. Boswell served on the President’s Commission on Employment of the Handicapped and the National Advisory Board of the Council on Physical Fitness. He wrote an autobiography with Curt Anders titled Now I See (1969).

Of all his accomplishments Boswell said, “I was most proud of the fact that I went to work and made my way.”

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ERIC T. BOULTER Born July 7, 1917, in London, England Died August 22, 1989, in London, England Boulter served in the British Army in World War II, and his sight began to fail in 1945. By 1946 at age twenty-nine he was totally blind. He was a staff member of the American Foundation for Overseas Blind from 1948 to 1950. From 1950 to 1961 he was Field Director for the Foundation, and from 1972 to 1980 he was their Director General.

Boulter was Secretary General of the World Council for the Welfare of the Blind from 1951 to 1959. He was World Council VicePresident from 1959 to 1964 and President from 1964 to 1969.

He coauthored with John Dobree Blindness & Visual Handicap: The Facts (1982).

An obituary in the London Times printed August 28, 1989, said of Boulter: “He grasped the significance of the computer revolution for blind people. Boulter was himself very numerate, being able to understand the figures on a balance sheet often more speedily than his sighted colleagues. He supervised plans, which enabled blind people to become systems analysts and computer programmers. More than that, he ensured that new technology was devoted to improving educational, employment and leisure facilities for blind people.�

BENJAMIN B. BOWEN Born in 1819 in Marblehead, Massachusetts Date of death unknown Bowen became blind at the age of six months, and his mother died when he was six years old. By age ten he had learned to get around

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town on his own and began working as a fish boy, delivering fish door-to-door. At age fourteen he was selected by Samuel Gridley Howe as one of six children to attend the newly-opened New England Institute for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts, (the first school for the blind in the United States). He studied at the school until 1838, when he returned home and taught music. He later said, “To many of those who had several years before purchased fish from me, now sent their daughters to be instructed on the pianoforte.”

Bowen then worked as an itinerant lecturer and wrote a book, A Blind Man’s Offering (1847). In the book he gives a sketch of his life and discusses a wide range of topics, including “Blindness and the Blind,” “Nicholas Saunderson,” “An Address on the Education of the Blind,” “A Journey Across the Alleghenies,” “The Life and Writings of Rev. Dr. Blacklock,” and “Hints to Young Men.”

JULIA BRACE Born June 13, 1807, in Hartford County, Connecticut Died August 12, 1884, in Bloomington, Connecticut Before Helen Keller in the 1880s and Laura Bridgman in the 1830s, Julia Brace was a deaf-blind girl who was taught to do household duties in the 1820s. Unlike Bridgman and Keller she did not learn language, perhaps because she did not begin to receive formal language training until she was thirty-five years old.

By the age of four years and five months, Brace had learned to read, write simple words, and do elementary sewing. At this time she contacted typhus fever and lost her sight and her hearing. She remained with her family and used a few basic signs to communicate her wants and needs. She later boarded with a matron who kept children, where she relearned to sew and knit. When she was seventeen she became a student at the Hartford Asylum for the Deaf and

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Dumb. Here she was taught to take care of her own clothes, wash dishes, make beds, and do needlework.

In 1831 the famous French writer Alexis de Tocqueville visited the Asylum and wrote in his journal, “Today in the hospital for deaf-mutes at Hartford I saw a young girl [Julia Brace] who was deaf, mute, and blind. She was able, however, to sew and to thread a needle. From time to time she smiled at her thoughts. It was a strange sight. How could anything funny or pleasant take place in a soul so walled in, what form does it take? The director told me that she was gentle and very easy to handle. He added that her sense of smell was so perfect that in a heap of dirty linen, she could recognize her own by its smell. In the same way she knew what man or woman it was who came close to her.”

By 1837 Brace had become well known in the northeastern United States, and in 1841 Samuel Gridley Howe, who was working with Laura Bridgman, visited Brace in Hartford. Although she was thirtyfive years old, an effort was made to teach her language at Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston, however after a year this effort ended unsuccessfully and she returned to Hartford. She lived at the Asylum until 1860, when she left to live with her sister until her death in 1884.

MIKE BRACE Born in 1950 in London, England Brace lost the sight in his left eye in a fireworks explosion at age ten.

Sympathetic ophthalmia began to affect his right eye, and by age twelve he was totally blind. A social worker, Brace represented Great Britain in cross-country skiing in six Paralympics. He wrote an autobiography of his life up to age thirty, Where There’s a Will (1980).

Brace was also a champion race-walker for many years. He helped set up the British Ski Club for the Disabled in 1974 and the British

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Blind Sports Association in 1976. He helped establish the British Paralympics Association in 1989. In 2001 he became the Chairman of the British Paralympics Association.

ROBERT BRADLEY Born February 13, 1950, in Evergreen, Alabama Bradley was born blind and attended the Alabama School for the Blind. He learned to play the guitar, playing in clubs in Alabama before moving with his family to Detroit, Michigan, when he was sixteen years old. In Detroit his music was influenced by the 1960s “Motown Sound.” Bradley went to California and played in bands on the West Coast before returning to Detroit as a street musician in the early 1970s.

Bradley became a prolific songwriter as well as a musician and played only his own songs. In 1990 Bradley hooked up with three young Detroit musicians, and the group eventually became Robert Bradley’s Blackwater Surprise. They released their self-titled first album in 1996. Bradley’s music has a strong soulful sound and is sometimes described as “Motown with an attitude.”

LOUIS BRAILLE Born January 4, 1809, in Coupvray, France Died January 6, 1852, in Paris, France Little known in his lifetime, Louis Braille developed a reading and writing system for the blind that bears his name and is used worldwide.

When Braille was three years old a knife he was playing with pierced one of his eyes. After the other eye became infected he became

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totally blind. At the age of ten he went to Paris to attend the Royal Institution for the Blind. At the Institution he met Charles Barbier who was developing a system of tactile writing called sonography.

Braille became intensely interested in tactile writing but realized it had drawbacks as a communication system for the blind. After working on his own system for four years, he presented his version of touch writing in 1824 when he was fifteen years old. In 1828, the year he applied his tactile writing system to musical notations, he was appointed apprentice teacher at the Royal Institute for the Blind. In 1833 he was promoted to teacher. He published a textbook for the blind called the Little Synopsis of Arithmetic for Beginners (1836). Also musically talented, Braille played the organ and cello.

Braille continued to see writing and reading as critical skills for blind persons. In 1841 he said, “Access to communication in the widest sense is access to knowledge, and that is vitally important for us if we are not to go on being despised or patronized by condescending sighted people. We do not need pity, nor do we need to be reminded we are vulnerable. We must be treated as equals—and communication is the way this can be brought about.”

When Braille was twenty-six he developed the beginning stages of tuberculosis. He continued to teach at the Institute while his health deteriorated. He died from tuberculosis at the age of forty-three.

The writing system for the blind that Louis Braille developed was used very little at the time of his death. The use of Braille slowly increased, and by the late 1800s its use was widespread. It remains virtually unchanged more than 175 years later.

Helen Keller said, “Out of my personal experience I give deepest thanks for Louis Braille, who dropped upon the Sahara of blindness his gift of inexhaustible fertility and joy. . . . Were it not for the Braille method of reading and writing, the world of the blind would be quite drab—worse than for the seeing without inkprint books.”

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ALICE BRETZ Born in 1875 Died December 22, 1953, in New York, New York Bretz, the wife of an orthopedic surgeon, lost her sight at age fifty from thyroid poisoning. Three years after she had learned Braille, her husband, who had encouraged her, died. Bretz wrote a book about losing her sight and living on her own, titled I Begin Again (1940).

In the book Bretz says, “Life is full of fighting. One of my struggles was to face the fact of blindness and the knowledge that life had to begin again. Blindness isn’t the only trouble in the world, nor has it been my only trial, and to begin again is always possible.”

JAMES BREWER Born October 3, 1920, in Brookhaven, Mississippi Died June 3, 1988, in Chicago, Illinois A street singer in St. Louis in the 1940s and in Chicago in the early 1950s, Brewer played at clubs and blues and folk festivals in the Chicago area from the mid-1950s until his death in 1988.

From early childhood Brewer was totally blind in his right eye and had only slight vision in his left eye. His musician father taught him to play guitar, and as a teenager he played on street corners and at parties in Brookhaven, Mississippi. He moved to St. Louis, Missouri, about age twenty. Brewer performed blues, folk music, and religious music, and occasionally recorded on minor record labels. One of his songs was “I Don’t Want No Woman if She Got Hair Like Drops of Rain.” Brewer appeared in the blues documentary Blues Like Showers of Rain (1970).

Known sometimes as Blind Jim Brewer, he didn’t like the reference saying, “My mother didn’t name me Blind, she named me Jim.”

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LAURA BRIDGMAN Born December 21, 1829, in Hanover, New Hampshire Died May 24, 1889, in Boston, Massachusetts Laura Dewey Bridgman was the third of eight children. Her father, Daniel Bridgman, served two terms in the New Hampshire State Legislature.

When Laura was two years old, she and her two older sisters caught scarlet fever in an 1832 epidemic. Her older sisters died and Laura was near death. Over two years she recovered but became totally blind and totally deaf, losing much of her sense of smell and sense of taste. She learned to make crude signs for food and drink, and her mother taught her to sew.

In 1837 Samuel Gridley Howe, the Director of Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston, was shown an article about Laura. Howe visited Laura, now seven years old, in her home and persuaded her parents to let him bring her to Perkins. Howe taught Laura to associate common objects with words made of raised letters. Samuel Gridley Howe’s method to teach the deaf-blind child became a foundation for Anne Sullivan when she taught Helen Keller.

By age eleven Bridgman’s language skills had improved, she could use the manual alphabet, and she had learned math and geography.

Bridgman disliked math, and sometimes after math lessons spelled out, “My think is tired.”

Bridgman became a teacher of deaf mutes at Perkins School for the Blind, living there for more than fifty years. Charles Dickens visited America in 1842, met Laura when he toured Perkins, and wrote about her in his book American Notes (1843).

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JOAN BROCK Born January 22, 1952, in California Joan Stuebbe graduated from the University of South Dakota and worked as a recreational therapist. She was working at the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School in Vinton, Iowa, when she suddenly went blind from macular degeneration. Less than three years later her husband died from cancer. She rebuilt her life, remarrying and working as a motivational speaker in the United States and worldwide. Brock wrote an autobiographical book, More Than Meets the Eye (1994), about her life from age thirty-two to forty-one.

Brock’s story was told in a made-for-television movie, More Than Meets the Eye: The Joan Brock Story (2003) starring Carey Lowell.

ELEANOR G. BROWN Born August 28, 1887, near Dayton, Ohio Died July 21, 1964, in Dayton, Ohio Brown became blind in her first two weeks of life from “baby sore eyes.” She graduated from the Ohio School for the Blind in 1908 and from Ohio State University in 1914. Brown earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1924 and a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1934.

Brown taught in the Dayton, Ohio, Public Schools for more than thirty-five years. As an outgrowth of her Ph.D. thesis about the causes of John Milton’s blindness, Brown wrote the book, Milton’s Blindness (1934). Her conclusion in the book was that his blindness was possibly due to glaucoma or detached retinas but, “The cause of Milton’s blindness remains, and will remain, unsolved.” Brown also wrote an autobiography, Corridors of Light (1958), in which she said, “In order to work out a philosophy of life, I have read many

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books and attended many churches. These, then, were the five rules I have used. Be true to yourself, cultivate the best in life, think, work and pray.”

PEARLY BROWN Born August 18, 1915, in Abbeville, Georgia Died June 28, 1986, in Plains, Georgia Born blind and raised in Americus, Georgia, Pearly Brown learned to play the guitar at age seven. He attended the Georgia Academy for the Blind from age fifteen to twenty-one. Ordained a Baptist minister, he served at a church in Americus from 1936 to 1939.

About 1939 Brown began playing guitar, singing, and preaching on street corners in Georgia and Florida. He continued to play blues and gospel music for more than forty years on the streets of Southern towns, but mainly in Georgia. Of his street singing he said, “I’ve come to love the street. . . . It’s not bad to be a street singer; it’ll learn you something. One of the main things I’ve learned on the streets is to love everybody.” In the late 1950s Brown did a weekly radio show in Americus and appeared regularly on another radio station in Macon, Georgia.

Brown performed at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, Tennessee, traveled the East Coast with the Southern Folk Festival in 1964, and played in a Carnegie Hall competition in 1966. In the late 1960s and early 1970s he had a weekly radio show on a Macon station and played a series of concerts at the University of Georgia. Brown recorded an album in 1961 and another in 1973. Some of his bestknown songs were “It’s a Mean Old World to Try to Live,” “You’re Gonna Need That Pure Religion,” and “The Great Speckled Bird.”

Brown retired from playing in the late 1970s due to poor health.

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FRANCES BROWNE Born January 16, 1816, in County Donegal, Ireland Died August 25, 1879, in London, England Sometimes known as the blind poetess of Donegal, Browne wrote poetry, novels, and children’s books.

Browne lost her sight from smallpox at the age of eighteen months.

She was mainly self-taught by listening to her brothers and sisters recite their lessons. By age seven she was writing poetry, and by her mid-teens Browne had written a manuscript of poetry. When a friend read her Homer’s Iliad, Browne thought her own work so inferior that she destroyed her manuscript. Later when she heard poems of Lord Byron, she determined she would never write anything so wonderful and resolved never to write poetry again. However by her early twenties Browne was writing again, and in 1840 sold her first poem to an Irish magazine.

In 1847 Browne moved to Edinburgh, Scotland, and wrote for various journals. In 1852 she moved to London, where she spent the rest of her life. Browne wrote eighteen books, including the books of poetry Star of Allegtei (1844), Lyrics and Miscellaneous Poems (1856), and Pictures and Songs of Home (1856). In the preface to Pictures and Songs of Home she wrote, “My dear young readers, it was out of the memory of my childhood, left far behind me now, but not to be forgotten, that I wrote this little book of short poems for you. . . . The love of poetry comes early because it is natural to mankind, and the noblest of the arts takes the first hold in our minds.” She also wrote the novels My Share of the World (1861), The Castleford Case (1862), and Hidden Sin (1866).

Browne’s best-known work was a collection of fairy tales titled Granny’s Wonderful Chair and the Tales It Told (1857). The book tells seven stories of the adventures of a little girl and her grandmother’s chair that has magical powers. With characters like Snowflower (the little girl),

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Dame Frostyface, and King Winwealth, the book became a children’s classic. It is still published one and a half centuries after it was written.

PAT BROWNE, JR. Born in 1933 Browne graduated from Jesuit High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he was a star athlete. He attended Tulane University and played intercollegiate basketball and golf. At age thirty-two Browne lost his sight in an automobile accident. He won the National Blind Golf Championship twenty-two times, including nineteen years in a row from 1978 to 1997. Browne was President of the United States Blind Golfers Association from 1976 to 1992.

When he was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame, Browne said, “I hope that whatever I have accomplished gives a sense that you can accomplish whatever goals you want, regardless of limitations. God has given us all certain abilities. It’s each person’s responsibility to make the most of them.”

ARCHIE BROWNLEE Born c. 1925 Died February 8, 1960, in New Orleans, Louisiana One of the outstanding gospel singers of all time, Brownlee was the lead singer of the gospel group, The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi.

Brownlee was blind from childhood and attended the Pineywood School near Jackson, Mississippi, that had a division for teaching blind students. At age fourteen Brownlee formed a gospel group called the Cotton Blossom Singers, made up of blind students at the Pineywood School. The group sang at local churches, changed their name to the Jackson Harmoneers, and then to the Five Blind Boys

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of Mississippi. In 1944 they moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, and performed on the radio. In 1945 the group moved to Chicago, Illinois, made recordings, and toured. Some of the group’s bestknown songs are “Lord, I’ve Tried” (1946), “Our Father” (1949), and “I’m Gonna Leave You in the Hands of the Lord” (1958).

Brownlee was touring when he contracted pneumonia and died at age thirty-nine.

CHRISTOPHER AUGUSTINE BUCKLEY Born December 25, 1845, in New York, New York Died April 20, 1922, in San Francisco, California Although he was never elected to public office, Buckley rose to political prominence in San Francisco.

The son of an Irish immigrant, Buckley arrived in San Francisco in 1862 at age sixteen. His early jobs included driving a horse cart and working as a bartender. Beginning in 1865 Buckley was tutored in party politics by a Republican ward boss. In 1873 Buckley became a Democrat. Buckley lost most of his vision in his early thirties from optic nerve defects. From 1882 until 1891 Buckley was the true authority of San Francisco politics. One of the most powerful individuals in California state politics, he was known as “Boss Buckley.”

Having made and lost several fortunes in his lifetime, when he died in 1922 he left a substantial fortune to his heirs.

CHARLES BUELL Born March 30, 1912, in Beaumont, California Died October 23, 1992, in Orange, California Buell was legally blind from birth, although he had partial sight his entire life. He earned a master’s degree from the University of

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Michigan in 1946 and a Ph.D. from the University of California in 1950. From 1937 to 1939 he was a teacher at the School for the Blind in Vancouver, Washington, and from 1939 to 1941 he was principal of a private school in Nuevo, California. From 1941 to 1944 he was Principal of the Maryland School for the Blind, and from 1944 to 1946 was Athletic Director at the Michigan School for the Blind. From 1946 to 1965 Buell was Athletic Director at the California School for the Blind, and from 1966 to 1974 was a teacher in the Long Beach, California, Public Schools.

Buell wrote several books about recreation for the blind, including Sports for the Blind (1945), Recreation for the Blind (1951), Active Games for the Blind (1953), Physical Education for Blind Children (1966), and Physical Education and Recreation for the Visually Handicapped (1973). Buell also helped establish the United States Association for Blind Athletes.

MARY BUNYAN Born in 1650 in Elston, England Died in 1663 in England Bunyan was born blind and the eldest daughter of John Bunyan, the English preacher and writer best known for his book Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). When Mary was six years old her mother died, and Mary helped take care of her sister and two brothers. In 1660 John Bunyan was imprisoned for preaching without a license. As a ten-year-old, Mary would travel each day to the prison to bring her father food.

Mary died at age twelve or thirteen, probably from the plague. Some have said John Bunyan was greatly inspired by his daughter Mary. He did say that she “lay nearer my heart than all I had besides.”

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SAMUEL BRADLEY BURSON Born September, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois Died May 24, 1998, in Mansfield, Ohio Burson became blind in a shooting accident at age fifteen. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University in 1940, a law degree from the University of Illinois in 1942, and a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois in 1946. From 1946 to 1947 he taught physics at the University of Missouri. From 1947 to 1975 Burson worked at the Argone National Laboratory on decay schemes of radioactive nuclei, and for several years was on the staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He helped found the American Council of the Blind and represented them for many years.

Ray Ringo, a colleague at Argone National Laboratory wrote about Burson in 1999 and related the following story: “One evening in the 1960s, at about 11:00 p.m., the police department of Downers Grove, Illinois, received a phone call from a person who thought someone was stealing things from a dark construction site next door. When police investigated they found Burson building his new house. He didn’t need any light. His own mental map was enough.”

BEVERLY K. BUTLER Born May 4, 1932, in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin An award-winning writer of books for young people, Butler writes books whose themes include historical events, coming of age, and character-building ordeals.

Butler became blind from glaucoma at age fourteen. She earned a master’s degree from Marquette University in 1961 and taught at Mount Mary College from 1962 to 1974. Her first novel, Song of the Voyageur (1955), was about a girl who leaves her home in

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Massachusetts and moves to the frontier in the 1830s. Some of her other books are Light a Single Candle (1962), Feather in the Wind (1965), and My Sister’s Keeper (1980).

Butler also wrote a nonfiction book for young people, Maggie by my Side (1987), about her experience getting a new guide dog.

HENRY BUTLER Born September 21, 1949, in New Orleans, Louisiana A musical artist interested in many musical styles, Butler said, “If I had to settle for one thing I’d give up the ship.”

Blind from infancy, Butler began singing in the choir at the Louisiana State School for the Blind at age seven. At age fourteen he began playing professionally. Butler earned a masters’ degree from Michigan State University, and from 1980 to 1987 worked in Los Angeles, California, as a music consultant for Stevie Wonder. He recorded his first album in 1986, and from 1990 to 1996 was a professor of music at Eastern Illinois University.

Butler is also an accomplished photographer. He has been noted in American Photographer Magazine and has had photo exhibitions.

ANTONIO DE CABEZON Born March 30, 1500, near Burgos, Spain Died March 26, 1566, in Madrid, Spain Blind from childhood, Cabezon went to Palencia, Spain, about age twenty, and studied the organ and music composition. In 1526 he was appointed organist for Queen Isabella and continued in that position until her death in 1539. After the Queen’s death he worked for her children, including Prince Phillip, from 1539 to 1548. From 1548 and for the rest of his life Cabezon worked exclusively for

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Prince Phillip, who later became King Phillip. Cabezon traveled through Europe with Phillip from 1548 until 1556, when he settled in Madrid.

One of the most notable organists of his time, he influenced many musicians in Europe. He was also an important Spanish composer, producing canons, hymns, tientes, and versos. His son Hernando published many of his father’s compositions in 1578. Spanish composer and music historian Felipe Pedrell (1841-1922) called Cabezon “the Spanish Bach.”

FRANCIS J. CAMPBELL Born October 9, 1832, in Winchester, Tennessee Died June 30, 1914, in Norwood, England A pioneer in the education and training of the blind, Campbell helped establish and ran the Royal Normal College and Academy of Music in London, England, for forty years.

At age three Campbell accidentally pierced one eye with an acacia thorn. The eye became inflamed and he became blind in that eye. He lost the vision in his other eye from sympathetic ophthalmia, and by age four was totally blind. He attended the newly opened Tennessee State School for the Blind at age twelve, where he studied music. At age eighteen he became a music teacher at the Institute.

In 1855 Campbell went north and studied at Harvard University and Bridewater Normal, returning to Nashville in 1856 to teach the blind. Local slave owners labeled Campbell an abolitionist, possibly for teaching a young Negro the alphabet, and he was threatened with lynching. He quickly left town and taught at the Wisconsin School for the Blind from 1856 to 1858. From 1858 to 1869 he was the Music Director at Perkins Institution for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts. From 1869 to 1871 Campbell studied music in Leipzig and Berlin, Germany. Leaving Germany and on his way

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home to the United States, he stopped in London, England, and met Thomas Rhodes Armitage. With the help of Armitage, the Duke of Westminster, and Queen Victoria, he founded the Royal Normal College and Academy of Music for the Blind. He headed the College from 1872 to 1912. In his training programs Campbell emphasized physical conditioning, high quality instruction, and vocational training. At Perkins and Royal Normal College, Francis Campbell had students and teachers practice rigorous physical conditioning. He said, “If the blind are to compete with the seeing they must have as good, if not better instruction.�

Campbell enjoyed cycling, rowing, traveling, and especially mountain climbing. As a boy he had climbed mountains in Tennessee, so while living in Boston he climbed Mount Mansfield in Vermont and Mount Washington in New Hampshire. In Europe he climbed Mount Jungfrau and Mount Eiger in Switzerland. In 1880 he climbed Mont Blanc in France, after which he became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1909 Campbell was knighted by King Edward VII for his services to the blind.

Campbell had three sons and a daughter, and all were involved in work for the blind.

JAMES CAMPBELL Born September 17, 1906, in Nashville, Tennessee Date of death unknown Blind James Campbell was a Nashville, Tennessee, street musician who became blind at age thirty in a work accident in a fertilizer plant. Campbell formed a singing group, the Nashville Washboard Band, in 1936, and the group played on the streets, at parties, and at roadhouses. Campbell sang and played the guitar, mandolin, and washboard. He later changed the name of his group to The Friendly Five and in 1963 recorded an album for Arhoolie Records. Some of

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his songs were “John Henry,” “Monkey Man Blues,” “This Little Light of Mine,” “Gambling Man,” “Sittin’ Here Drinking,” and “My Gal Got Evil.”

PHYLLIS CAMPBELL Born in 1938 in Virginia Phyllis Stanton was blind from birth. From ages six to eighteen she attended the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. She married Chuck Campbell in 1967, and beginning in 1968 she was a professional writer for various magazines.

Campbell wrote a warm and cheerful autobiography, Friendships in the Dark (1996), that was subtitled A Blind Woman’s Story of the People and Pets Who Light up Her World. In it she wrote, “Since birth I have been totally blind. Yet I have never felt cheated out of the rich beauty the world has to give. For as long as I can remember I have reached out to the world around me, giving and taking all the good things life has to offer.”

WALTER L. CAMPBELL Born November 13, 1842, in Salem, Ohio Died January 25, 1905, in Youngstown, Ohio Campbell was the mayor of Youngstown, Ohio, for two years and editor of a Youngstown newspaper for eight years, earning a reputation for determination, a strong will, and uncommon kindness.

Campbell was blinded in an accident at the age of three when he was hit in the right eye by a clod of dirt. Sympathetic blindness left him totally blind. He attended the Ohio Institute for the Blind

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from 1851 to 1858 and attended high school in Salem, Ohio, from 1859 to 1863. Campbell graduated from Western Reserve College in 1867 and from Harvard Law School in 1868.

In 1869 Campbell went to the Wyoming Territory to serve as United States Commissioner and practice law. In 1873 he returned to Youngstown, Ohio, and purchased an interest in the Mahoning Register Newspaper. He was editor from 1874 to 1882. Campbell was elected mayor of Youngstown in 1884 and served until 1886.

He remained active in politics, speaking on behalf of many candidates. His primary interest was democracy, and he wrote a book, Cititas: The Romance of Our Nation’s Life (1886).

VALERIE CAPERS Born May 24, 1935, in New York, New York Trained as a classical pianist, Valerie Capers was surrounded by jazz music, as her father Alvin and brother Robert were jazz musicians. When she later became a jazz pianist, college professor, and composer, Caper combined the influences of European classical, blues, Latin, jazz, and gospel music in her compositions.

At age six Capers became blind from a streptococcus infection severe enough to damage her optic nerve. She graduated from the New York Institute for the Blind as valedictorian of her high school class in 1953. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the Juilliard School of Music in 1959 and a master’s degree from Juilliard in 1960. Capers taught at the Manhattan School of Music, Hunter College, and the Bronx Community College from 1973 to 1995. She began composing jazz pieces in the 1970s and also wrote choral compositions.

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TORLOGH CAROLAN Born in 1670 in County Meath, Ireland Died March 25, 1738, in County Roscommon, Ireland An Irish harpist and poet who had a reputation for enjoying music and liquor, Carolan is known as one of Ireland’s leading composers.

Carolan lost his sight at age eighteen due to smallpox. Later in his life Carolan said, “My eyes are transplanted in my ears.” He began to play the harp soon after losing his vision and worked as an apprentice for three years. Carolan spent most of his life as an itinerant musician and was known throughout Ireland.

He was considered an average harpist, possibly due to not learning the harp until he was eighteen years old, but he was an outstanding composer. He composed his first tune in 1691, and in all created over two hundred songs. He wrote a wide variety of songs, such as “Bridget Cruise,” “Bumper Squire Jones,” “Liquor of Life,” and “Savourna Deelish.”

Besides composing and performing, liquor seems to have been a central part of Carolan’s life. A doctor advised Carolan to give up drinking alcohol for health reasons. When he did, Carolan said he felt worse with each passing day. He found another doctor who gave him the opposite advice, and Carolan said, “At once my spirits became lively and cheerful.” Once given a small glass of liquor that was not filled to the top, he wrote, “My abiding curse on the ugly, undersized glass, and worse than that is the hand that did not half fill it.”

Near death and holding a glass of whiskey he said, “It is hard that two friends should part, at least without kissing.” In keeping with his life, Carolan’s wake reportedly lasted four days.

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BO CARTER Born March 21, 1893, in Boulton, Mississippi Died September 21, 1964, in Memphis, Tennessee Carter was a blues singer and guitarist whose songs with strong sexual innuendoes entertained people in the 1930s. Songs such as “Banana in Your Fruit Basket,” “My Pencil Won’t Write No More,” “Please Warm my Weiner,” “Pussy Cat Blues,” and “Ram Rod Daddy” were Carter standards.

Born Armenter Chatmon into the famous musical Chatmon family, he became blind in his late thirties. The Chatmons formed the blues group The Mississippi Sheiks, and Bo toured with group from 1930 to 1935. Carter also had a solo recording career, with songs such as “I Get the Blues” (1936) and “Shake ‘em on Down” (1938). Carter retired from performing in the early 1940s.

CLARENCE CARTER Born January 14, 1936, in Montgomery, Alabama A rhythm and blues singer and guitarist, Carter is best known for his crossover pop hit singles “Slip Away” (1968) and “Patches” (1970).

Blinded in childhood, Carter began a singing career as a duo with Calvin Scott. Known as Clarence and Calvin or the C and C Boys, they recorded several songs before Scott, injured in an automobile accident, had to quit his singing career for awhile.

Carter began a solo act in 1965 and had nine rhythm and blues hits before recording his pop hit “Slip Away” in 1968. Some of Carter’s other well-known songs were “Too Weak to Fight,” “Snatching it Back,” “It’s All in Your Mind,” “The Feeling is Right,” and “Doin’ Our Thing.” His story song “Patches” went to number four on the

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pop music charts in 1970. Carter continued to tour and make albums through the 1990s, but they were not as successful as his earlier work.

SONORA CARVER Born February 2, 1904, in Waycross, Georgia Died September 21, 2003, in Pleasantville, New Jersey Well known from the late 1920s to the early 1940s as a horse diver in Doc Carver’s Circus, she was the inspiration for a 1991 movie.

Sonora Webster joined Doc Carver’s Circus when she was twenty years old and performed a horse diving act. She would go to the top of a forty-foot platform, a horse would be ramped to the top, she would mount the moving horse, and together they would dive forty feet down to a small pool of water. She traveled the country and became the first woman to ride diving horses at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. She became Sonora Carver in 1929 when she married Doc Carver’s son Al. In 1931 at age twenty-seven she was blinded in a dive when her horse landed poorly and she hit the water flat on her face, detaching her retinas. Fiercely independent, she did most things for her herself, learned Braille, and began horse diving again within a year of her accident. She performed the horse diving act for eleven more years before retiring. After retiring she worked as a typist.

In 1961 Carver wrote an autobiography (as told to Elizabeth Land) titled A Girl and Five Brave Horses, about her life up to age thirtyeight. At the end of her autobiography she said, “I often have the feeling that I am part of the world and, though I cannot see my surroundings, the world is part of me. I am conscious of an indestructible, indomitable force, a constant and abiding truth that is stronger than any human being. This presence gives me strength and courage to face whatever comes, and I do not fear life or anything in it. On the contrary I relish life and know that there is still much for me to do and to know.”

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Carver was the inspiration for the movie Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken (1991), starring Gabrielle Anwar, Cliff Robertson, and Michael Schoeffling. The movie depicts a small town girl who runs away from a foster home and joins a carnival to become a stunt rider.

She becomes a horse diver, is blinded in a diving accident, finds romance, and dives again.

RICHARD C. CASEY Born January 19, 1933, in Ithaca, New York Died March 22, 2007, in New York, NY Casey graduated from Holy Cross College in 1955 and from Georgetown University Law Center in 1958. He worked as an assistant United States Attorney and later had a private law practice. At age fifty-four Casey lost his eyesight. In 1993 he was nominated as a United States District Court judge in New York. At his confirmation hearing Casey knew his blindness would be an issue. Appearing before the confirmation committee Casey said, “Before you start, may I say a word? The word is blind. Let’s not pussyfoot around it; let’s put it on the table. What you are all thinking is ‘can he do it?’ I love this profession; I have great admiration for this court. I would not do anything to damage either one. I am here because I know in my heart I can do the job.” Casey was easily confirmed.

PETE W . CASSELL Born August 27, 1917, in Cobb County, Georgia Died July 29, 1954, in Key West, Florida Cassell became blind when he was three days old, when a doctor misapplied medication to his eyes. He attended special classes in the Atlanta Public Schools and attended high school at the Georgia

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Academy for the Blind in Macon. He had already learned to play the piano when he arrived at the Academy, and there he learned to play the guitar.

Cassell entered law school in Atlanta but dropped out to pursue a music career. He made his radio debut on a Chattanooga, Tennessee, radio station in 1937. Between 1937 and 1954 he played on radio stations in Wheeling, West Virginia; Rome, Georgia; Arlington, Virginia; Springfield, Missouri; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Atlanta, Georgia. From 1943 to 1945 he had his own show on radio station WAGA in Atlanta. Known as “King of the Hillbillies” or “the Blind Minstrel,” he said he had wanted to be a radio performer for as long as he could remember.

Between 1941 and 1949 Cassell recorded twenty-five songs for Decca Records. He also made recordings for Majestic and Mercury Records. Some of his best-known songs were “Freight Train Blues,” “Old Shep,” “One More Step,” “Wabash Cannon Ball,” and “Where the Old Red River Flows.” He also played sacred songs on his radio programs. Cassell died of a coronary thrombosis in 1954 at the age of thirty-six, while on vacation in Key West, Florida.

ANTONIO FELICIANO CASTILHO Born January 28, 1800, in Lisbon, Portugal Died June 18, 1875, in Lisbon, Portugal Castilho was blind from the age of six from a severe case of measles. He graduated in canon law but devoted himself to translating classic literature into Portuguese, starting with Ovid’s Metamorphoses in 1841. After translating several other Greek and Latin writers, he translated Goethe, Moliere, and Shakespeare.

Castilho wrote numerous books of poetry, including Letters of Echo the Narcissus (1821), Love and Melancholy (1828), The Night of the Castle

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(1836), Pictures of the History of Portugal (1838), Adjustment of Accounts (1854), and The Autumn (1863).

Castilho was interested in agriculture and spent years in the Azores pursuing this interest. He also did additional translations, achieving distinction as a translator and a poet.

SAMUEL CATHEY Born February 9, 1894, in Henderson County, North Carolina Died February 12, 1970, in Ashville, North Carolina Blinded in a dynamite explosion at the age of nineteen, Samuel Cathey went on to serve for thirty-nine years as a criminal court judge in Ashville, North Carolina. He was recognized nationally as the United States Handicapped Man of the Year in 1955.

Cathey attended the School for the Blind in Raleigh, North Carolina, studied law, and passed the bar exam in 1924. He was elected police court solicitor in Ashville in 1927 and elected judge in 1931. He was reelected each term from 1931 to 1970. Cathey helped establish the North Carolina Commission for the Blind in 1935 and was Chairman of the Commission from 1935 to 1968.

GENEVIEVE CAULFIELD Born May 8, 1888, in Suffolk, Virginia Died December 12, 1972, in Bangkok, Thailand Caulfield lost her sight as an infant when a doctor accidentally tipped over a bottle of strong medicine that went into her eyes. At age eleven she began attending Perkins School for the Blind. She went to the Connecticut School for the Blind for a year and then went back to Perkins. At age thirteen she was a student at Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia and graduated from there in 1905.

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When she was seventeen years old Caulfield said, “I made up my mind that what I wanted to do with my life was to go to Japan as a teacher and do whatever I could to make the people of Japan and the United States more friendly.” Caulfield conceived this plan after hearing about a magazine article titled “Should Japanese Children in California Be Sent to Separate Schools?” She was upset that a state “was seriously considering a law that would bar from its schools children whose only sin was that their parents had come from the home country of Japan.”

Caulfield graduated from Columbia University, and in the summer of 1914 worked for the New York Commission for the Blind. She taught at Perkins School for the Blind and Overbrook School for the Blind for six months each, and worked for several years as a tutor at Columbia University. She had just arrived in Japan on September 1, 1923, when a major earthquake struck Tokyo. Caulfield taught English in Japan for nine years, and in 1932 was asked to teach soldiers who had been blinded in Japan’s invasion of Manchuria in 1931.

In 1936 Caulfield traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, with the intent of starting a school for the blind. The school she started using some of her own money eventually gained government support and thrived.

During World War II she worked with blind children in war-torn Bangkok and continued her work after the war. Caulfield was invited by the government of Vietnam to establish an elementary school for the blind there in 1958.

On December 6, 1963, United States President Lyndon Baines Johnson awarded Caulfield the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The highest civilian award of the United States noted that Caulfield was “A teacher and humanitarian, who had been for decades a onewoman Peace Corps in Southeast Asia, winning victories over darkness by helping the blind to become full members of society.”

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JAMES CHAMPLIN Born March 24, 1821, in Blain’s Cross Roads, Tennessee Date of death unknown Born blind, Champlin received a license to preach at age seventeen.

From a young age he had a desire to be an orator, which led him to believe he should become a lawyer. He studied law for months and then sat for the exam. A judge gave him part of the exam and Champlin thought he had done well on it. At this point the judge asked Champlin his age. Champlin said he was about eighteen, which probably meant he was seventeen. The judge stopped the exam and said he could not receive a law license until age twentyone. Champlin decided to give up the idea of becoming a lawyer and returned to preaching.

Champlin wrote an autobiography with the abbreviated title Life of Champlin (1842) when he was twenty-one years old. The rest of the title was Early Biography, travel and adventures of Rev. James Champlin, Who Was Born Blind; With a Description of the Different Counties through which he traveled in America, and of the Different Institutions, etc., visited by him; also an appendix, which contains Extracts From Addresses Delivered By Him on Several Occasions. The book recounts his life from age fifteen to age twenty.

Inspired by his visit to the Institution for the Blind in Boston, Massachusetts, Champlin started a private school for the blind in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1843. This endeavor was successful, and in 1844 the Tennessee Legislature established a State School for the Blind.

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RAY CHARLES Born September 23, 1930, in Albany, Georgia Died June 10, 2004, in Los Angeles, California An American icon, Charles was on the music scene for more than fifty years. He fused blues and gospel music early in his career and sang many different types of music throughout his life. Totally devoted to music, Charles once said, “I never wanted to be famous.

I only wanted to be great.”

Born Ray Charles Robinson, he moved with his family to Greenville, Florida, when he was one year old. He became blind at the age of six from glaucoma, and from ages seven to fifteen attended the Florida School for Deaf and Blind. He learned to play the clarinet, trumpet, and alto saxophone at school, but left at age fifteen to form a combo that toured Florida. He moved to Seattle, Washington, when he was eighteen, and formed the McSon Trio. He dropped Robinson from his name in 1948 to become Ray Charles.

In 1948 he made his first recordings and in 1950 moved to Los Angeles, California. Charles wrote more than seventy-five songs, including “I’ve Got a Woman” (1954), “Halleluiah, I Love Her So” (1956), and “What I Say” (1959). A drug user since age sixteen, he was convicted of possessing heroin and marijuana in 1966. He was given a five year suspended sentence and kicked his heroin addiction at a Los Angeles sanatorium.

Between 1956 and 2000 Charles recorded nearly one hundred albums. Some of his well-known singles are “Let the Good Times Roll” (1960), “Come Rain or Shine” (1960), “Georgia on My Mind” (1960), “Hit the Road Jack” (1961), “Unchain My Heart” (1961), “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (1962), “You Don’t Know Me” (1962), “Busted” (1963), and “Crying Time” (1965). Charles starred in the 1966 movie about himself and a blind child, Blues for Lovers (also known as Ballad in Blue). He wrote an

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autobiography with David Ritz titled Brother Ray, Ray Charles’ Own Story (1978).

An admitted ladies man, Charles was married twice and had twelve children with seven different women. He told Ed Bradley on the television show 60 Minutes he would “audition” female back-up singers. “To be a Raylette, you’ve got to let Ray,” he said. Later in life Ray Charles said, “It’s the music, without music there is nothing.

Ever since I was three years old, music has always fascinated me and it still does.”

HECTOR CHEVIGNY Born June 28, 1904, in Missoula, Montana Died April 20, 1965, in New York, New York Hector Chevigny had a successful writing career before becoming blind and an equally successful writing career after becoming blind, although he was annoyed that losing his sight rewarded him with more fame than his work.

As a child Chevigny was often sick due to allergies and became an avid reader. He graduated from Gonzaga University in 1927, and got a job as a scriptwriter for a Seattle, Washington, radio station.

He moved to Hollywood, California, and between 1935 and 1943 wrote more than 1500 radio dramas. Chevigny had a great interest in Alaskan history and wrote The Lost Empire (1939) and The Lord of Alaska (1944), both histories of Russia’s exploration of Alaska in the early 1800s.

In 1943 at the age of thirty-eight Chevigny moved to New York, New York, and shortly thereafter became blind from detached retinas. In the late 1940s and the 1950s he wrote plays for television, some of which are in the book Best TV Plays of 1951-1952.

Chevigny was on the Radio Writers Guild Council from 1940 to 1953 and National President of the Guild from 1952 to 1953. He

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wrote My Eyes Have a Cold Nose (1946) about his experiences after becoming blind (the “cold nose” refers to his guide dog Wizard).

He wrote a novel about a woman evangelist Woman of the Rock (1949), coauthored with Sydell Braverman The Adjustment of the Blind (1950), and wrote Russian America (1965), another book on Alaskan history.

LUCY CHING Born c. 1937 in Guangzhou, China Lucy Ching Man-Fai became blind at the age of six months when an herbal treatment, used to heal red spots on her eyes, destroyed her optic nerve. A brother learned about a method to learn to read and write, and he obtained the material that Ching used to teach herself Braille. She graduated from the Diocesan Girls’ School in 1954, and from 1954 to 1956 received training at Perkins School for the Blind in the United States. Ching also studied music at the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, from 1957 to 1959.

In 1959 Ching returned to Hong Kong and worked for thirty years as a social worker for blind and other handicapped persons at the Social Welfare Department. Ching wrote an autobiographical book One of the Lucky Ones (1982). A movie based on her book, Walk With Me, was made in 1994.

WILLIAM H. CHURCHMAN Born November 29, 1818, near Baltimore, Maryland Died May 17, 1882, near Indianapolis, Indiana An excellent planner and administrator, Churchman headed schools for the blind for thirty-five years with wisdom, generosity, and a sense of humor.

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Born into a Quaker family, Churchman attended public schools in Baltimore. He began losing his sight at age fifteen, and at age seventeen entered the School for the Blind in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, graduating in 1839. After teaching music in Philadelphia for a short time, he took a job teaching music and mathematics at the Ohio Institution for the Blind in 1840.

In 1844 at the age of twenty-six he became principal of the Tennessee School for the Blind, the first blind person to head a school for the blind in the United States. In 1847 he helped establish the Indiana Institution for the Blind in Indianapolis and headed the school until 1855. From 1855 to 1861 he was Superintendent of the Wisconsin School for the Blind. From 1861 to 1879 he was again Superintendent of the Indiana Institution for the Blind.

ELEANOR CLARK Born July 6, 1913, in Los Angeles, California Died February 16, 1996, in Boston, Massachusetts Clark grew up in Roxbury, Connecticut, and graduated from Vassar College in 1934. She worked as a freelance writer and from 1936 to 1939 was an editor. She wrote a novel, The Bitter Box (1946), two travel commentaries, Rome and a Villa (1952) and The Oysters of Locomuaquer (1964), and another novel, Bauldir’s Gate (1970).

In 1976 Clark began losing her sight to macular degeneration.

She wrote about her vision loss and the human condition in Eyes, Etc. (1977). She wrote two more novels, Gloria Mundi (1979) and Camping Out (1986), and a travel commentary, Tamrart: 13 days in the Sahara (1984).

Clark was married to American author Robert Penn Warren from 1952 until his death in 1989.

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APPIUS CLAUDIUS Born c. 350 B.C. in Rome, Italy Died c. 290 B.C. in Rome, Italy A Roman general, statesman, and lawgiver, Claudius fought in many of Rome’s early wars. He became blind about the time he became censor (ruler) in 312 B.C. During his rule he opened up the political process to more Romans, constructed Rome’s first aqueduct, and built the Appian Way. Known as Claudius the Blind, he was also a talented writer and orator and is regarded as the father of Latin prose and oratory.

CLEMENT XII Born April 7, 1652, in Florence, Italy Died February 6, 1740, in Rome, Italy Born Lorenjo Corsine into a family of merchants and bankers, he studied and practiced law. At age thirty-three Corsine became a priest and in time advanced to cardinal. On July 12, 1730, at age seventy-eight, he was elected Pope, taking the name Clement XII. About this time he had failing eyesight and two years later was totally blind. In his nine years as Pope he cleaned up church corruption and oversaw extensive church building, including the restoration of the Arch of Constantine.

JACK CLEMO Born March 11, 1916, in Goonamarris, England Died July 25, 1994, in Weymouth, England Reginald John Clemo was an essayist, novelist, and poet, and is considered by many to be one of the most original English writers of the twentieth century.

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Clemo had poor vision as a child and became deaf at age twenty. He became totally blind at age thirty-nine.

Clemo wrote numerous books of poetry, including The Clay Verge (1951), The Map of Clay (1961), Cactus on Carmel (1967), Broad Autumn (1975), and A Different Drummer (1986). He also wrote two novels, Wilding Graft (1948) and The Shadowed Bed (1986). He wrote a collection of theological essays, The Invading Gospel (1958), and two autobiographical books, Confessions of a Rebel (1949) and The Marriage of a Rebel (1980). One of Clemo’s recurring themes is the compatibility of Christianity and eroticism.

Kenneth Allsap said, “Jack Clemo is the John Bunyan of the [twentieth] century. He is about as easily digested as hot ingots.”

BERNICE CLIFTON Born in 1901 in St. Louis, Missouri Died April 29, 1985, in Oak Park, Illinois Clifton attended Northwestern University and the Art Institute of Chicago, and worked as a window display designer for a Chicago department store. She lost her sight at age thirty-seven when she fell down a flight of stairs and sustained a severe blow to the head. After getting a guide dog from Seeing Eye Guide Dog School, she wrote a column “Karla and I” for an Oak Brook, Illinois, newspaper from 1939 to 1940.

During World War II, Clifton was a Red Cross volunteer at the Chicago airport canteen serving wounded soldiers. She wrote an autobiographical book, None So Blind (1962), about her life after losing her sight.

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JOSEPH F. CLUNK Born in 1895 in Lisbon, Ohio Died September 26, 1975, in Baltimore, Maryland Clunk was a pioneer in the United States, placing blind persons in jobs. He often demonstrated what a blind person could do by doing an on-the-spot demonstration himself.

Clunk was born with poor vision and became totally blind at the age of twenty-four. He began doing job placement work for the Cleveland Society for the Blind in the early 1920s. From 1928 to 1936 he worked for the Canadian government, showing them his placement techniques. In 1937 Clunk was appointed the first Chief of Services to the Blind in the section of the federal government that administered the Randolph-Sheppard Act. He continued in this job until 1950, when he began work for the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind as head of the Philadelphia office.

CRISS COLE Born May 11, 1918, in Sawyer, Oklahoma Died June 21, 1985, in Houston, Texas One of ten children from a sharecropper’s family, Criss Cole became a marine, attorney, state legislator, judge, and advocate for veterans and the handicapped.

Cole grew up near Avery in northeast Texas and served in the United States Marines. He was blinded in 1943 by a grenade while serving in the Pacific during World War II. Cole worked as a legal stenographer before earning a law degree from the University of Houston in 1954. He was elected to the Texas House of Representatives in 1954

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and reelected in 1956, 1958, and 1960. In 1962 he was elected to the Texas Senate and was President pro tempore of the Texas Senate in 1969. He was appointed District Court judge in Houston, Texas, in 1971 and served until his death in 1985.

MILLICENT COLLINSWORTH Born September 13, 1947, in Newport, Arkansas Accidentally blinded at age 31, Collinsworth developed “Project Blind Ambition” in 1994 to teach blind children self-defense skills.

She has appeared on several television shows, including Designing Women as a self-defense instructor and Houston Knights as herself.

She wrote an autobiography with Jan Winebremmer titled Millicent (1993), a captivating book about her often difficult and challenging life. She was a technical advisor on the movie Contact (1997) that had a blind character.

HARRY CORDELLOS Born November 28, 1937 in San Francisco, California Cordellos had partial sight as a child from congenital glaucoma and by age twenty was totally blind. In 1958 he learned to water ski, and this piqued his interest in sports. He subsequently learned to snow ski, golf, and hang glide, and became a marathon runner and an “Iron Man” tri-athlete. He earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation from California State University at Hayward in 1966, and a master’s degree there in 1968. Cordellos is the author of Aquatic Recreation for the Blind (1976), and two autobiographical books, Breaking Through (1981) and No Limits (1993). Cordellos has competed in more than 150 marathons.

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HENRY N. COUDEN Born November 21, 1842, in Marshall County, Indiana Died August 22, 1922, in Ft. Myer, Virginia Henry Couden was a Civil War veteran who served as Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives for twenty-five years.

Henry Noble Couden was a nephew of Indiana Governor Noah Noble. Couden was blinded in a Civil War battle at age twenty-four, and attended the Ohio State School for the Blind and the Divinity School of St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. He was ordained a Universalist clergyman in 1878. He was Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives from December, 1895, to February, 1921.

In 1912 when the ocean liner Titanic sunk, the House of Representatives, in tribute to Titanic’s dead, adjourned for twentyfour hours. Part of Couden’s prayer on the occasion was “We thank Thee that though in ordinary circumstances of life selfishness and greed seem to be in ascendancy, yet in times of distress and peril, then it is that the nobility of soul, the Godlike man, asserts itself and makes heroes.”

ABRAM V. COURTNEY Born c. 1805 in Albany, New York Date of death unknown Courtney wrote Anecdotes of the Blind (1835), a fifty-two page book consisting of a memoir of the author and nineteen short information pieces about blind persons, including Thomas Blacklock, Nicholas Saunderson, John Milton, Henry Moyes, and Julia Brace

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Courtney lost the use of an eye at age five from an inflammation and lost the other eye at age twenty when a wood chip struck his good eye while he was splitting firewood. He traveled in New England selling merchandise and pamphlets before writing his book.

GEORGE COVINGTON Born in 1943 in Texas Covington was born legally blind from acute astigmatism, myopia, and nastagmus. His sight further deteriorated in his forties from retina problems. He earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. He was Special Assistant for Disability Policy to Vice President Dan Quayle from 1989 to 1993.

He coauthored with Bruce Hannah Access by Design (1997) and wrote Photo Hero (2001), subtitled A Satire of Photography.

Sometimes referred to as a blind photographer, Covington said, “Most people see to photograph, I photograph to see. Shortly after my present vision loss began, I discovered that photography allowed me to keep open this priceless channel of perceptive communication.

It was startling to realize I had stopped seeing myself in a mirror.

It was equally startling to realize I had stopped seeing the faces of my friends and relatives. If I had not become seriously interested in photography at that point in my life, I would today consider myself blind; as long as I can photograph I will never be blind.”

TIM CRANMER Born February 3, 1925, in Louisville, Kentucky Died November 15, 2001, in Louisville, Kentucky Cranmer had little vision at birth and by age nine was totally blind.

He went to the Kentucky School for the Blind, but after age twelve was self-taught. Cranmer worked as a piano tuner and pianist before

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beginning a career with the Kentucky Department for the Blind in 1952. He worked for the Department until 1982.

Best known for the Cranmer abacus, an abacus with felt below the beads so they stay in position, Cranmer also developed a light probe and the Cranmer-modified Perkins Brailler, and was heavily involved in the development of the Braille ‘N Speak and Braille Lite.

He wrote many articles for magazines such as The Braille Technical Press and Popular Mechanics.

FANNY CROSBY Born March 24, 1820, in Putnam County, New York Died February 12, 1915, in Bridgeport, Connecticut Known as the blind poetess or the blind hymn writer, Crosby was a prolific writer who is considered by many to be the most important hymn writer of the nineteenth century. Crosby also was a preacher, lecturer, and mission worker.

Frances Jane Crosby was six weeks old when her eyes became infected.

The family doctor was out of town and another person, most likely a quack, was consulted. He advised hot poultices be placed on her eyes. Either the infection, the hot poultices, or a combination of both left Crosby blind. Late in life Crosby said of the doctor, “I have not for a moment, in more than eighty-five years, felt a spark of resentment against him, because I have always believed from my youth to this very moment that the good Lord, in His Infinite Mercy, by this means consecrated me to the work that I am still permitted to do.” Just before she was one year old, her father died and her mother went to work as a maid to a wealthy family. Fanny’s grandmother, Eunice Crosby, in teaching and encouraging her to do things for herself had a big influence on her life.

Crosby had an outstanding memory and by age ten had memorized most of the New Testament of the Bible and part of the Old

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Testament. She also developed a love of composing poetry and verse.

At age eight she wrote, “Oh, what a happy soul am I!/ Although I cannot see/ I am resolved in this world/ Contented I will be/ How much blessing I enjoy/ That other people don’t/ To weep and sigh because I am blind/ I cannot and I won’t.”

Just before her fifteenth birthday she went to New York City to attend the New York Institute for the Blind. She received an education, wrote poems, and spoke on behalf of the organization. While a student she was encouraged in her writing by a visiting William Cullen Bryant. She also became friends with the young Grover Cleveland, who worked at the Institute for a short time. In 1843 Crosby went with a group from the Institute to lobby the United States Congress regarding the need for a school for the blind in every state. While there she recited two of her poems before a joint session of Congress. In 1847 she again recited a poem before Congress and received an invitation from President James Polk to visit the White House. Crosby visited several presidents and had a long friendship with Grover Cleveland.

From 1847 to 1858 Crosby was a teacher of grammar, history, and rhetoric at the New York Institute for the Blind. While teaching Crosby continued writing poems, some of which were printed in the Saturday Evening Post magazine. Also during this time Crosby published three books of poetry, The Blind Girl and Other Poems (1844), Monterey and Other Poems (1851), and A Wreath of Columbia’s Flowers (1858).

In the 1850s Crosby collaborated with composer G.F. Root, writing the words to dozens of popular songs such as “Hazel Dell” (1852), “There’s Music in the Air” (1854), and “Rosalie, the Prairie Flower” (1855). During this time Crosby wrote the words to more than fifty popular songs with about twenty different composers.

In 1864 Crosby became associated with William B. Bradbury, the most noted hymn writer of the time and head of W.B. Bradbury

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& Company, a publisher of Sunday School hymn books. Crosby flourished as a writer of words for hymns. Over her hymn-writing career she collaborated with numerous composers. From 1864 to 1904 she wrote the words to about two hundred hymns a year, and from 1905 to 1914 wrote about fifty a year. Crosby probably wrote the words to eight or nine thousand hymns. It is difficult to ascertain exactly how many, as the publishing companies, fearful of too many Fanny Crosby hymns, used about a hundred pseudonyms for her work. Some of her better known hymns are “Rescue the Perishing” (1869), “Safe in the Arms of Jesus” (1869), “The Bright Forever” (1871), “Savior, More Than Life to Me” (1875), “Jesus Is Tenderly Calling You Home” (1883), and “A Wonderful Savior Is Jesus My Lord” (1890). Crosby was never paid much for her hymns, and what money she did receive, beyond her necessities, she gave to the needy.

In the 1880s Crosby became a mission home worker in New York City’s Bowery District. She continued to travel and lecture, and wrote another book of poetry, Bells of Evening and Other Poems (1893).

In June 1900, Crosby moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut, to live with her sister Carrie who served as her secretary. Crosby continued to do mission work, travel, lecture, and work on her autobiography, Fanny Crosby’s Life Story, which was published in 1903. This work primarily covered her early life. In 1906 she wrote another autobiography, Memories of Eighty Years, focusing more on her years of hymn writing. In 1903, speaking of her hymn writing, she said, “It was my life’s work and I cannot tell you what pleasure I derive from it. I believe I would not live a year if my work were to be taken from me.”

Of her blindness Crosby said, “A great many people sympathize with me, but although I am grateful to them, I really don’t need their sympathy. What would I do with it?”

Her sister Carrie died in 1907, and she lived the rest of her life with her niece Florence Booth. Crosby continued to lecture and travel until age ninety-three. Fanny Crosby died February 12, 1915, at

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the age of ninety-four, in Bridgeport, Connecticut, from a massive cerebral hemorrhage.

KENT D. CULLERS Born in 1949 in El Reno, Oklahoma Cullers became blind shortly after birth from retinopathy of prematurity. Since age eleven he has been a ham radio operator.

He earned a Ph.D. in physics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1980, and began working for the National Agency for Space and Aeronautics the same year. He has worked for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) since its inception in 1985.

In 1997 Cullers was the model for the blind SETI researcher Dr. Kent Clark in the movie Contact, starring Jodie Foster. Cullers is a coauthor with Ronald D. Ekers and John Billingham of the book SETI 2020: A Roadmap for the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (2004).

MORRIS CUMMINGS Born in April 6, 1955, in Clarksdale, Mississippi Blind from the age of four due to congenital cataracts, Cummings learned to sing and play guitar and harmonica at an early age. He attended the Mississippi School for the Blind from age five to fifteen. He spent time in public schools, finished high school at the Illinois School for the Blind, and attended Northeast Missouri State University. In between school terms Cummings lived in Memphis, Tennessee, where he panhandled and played music. He was arrested at age nineteen for carrying a gun. Cummings said later, “In that neighborhood you’d better carry a gun.” When asked what a blind man was doing with a gun, he said he could “aim by ear.”

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Cummings began performing professionally and recorded his first album, You Know I Like That, in 1995. He originally performed as Mississippi Morris but later became Blind Mississippi Morris because, he said, “I was having difficulty communicating with audiences since they didn’t realize I was blind.” Cummings plays in Beale Street clubs in Memphis and tours extensively. He has been called the “Real Deal on Beale” and is considered one of the best harmonica players in the world.

Besides his music, Cummings has an active social life and reportedly has married and divorced twelve times.

JOHN B. CURTIS Born February 5, 1871, in Chicago, Illinois Died February 17, 1951, in Gary, Indiana A pioneer in public school education for blind children in the United States, Curtis’s procedures were adopted and used throughout the country. He was an authority on Braille textbooks and helped compile a Braille mathematical notation system while he was with the American Printing House for the Blind. Curtis became totally blind in an accident at the age of three. He attended the Illinois School for the Blind and Hyde Park High School in Chicago. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1895 and a master’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1896.

From 1897 to 1900 he taught mathematics and history at the Illinois State School for the Blind. From 1900 to 1936 he worked for the Chicago Board of Education, creating and supervising a program for blind children in the public schools. From 1936 to 1950 he was an educational consultant for the American Printing House for the Blind. He also wrote a family history, The Cornelius Curtis Family (1949).

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ARTHUR T. CUSHEN Born January 24, 1920, in Invercargill, New Zealand Died September 20, 1997, in Invercargill, New Zealand Cushen used his hobby of listening to the radio to monitor Japanese radio broadcasts during World War II and passed on the information he learned to families of captured Allied soldiers.

Cushen had poor eyesight as a child, by his teens his eyesight had grown worse, and in his early thirties he lost all his sight. When he was a teenager he became interested in long distance radio listening and joined the New Zealand DX Club at age seventeen. In World War II the Japanese broadcast the names of captured prisoners. Cushen made notes of this information and contacted the prisoners’ families with the information. During the Vietnam War he monitored Radio Hanoi and provided the same service as he had in World War II. Cushen wrote an autobiography, The World in My Ears (1979), and was known internationally to short wave radio listeners.

THOMAS D. CUTSFORTH Born May 20, 1893, in Wisconsin Died November 30, 1962, in San Luis Obispo, California Cutsforth is known in the field of work for the blind as the author of The Blind in School and Society (1951), an indictment of residential schools for the blind.

At age seven Cutsforth moved with his family from Wisconsin to Oregon. He lost his sight at age eleven, and attended the Oregon School for the Blind from ages eleven to eighteen. Cutsforth earned a bachelor’s degree in 1918 and a master’s degree in 1928 from the University of Oregon. He taught public high school from 1923

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to 1928 and was an instructor in psychology at the University of Oregon from 1925 to 1928. Cutsforth earned a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Kansas in 1930.

From 1936 to 1959 Cutsforth had a practice in clinical psychology in Los Angeles, California. In his controversial book, The Blind in School and Society, 1951, he discussed a wide range of issues about blind children attending residential schools. He said that residential schools “Distort most seriously the blind pupils’ personalities and hamper their subsequent social adjustments.” Speaking at a conference late in his career, Cutsforth had not changed his mind about residential schools, stating that, “If I had to choose between my blind child going without an education or attending a residential school, I would let him go without an education.”

BORGHILD DAHL Born February 5, 1890, in Minneapolis, Minnesota Died February 24, 1984, in Burnsville, Minnesota The daughter of Norwegian immigrants, Dahl had limited vision from birth as a result of corneal ulcers and became totally blind at age sixty-nine. Dahl graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1912 and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1923. She also did postgraduate work at the University of Oslo in Norway. She was a high school teacher in Minnesota and South Dakota from 1912 to 1922 and a professor of journalism at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, from 1926 to 1939.

Dahl had a long writing career, beginning with the publication of Glimpses of Norway (1935). She wrote two autobiographical books, I Wanted to See (1944) and Finding My Way (1962), two books for children, The Cloud Shoes (1958) and Rielk of the Ranelad Clan (1968), and several books for young adults including Karen (1947), Homecoming (1953), The Daughter (1956), Stowaway to

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America (1959), Under This Roof (1961), and This Precious Year (1964). Dahl also wrote Good News (1966) and My Window on America (1970).

GUSTAF DALEN Born November 30, 1869, in Stenstorp, Sweden Died December 9, 1937, in Lidingo, Sweden Nils Gustaf Dalen is best known for his invention of the automatic marine light, for which he was awarded a Nobel Prize.

Dalen was inventive from an early age. As a young boy he used an old clock to trigger a match strike that started a coffee pot at a set time in the morning. As a teenager he developed a device that could measure the butterfat content in milk. He graduated from Chalmers Institute in Gothenburg as an engineer in 1896. After working as a consulting engineer he went to work for Swedish Carbide and Acetylene in 1901, and in 1906 became Chief Engineer of the Gas Accumulator Company.

In 1901 Dalen began working on a method to automate flashing beacons for lighthouses. At the time lighthouses had to be manned to regulate the lights. Dalen invented a series of devices that enabled beacons to operate automatically. It was then possible to place beacons in previously inaccessible places, thus saving the lives of many sailors. This invention was also used for lighting railroad cars, railroad signals, and acetylene cutting tools. In 1912 at the age of forty-three Dalen was severely injured in an explosion during an acetylene experiment. At one point near death, he slowly recovered but was left totally blind. That same year Dalen was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics for his invention of automatic regulators for use with gas accumulators for illuminating lighthouses. He was unable to attend the ceremony as he was still recovering from his injuries.

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After he recovered Dalen was awarded a contract to provide lights for the Panama Canal and worked on hot air turbines and air compressors. In 1922 he invented the Aga cooker, an efficient cook stove that uses the principle of heat storage. The stove was immediately popular and is still in use today.

TEDDY DARBY Born March 2, 1906, in Henderson, Kentucky Date of death unknown Theodore Roosevelt Darby was taught by his mother to play guitar.

When he was still a child, they moved to St. Louis, Missouri. In his teens Darby made money as a bootlegger during prohibition and labored in a St. Louis workhouse. About age twenty he lost his sight due to glaucoma. He began singing and playing the guitar in clubs, bars, and on the streets during the late 1920s and early 1930s. Known during his career as Teddy Darby or Blind Teddy Darby, he also recorded under the name Blind Squire Turner.

Darby recorded numerous songs from 1930 to 1937. He recorded songs with sexual innuendoes such as, “Don’t Like the Way You Do,” “I’m Gonna Wreck Your Vee Eight” and “Spike Driver.” He also recorded blues cuts such as “Heart Trouble Blues,” “My Lano Blues,” and “The Girl I Left Behind.” Another recording references his bootlegging past in “Bootleggin’ Ain’t No Good No More” (1937).

GARY D. DAVIS Born April 30, 1896, in Laurens County, South Carolina Died May 5, 1972, in Hammonton, New Jersey Davis sang and played banjo, guitar, harmonica, and piano, but his main instrument was the guitar. He also had more names than the instruments he played, as he was known as Gary Davis, Blind Gary

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Davis, Reverend Gary Davis, Blind Reverend Gary Davis, and Blind Gary. He played blues and gospel songs, often combining the two musical styles.

Davis was one of eight children, but only two survived to adulthood. Davis’s surviving brother was shot to death by a girlfriend in 1930. Davis lost most of his vision as an infant when, according to Davis, “The doctor had something put in my eyes that was too strong and that was what caused me to go blind.” He had a little vision in one eye until age thirty, when he became totally blind.

Davis was raised by his grandmother on a farm in Laurens County, South Carolina. As a small child he began playing the harmonica, and his grandmother made him a guitar out of a pie pan and a stick.

Later his mother bought him a real guitar, and he taught himself to play guitar and banjo. By age ten Davis was singing in a Baptist Church and playing guitar and harmonica at dances and picnics.

At age eighteen Davis attended the South Carolina School for the Blind but stayed only six months, saying he left because the food was so bad.

He traveled the Carolinas in the early 1920s playing music, settling in Durham, North Carolina, in 1926. In Durham he taught guitar to the young Fulton Allen, who performed as Blind Boy Fuller.

Davis toured the southern United States in the late 1920s and early 1930s. In 1935 he made a trip to New York City to make recordings with Blind Boy Fuller and Sonny Terry, and in 1937 he became an ordained minister. He moved to New York, New York, in 1944.

Davis played on the streets in New York City in the 1940s, made recordings, and preached. By the 1960s he had become known as the Harlem Street Singer and was also quite well known as a guitar instructor. He received much recognition in the 1960s during the folk music revival of that era and played at the Newport Folk Festival. Davis was always ready to do some preaching, and in the middle of a folk concert stopped playing and began preaching. He did not stop until he was physically removed from the stage.

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In May 1972, Davis was being driven to a concert appearance when he had a heart attack. He died in a Hammonton, New Jersey, hospital.

Music historian Samuel Charters said, “Gary was a guitar player’s guitar player, and his influence can be heard on the whole body of Carolinas’ music recorded in the thirties. His influence in later years—on New York’s young folk guitarists—was so pervasive that his style finally became one of the world’s most widespread guitar sounds.”

JOHN HENRY DAVIS Born December 7, 1913, in Hattisburg, Mississippi Died October 12, 1985, in Chicago, Illinois A self-taught piano player, Davis began playing in Chicago speakeasies at age seventeen. He became a noted piano accompanist, playing and recording with such artists as Big Bill Broonzey, Tampa Red, and Sonny Boy Williamson.

Davis moved to Chicago with his family at age three. At age nine he lost his eyesight from an eye infection. Davis’s father owned some speakeasies, and at age fourteen Davis began playing piano in his father’s establishments and at local parties. He played the blues, boogie-woogie, and jazz.

TONY DEBLOIS Born January 22, 1974, in El Paso, Texas Born three months premature, DeBlois weighed less than two pounds at birth. As he grew older his mother learned he was blind and autistic-savant. He played a toy piano when he was two years old and began attending Perkins School for the Blind at age seven.

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He studied classical music at Perkins, and at age eleven made his first professional appearance as a pianist. He won a scholarship to Berklee College of Music and graduated from there in 1996.

DeBlois plays twenty instruments and has memorized more than seven thousand songs. He can sing in English, French, German, and Spanish. He was the subject of a made-for-television movie, Journey of the Heart (1997).

MARIE DU DEFFAND Born September 25, 1696, in Burgundy, France Died September 23, 1780, in Paris, France Marie de Vichy-Chamrond was educated in a Paris convent. At age twenty she married JeanBaptise-Jacques du Deffand, the Marquis de la Lande. Later Marie was often known as Madame du Deffand or Marquise du Deffand. She and her husband separated after four years of marriage.

Known as one of the most brilliant women of her time, she was also cynical, proud, and selfish. She ran a salon for aristocrats, intellectuals, scientists, and writers from 1745 to 1780. After losing most of her vision in 1853 at age fifty-six, she employed Julie de Lespinasse, a relative, to aid her in entertaining, reading, and writing. Several books containing her correspondence with D’Alembert, Henault, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Walpole, and others have been published.

Her letter writing skills have been assessed as among the best of her time. In 1763 she had a falling out with Julie de Lespinasse.

Lespinasse said of Deffand, “Inconsiderate, indiscreet, egoist and jealous; these four words sum up her character.”

Deffand’s caustic wit is shown in her description of French mathematician, physicist, and author Emilie du Chatelet: “Imagine a tall,

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hard and withered woman, narrow-chested, with large limbs, enormous feet, a very small head, a thin face, pointed nose, two small sea-green eyes, her color dark, her complexion florid, her mouth flat, her teeth set far apart and very much decayed: there is the face of the beautiful Emilie, a face with which she is so well pleased that she spares nothing for the sake of setting it off.�

EDGAR DEGAS Born July 19, 1834, in Paris, France Died September 27, 1917, in Paris, France Hilaire Germain Edgar Degas was born into a well-to-do Paris family. He enrolled in art school in 1855 and lived in Italy for three years, studying Medieval and Renaissance masters. From 1862 to 1870 Degas painted portraits. For the next several years he produced many paintings of his favorite themes: cafĂŠs, racetracks, horses, and the ballet.

In his early forties Degas began losing his eyesight but continued painting and creating sculptures. As his eyesight deteriorated, he worked mostly with pastels.

ROY ANDRIES DEGROOT Born February 21, 1910, in London, England Died September 16, 1983, in New York, New York DeGroot studied English literature at Oxford University and worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation as a writer, announcer, and producer for musical and literary programs. During World War II he was working the British Ministry of Information when he was injured in a German bomb attack on London, losing most of his vision at age thirty. He became totally blind at age fifty-two.

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DeGroot immigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a citizen in 1948. He wrote articles about gourmet cooking for several magazines, including Esquire, Gourmet, and Holiday. He wrote several books, including How I Reduced on the New Rockefeller Diet (1956), Feasts for All Seasons (1966), Handbook for Hosts (1973), Revolutionizing French Cooking (1976), Cooking with the Cuisinart Food Processor (1977), Pressure Cooking Perfected (1978), and The Wines of California, the Pacific Northwest and New York (1982).

DeGroot’s vivid writing style is illustrated in a description of a restaurant he disdained: “So deep was the crimson carpet that it would have been a help to have had snowshoes to reach one’s table.

Sweet music came from an orchestra dressed, it seemed, in the uniform of the Czarist Cossack Guard. The menu came on yellowing sheets of parchment, hand-written in gold ink, about the size of Mao Tse-tung’s wall poster. The prices were liable to be mistaken for the annual report of General Motors.”

Apparently depressed as a result of failing health, DeGroot died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age seventy-three.

HELEN ALDRICH DEKROYFT Born October 29, 1818, near Rochester, New York Died October 25, 1915, in Dansville, New York Susan Helen Aldrich was the oldest of twelve children. Educated at Westfield Academy in Westfield, New York, she graduated from the Genesee Wesleyan Seminary in Lima, New York, in 1843. In 1845 she married Dr. William DeKroyft, who died after their wedding ceremony from injuries sustained a few days before in a carriage accident. Within a month Helen DeKroyft became blind from an eye infection.

DeKroyft attended the New York Institute for the Blind for three years, where she learned living skills and how to write using a

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writing guide. She published a book, A Place in Thy Memory (1849), a collection of letters she had written from 1846 to 1849. In this book she wrote, “It is not pleasant to be blind. My poor eyes long to look abroad upon this beautiful world, and my prisoned spirit struggles to break its darkness. I would love dearly to bonnet and shawl myself and go forth to breathe the air alone, and free as the breeze that fans my brow. But as Milton once said to his favorite daughter, ‘It matters little whether one has a star to guide or an angel-hand to lead.’”

From 1849 to 1912 DeKroyft traveled the United States, speaking and selling her books. She wrote a popular book about the true story of a young boy who was blind in The Story of Little Jakey (1876).

From 1871 to 1876 DeKroyft lectured in Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania on “Darwin and Moses” and “The Soul of Eve,” a discourse on the dignity of mankind and the superiority of women.

DeKroyft wrote two more books. The first, Mortara (1888), consisted of letters she wrote from March 1849 to July 1858 to a lost love. In the beginning of the second book, The Foreshadowed Way (1901), DeKroyft describes a vision she had in the summer of 1843. The vision, lasting only a few seconds, had ten scenes, and at the time of writing the book she said, “Nine of them have been translated into stern reality upon the years of my life.” The rest of the book is a series of letters written by DeKroyft from 1850 to 1900 to friends and family, that outline her life from age twenty-four to age eighty-one.

Profits from DeKroyft’s book sales, reported to be over 150,000 copies in her lifetime, allowed her to support herself and her parents, and to pay for the education of eight sisters.

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MAURICE DE LA SIZERANNE Born July 30, 1857, in Drone, France Died in 1924 in France De la Sizeranne was blinded at age nine when he shot an arrow into the air and it came down and struck him in the eye.

He was educated at the Paris Institute for the Young Blind, graduating in 1877. De la Sizeranne taught music at the Institute from 1879 to 1881.

In 1883 he founded the journal Valentin Hauy, a forum to discuss problems concerning the blind, and he also published Louis Braille, a monthly Braille magazine. In 1884 he founded the Revue Braille, a literary publication for the blind, and established the Braille Valentin Hauy Library. He published many brochures, pamphlets, and papers on work for the blind. De la Sizeranne founded the Valentin Hauy Association in 1889 to promote the welfare of the blind. He also wrote The Blind as Seen Through Blind Eyes (1888) and The Blind Sisters of Saint Paul (1907).

FREDRICK DELIUS Born January 29, 1862, in Bradford, England Died June 10, 1934, in Grez-Sur-Loing, France After stays in the United States and Germany, Delius spent most of his life near Paris, France. He wrote six operas, including Koanga (1897) and A Village Romeo and Juliet (1901). He wrote concertos for cello, piano, and violin, as well as orchestral pieces. At age sixtytwo he became blind as a result of syphilis. Two of his best works, “Song of Farewell” (1930) and “Idyll: Once I Passed Through a Populous City” (1932), were composed after Delius became blind.

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DEMOCRITUS Born c. 460 B.C. in Avdhira, Greece Died c. 370 B.C. in Greece Like the more famous Homer, Democritus was blind and little is known about his personal life. He was born into a wealthy family and received a good education, traveling in Egypt, Ethiopia, India, and Persia. He became blind as an adult, and one theory, probably false, is that he blinded himself to enhance his concentration.

Democritus was known as the laughing philosopher, as he was unable to restrain himself from laughing in public when he observed the human spectacle. He wrote many books on cosmology, ethics, mathematics, music, natural science, philosophy, and physics. They did not survive, but other writings that commented on his work have survived. He was a believer and promoter of the theory that all materials are composed of minute structures known as atoms.

DIDYMUS Born 313 in Alexandria, Egypt Died 398 in Alexandria, Egypt Didymus the Blind or Didymus of Alexandria was an ecclesiastical leader widely known as a philosopher and theologian in fourth century Alexandria. He was also highly educated in astronomy, geometry, grammar, logic, mathematics, philosophy, and rhetoric.

Didymus became blind in early childhood. He mastered a wide variety of subjects using readers, and attended the university in Alexandria. Didymus had a voracious thirst for knowledge, with St. Jerome describing his intellect as “restless and stupendous.� Although Didymus was a leading theologian, he was never ordained but lived as an ascetic devoted to study, meditation, lecturing, and writing.

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Didymus was the head of the Catechetical School in Alexandria from 340 to 398. Among his pupils and consultees were St. Jerome, St. Anthony of the desert, Palladius, Evargrius Ponticus, and Rufinus of Aqileia. St. Jerome wrote about Didymus the teacher, “My hair was already streaked with gray so that I looked more like a master than a pupil. Nevertheless I went to Alexandria and heard Didymus.

I have much for which to thank him, because what I did not know I learned from him and what I already knew I did not forget. So excellent was his teaching.”

Didymus wrote voluminously on the Bible, including Commentaries on Genesis, Commentaries on Job, Commentaries on all the Psalms, Commentary on Proverbs, On Isaiah (18 volumes), On Zechariah (5 books), Commentaries on the Gospels of Matthew and John, and On the Epistle to the Ephesians. Most of Didymus’s writings did not survive to modern times. His works On the Trinity and On the Holy Spirit survived because they were translated into Latin by St. Jerome.

The orator Libarius wrote, “You cannot surely be ignorant of Didymus, unless you are ignorant of the great city wherein he has night and day been pouring out his learning for the good of others.”

SIMMIE DOOLEY Born July 3, 1881, in Hartwell, Georgia Died January 17, 1961, in Spartanburg, South Carolina An itinerant signer who was blind, Dooley is best known for mentoring the young Pink Anderson.

Simeon Dooley performed as Simmie Dooley or Blind Simmie. He began singing and playing for tips on the streets of Spartanburg, South Carolina, around 1900. Beginning in 1916 Dooley worked with Pink Anderson. In 1928 he made four recordings with Anderson for Columbia Records. He played the medicine show circuit, performing popular songs, ballads, and blues, until dropping

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out of the music business in the 1930s. Dooley’s best-known works were “Spartanburg Blues” and “CC&O Blues.”

MARIAM DOUMBIA Born April 15, 1958, in Bamako, Mali Doumbia was blind from age five due to a severe case of measles.

She attended the Institute for Young Blind in Bamako, the capital of Mali. At the Institute she met Amadou Bagayoko, and they began performing music together. They became romantically involved, married, and had three children. They made recordings in the Bambara and French languages starting in 1989. They were known as “the blind couple from Mali,” Bagayoko playing guitar and Doumbia singing vocals. They made several recordings, touring in Africa and Europe.

ARIZONA DRANES Born April 4, 1894, in Dallas, Texas Died July 27, 1963, in Signal Hill, California Dranes became blind from a case of severe influenza in early childhood. She was brought up in the Church of God in Christ, where she learned to sing and play the piano. While singing in a church in Fort Worth, Texas, she was discovered by a record producer. Dranes went to Chicago and recorded sixteen gospel songs between 1926 and 1928. She performed in the Chicago area, Oklahoma, and from Tennessee to Texas, before dropping out of sight in the late 1940s.

Some of the songs she recorded were “My Soul Is a Witness for the Lord,” “I’m Glad My Lord Saved Me,” and “I Shall Wear a Crown.”

Music critic Dan Kennedy wrote, “Dranes has a high resonant voice, full of vigor and power. Her diction is precise, the words are clear

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to the ear. . . . But it is her piano playing that tears the shrink wrap off the disc, compelling the listener to fathom the echoes from the distant past, sounds and technique that slowly engulf the ears, entice the brain and finally, willingly induce repeated listens.�

LEOPOLD DUBOV Born in 1880 in Russia Died October 15, 1955, in New York, New York Blind from age six, Dubov emigrated with his parents from Russia to England and then to the United States. He was educated in institutions for the blind in England and the United States.

In 1931 Dubov founded the Jewish Braille Institute of America and was its first Executive Director. In conjunction with the Institute, Dubov founded the Jewish Braille Review in 1931 and the Jewish Braille Library in 1932. He was editor of the Jewish Braille Review from 1931 to 1952.

FRIEDRICH LUDWIG DULON Born August 14, 1769, in Orenienburg, Germany Died July 7, 1826, in Werzburg, Germany Dulon became blind at the age of six weeks from the unsuccessful treatment of an eye infection. He was taught to play the flute and piano by his father, giving his first concert at the age of twelve.

Dulon toured Europe in the 1780s and 1790s, performing with his father and sister. His performances were known for improvisation and stirring the emotions.

From 1793 to 1794 Dulon was a chamber musician at the Royal Court in St. Petersburg, Russia. Dulon also composed flute solos, flute duets, and a flute concerto. Dulon wrote an autobiography,

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Dulons des blinden Flotenpiehers Lebeu und Meinungren von ihn selbst beabeilet (1807).

MATTHEW DUNN Born August 15, 1886, in Braddock, Pennsylvania Died February 13, 1942, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Dunn was a politician and a strong advocate for providing jobs for everyone.

Dunn lost the sight in his left eye at age twelve when he was hit in the eye by a snowball. He lost the sight in his right eye in a wrestling match at the age of twenty. He attended the School for the Blind in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, graduating in 1908. After graduation Dunn sold newspapers and magazines, and from 1920 to1924 he was in the insurance business. He was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, serving from 1926 to 1932. In the House he was a strong advocate of state pensions for the blind. In 1932 as a Pennsylvania State Representative, he participated in a march on Washington, D.C., with a large number of the unemployed. He met with President Herbert Hoover and presented a petition to Congress asking for jobs for the marchers.

Dunn was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1932, and was reelected in 1934, 1936, and 1938. In 1937 Dunn was a strong supporter of a strike for higher wages by employees of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind. Even though he was a director of the Association, he sat with the workers’ committee. He said, “I am with you on your strike, except I don’t think you’re asking enough.”

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In the Congress, Dunn was Chairman of the Committee on the Census from 1938 to 1940. He did not run for reelection in 1940 due to ill health, and died in 1942 at age fifty-six.

SNOOKS EAGLIN Born January 21, 1936, in New Orleans, Louisiana An outstanding guitar player, Eaglin recorded and played gospel, blues, and jazz for more than forty years.

Born Fird Eaglin, Jr., he was nicknamed Snooks as a child after the mischievous radio character Baby Snooks. Eaglin became blind at the age of one year from brain tumor surgery. He taught himself to play guitar at the age of five. He dropped out of school at age fourteen to become a street singer in New Orleans in the 1950s. During this time he also played in clubs and began recording in 1958. He wrote the Little Richard hit song, “Lucille.”

GRAEME EDWARDS Born in 1927 in Perth, Australia As a child, Eric Graeme Edwards had limited vision from congenital glaucoma. He became nearly totally blind in his thirties. He attended the Royal Victorian Institute for the Blind, and graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1944. Edwards was a writer for the Melbourne Herald newspaper from 1949 to 1959.

Edwards immigrated to England in 1959. He wrote an autobiographical book, Keep in Touch (1962), in which he said, “My main aim is to give some idea of what blindness means in day-to-day living in a predominately sighted world.”

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JOHN A. ESTES Born January 25, 1899, near Ripley, Tennessee Died June 5, 1977, in Brownsville, Tennessee Estes was one of sixteen children born to sharecropper parents in western Tennessee. He lost the sight in his right eye at age six when he was struck in the face by a stone while playing baseball. The vision in his left eye began deteriorating in his late thirties, and he became totally blind in his late forties. Known as Sleepy John Estes, he received his nickname because a low blood pressure disorder caused him to frequently doze off.

Estes learned to play the guitar in his teens, singing and playing at parties and on the streets of Brownsville, Tennessee. In the 1920s he went to Memphis, Tennessee, and performed on street corners. Estes moved to Chicago, and from 1929 to 1941 recorded many songs for the Bluebird, Decca, and Victor record labels. Estes often played with mandolin player James “Yank” Rachell and harmonica player Hammie Nixon. He returned to Brownsville and did sharecropping.

From the 1940s to the early 1960s he occasionally performed in Brownsville and Memphis.

In 1961 his career was revived with the increased popularity of folk and blues music. He recorded albums and toured the United States, Europe, and Japan, until suffering a stroke in 1976. In his performances Estes was extremely expressive. It was said, “He does not sing the blues, he ‘cries’ them.” Besides singing and playing the guitar, Estes composed most of the songs he performed. Some of his better-known songs are “Brokenhearted, Ragged and Dirty Too,” “Diving Duck Blues,” “Drop Down Mama,” “Lawyer Clark Blues,” “Married Woman Blues,” “Milk Cow Blues,” “Rats in My Kitchen,” “Someday Baby,” and “Stone Blind.”

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LEONHARD EULER Born April 15, 1707, in Basel, Switzerland Died September 18, 1783, in St. Petersburg, Russia The famous Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler lost most of the vision in his right eye at age twenty-nine, probably from a severe fever.

At age fifty-nine he became totally blind when a cataract took the vision in his left eye. Euler produced hundreds of mathematical writings, nearly half of which were done after he became blind.

Euler graduated from the University of Basel in 1724 and taught at the Russian Naval College from 1727 to 1730. In 1730 he became professor of physics at the Academy of Science in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1741 he moved to Berlin, Germany, and was professor of mathematics at the Berlin Academy of Sciences for more than twenty-five years. In 1766 he returned to St. Petersburg at the persuasion of Catherine the Great.

Euler wrote more than thirty books and hundreds of articles on mathematics, engineering mechanics, and theoretical physics.

From age fifty-nine until his death at seventy-six he kept a team of colleagues and secretaries busy with his mathematical dictations.

Besides writing extensively on calculus, differential equations, and complex numbers, he was a pioneer in the field of topology. He initiated the use of many mathematical notations, such as the use of the symbol pi to stand for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. In 1783 he devised magic squares, eighty-onesquare grids that are the basis for the popular twentieth-century Sudoku puzzles.

In the book The 100 (1978), subtitled A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History, Euler is ranked eighty-seventh. The

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book says Euler was “One of the most brilliant and prolific scientists of all time. His work finds pervasive applications throughout physics and in many fields of engineering.”

PROSPERO FAGNANI Born c. 1587 in Vado, Italy Died in 1678 in Rome, Italy Fagnani became a doctor of civil and canon law at the age of twenty and served as a Roman Catholic canon lawyer. He became blind at age forty-four. At the request of Pope Alexander VII, Fagnani wrote a commentary on the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX: “Jus canonicum seu commentaria absolutissima in quinque libros Decretalium” (1661). It was reprinted several times, and widely praised and debated. Fagnani became known as Doctor Caecus Oculatissmus, (the blind yet farsighted doctor).

PAUL FARTHING Born April 12, 1887, in Odin, Illinois Died December 2, 1976, in Belleville, Illinois Farthing was blinded in a hunting accident at the age of twelve. From ages fourteen to seventeen he attended the Illinois State School for the Blind, graduating from McKendree College in 1909. He graduated from the University of Illinois law school, passing the Illinois bar in 1913. From 1913 to 1930 Farthing practiced law in East St. Louis, Illinois, and from 1930 to 1933 he was a judge in St. Clair County, Illinois. From 1933 to 1942 Farthing was a justice on the Supreme Court of Illinois, and served as Chief Justice on the Illinois Supreme Court from 1937 to 1938.

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HENRY FAWCETT Born August 26, 1833, in Salisbury, England Died November 6, 1884, in Cambridge, England Not long after becoming blind, Fawcett said he resolved to do all the things he had done before he was blind and to accomplish his goal of entering politics. In less than seven years, he achieved his ambition at the age of thirty-two.

Fawcett earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Cambridge in 1856. He was blinded in a hunting accident at the age of twentyfive when pellet shots fired by his father struck him in his eyes. He was professor of political economy at Cambridge University from 1865 to 1884. Fawcett’s main ambition was to enter politics. In 1864 he was unsuccessful in an attempt to be elected to Parliament, but won a seat in the British House of Commons in 1865. He lost his seat in Parliament in 1874 and won it back in 1880. He wrote Manual of Political Economy (1863) and in 1880 was appointed Postmaster General by Prime Minister William Gladstone.

Fawcett was noted for his cheerful, optimistic nature and his keen enjoyment of life. He said, “There is only one thing that I ever regret and that is to have missed a chance of enjoyment.”

JOSÉ FELICIANO Born September 10, 1945, in Lares, Puerto Rico Considered by many music critics to be the world’s greatest guitarist, Feliciano has had a long and successful music career worldwide. José Monserrate Feliciano was blind from birth from congenital glaucoma. Feliciano began playing music when he was three years old.

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When he was five he moved with his family to New York, New York.

Feliciano began playing the guitar at age nine. He attended public high school in New York City, quitting school at age seventeen to perform his music professionally. Early in his career a music critic said, “He’s a ten-fingered wizard who romps, runs, rolls, picks and reverberates his six strings in an incomparable fashion.” His bestknown recording is “Light My Fire” (1968). Feliciano wrote and sang the theme song for the television show Chico and the Man, and also performed as an actor on several television shows in the 1970s, including Chico and the Man, Kung Fu, and McMillan and Wife.

Feliciano can play bass, banjo, bongo drums, harmonica, harpsichord, mandolin, organ, and several Latin instruments. He has earned more than forty gold and platinum albums internationally and recorded more than sixty albums in all. Although well known in the United States, he is an even bigger star in the Spanish-speaking world. After “Light My Fire,” Feliciano’s best-known song is “Feliz Navidad—I Want to Wish You a Merry Christmas.”

JOHN FIELDING Born in 1721 in London, England Died September 4, 1780, in London, England The younger half-brother of novelist Henry Fielding, John Fielding was accidentally blinded at age nineteen by a surgeon who was treating him for weak eyes. Along with his halfbrother, he helped establish the first professional police force in London, England.

Fielding said about becoming blind, “An accident which everyone but myself deemed a misfortune forced me into retirement at the age of nineteen. The rational delights of reflection, contemplation

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and conservation, soon made me insensible of any loss I had suffered from the want of sight.”

Fielding became a magistrate in 1750, and joined his brother Henry in 1753 at the Bow Street Police Office. He was Chief Magistrate (later this position was known as Chief of Police) in London from 1754 to 1780. He wrote three well-known pamphlets: An Account of the Origin and Effects of a Police (1758), Extracts from such of the Penal Laws as particularly related to the Peace and Good Order of the Metropolis (1768), and A Plan for Preventing Robberies within 20 miles of London (1775).

Known as the Blind Beak (beak at the time was slang for someone in a position of authority), Fielding was said to have known three thousand thieves by their voices. Fielding often wore a black cloth over his eyes, and as a travel aid carried a small switch that he flicked in front of him.

Fielding’s work was innovative and groundbreaking. He introduced the value of a detective unit, promoted the idea of patrolling, and advocated a full-time organized police force. He also established a horse-mounted police unit to counter highwaymen, promoted information-sharing between magistrates, was a proponent of crime prevention, pioneered police public relations, and founded two police newspapers that contained names and descriptions of wanted criminals. His motto in police work was “Quick notice and sudden pursuit.”

Fielding did much to save children from becoming criminals. He said, “It is certain that sending such boys into prison is much more likely to corrupt them than reform their morals.” He emphasized that prevention, not punishment, was the first order of police work.

He started the Marine Society and the Royal Female Orphanage, and was involved in Magdalin Hospital. For his service Fielding was knighted in 1761, and Blind Beak became known as Sir John Fielding.

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In 1994 English novelist Bruce Alexander began writing historical mystery novels with Sir John Fielding as the main character Alexander’s novel Blind Justice (1994) has been followed by many more, all with Sir John as the hero.

EUNICE K. FIORITO Born October 1, 1930, in Chicago, Illinois Died November 22, 1999, in Alexandria, Virginia An advocate for the handicapped and one of the founders of the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities, Fiorito was a tireless worker on behalf of disabled persons.

Fiorito had congenital cataracts removed when she was one year old and again at age three. These operations resulted in near-normal vision until age sixteen, when she went totally blind from glaucoma.

She graduated from Loyola University in Chicago in 1954 and worked as a rehabilitation teacher with the Illinois Department of Public Welfare. She moved to New York City, earned a master’s degree in psychiatric social work from Columbia University in 1960, and worked as a social worker at the Jewish Guild for the Blind.

From 1964 to 1972 Fiorito worked at Bellevue Medical Center at New York University as a social worker and then Program Director.

From 1971 to 1978 she was Director of the Mayor’s Office for the Handicapped in New York City.

Fiorito founded and served as the first president of American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in 1975. From 1978 to 1996 Fiorito worked as a special assistant to the Commissioner of Rehabilitation Services in the United States Department of Education. With Allen Spiegel, she coauthored Rehabilitating People with Disabilities into the Mainstream of Society (1980).

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FRANK EMILIO FLYNN Born April 13, 1921, in Havana, Cuba Died August 23, 2001, in Havana, Cuba Francisco Emilio Flynn Rodriguez was a pioneer of Latin jazz.

Flynn’s eyes were damaged during birth by a doctor’s forceps. As a child he could see light and colors, but could not distinguish forms.

He became totally blind in his late teens.

Flynn taught himself to play the piano and at age thirteen won an amateur talent contest. In the 1950s he began a jazz combo that played in nightclubs, hotels, and cabarets. Flynn continued studying music at the Cuban National Association for the Blind. In the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s Flynn played solo all over Cuba, and with a group that played Cuban jazz in restaurants, concerts, and international functions.

In the late 1990s Flynn played in the United States, Japan, and France. In 1990 he recorded an album titled Ancestral Reflections (1990).

PIERRE FOUCAULT Born October 31, 1794, in France Died in 1871 in France Pierre Francois Victor Foucault became blind from smallpox in childhood. From ages nine to eighteen he lived and was educated at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris, France. There he showed mechanical aptitude and musical ability. After leaving school he worked as a musician.

On February 1, 1826, Foucault married Therese-Adele Husson, a fellow student from the Institute. She died in 1831 from severe burns received in an apartment fire.

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In 1841 Foucault met with Louis Braille, and the two agreed on the importance of communication for the blind. Braille had devised his touch writing and reading system some years earlier. In 1847 Foucault finished what he called a Piston Board. The device had ten keys that activated perforators onto a piece of paper and was essentially the first Braillewriter. He also invented the Foucault Frame, a writing form that enabled people who were blind to write unaided.

THERESE-ADELE FOUCAULT Born February 4, 1803, in Nancy, France Died March 30, 1831, in Nancy, France Therese-Adele Husson became blind at the age of nine months from smallpox. She was educated in religious schools. In 1826 she married Pierre Foucault, a musician who was also blind. Foucault wrote novels for young adults and collections of short stories for children. She published The Converted Jewess (1827), Story of a Pious Heiress (1828), The Book of Moral Amusements (1829), and Story of a Charitable Sister (1830).

In 1831 Foucault received severe burns in an apartment fire. She died five weeks later from her injuries at age twenty-eight. A novella she had written, The Young Blind Boys, was published after her death.

LEONARD FOULK Born December 25, 1916, in Illinois Died December 18, 1977, in Paradise, California Foulk was a sergeant in the United States Army, serving in Alaska in 1943. He was blinded at age twenty-six in the Battle of Attu in the Aleutian Islands when a Japanese sniper bullet shattered the binoculars he was using, destroying his eyes. Foulk received rehabilitation training in San Francisco, and in December 1944 was awarded the

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Bronze Star medal. Foulk wrote a book about his war experience and his rehabilitation, titled Still My World (1945). Foulk was one of the first graduates of the Guide Dogs for the Blind program in Los Gatos, California, in 1943.

EMERSON FOULKE Born March 20, 1929, in Joplin, Missouri Died December 29, 1997, in Louisville, Kentucky Foulke was an internationally known researcher and author on the subject of nonvisual perception.

Blind from the age of two, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas in 1952. He earned a Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Washington University in 1959.

From 1959 to 1960, Foulke was a clinical psychologist at the Veterans Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Knoxville, Iowa, and from 1960 to 1961 was a research associate with the American Printing House for the Blind. From 1961 to 1992 Foulke was a professor of psychology at the University of Louisville. With William Schiff, he coedited Tactual Perception: A Source Book (1982), and was editor of Electronic Mobility Aids: New Directions for Research (1986). He wrote scores of articles about Braille, compressed speech, and mobility for the blind.

CLARENCE FOUNTAIN Born November 28, 1929, in Tyler, Alabama Fountain became blind at the age of two, and at age seven left home to attend the Alabama Institute for the Deaf and Blind in Talladega. At the Institute he was in a gospel singing group called the Happyland Jubilee Singers. In 1946 the group changed their name to the Five Blind Boys of Alabama. The group recorded more

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than thirty-five albums for more than fifteen record companies over the years. Besides performing with the Five Blind Boys of Alabama for more than fifty-five years, Fountain toured as a solo artist from 1969 to 1975. Some of the group’s best-known songs are “I Can See Everybody’s Mother but Mine” (1947), “Living on Mother’s Prayers” (1951), and “I’ll Always be in Love With God”(1968).

MORRIS S. FRANK Born March 23, 1908, in Nashville, Tennessee Died November 22, 1980, in Brookside, New Jersey Frank pioneered the use of guide dogs for the blind in the United States.

Frank lost the sight in his right eye at age six when he was struck in the face by a tree limb while horseback riding. He became blind at the age of sixteen when his left eye was damaged in a boxing match.

In November 1927 Frank read a Saturday Evening Post article written by Dorothy Harrison Eustis about guide dogs for the blind that were being trained in Germany. He said of the article, “As I listened I could hardly control the wild hope that rose in me. If what we read about these wonderful dogs was really true, they could free a person from the worst and most humiliating part of being blind— one’s continual, helpless dependence on others.” Frank wrote the next day to Eustis, an American living in Switzerland, and about a month later a reply came back. She explained she trained German shepherds for use by the army, police, and Red Cross, but she had never trained any guide dogs for the blind. She wrote Frank that if he would come to Switzerland, she would find a trainer for him.

Frank traveled to Switzerland in the spring of 1928 and trained with a female German shepherd he named Buddy. After several weeks he returned to Nashville with Buddy to help him in his travels as an insurance salesman. Frank was the first guide dog user in the United States.

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With Dorothy Eustis and others, Frank helped start the Seeing Eye Guide School in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1929. In 1931 the Seeing Eye Guide School moved to Morristown, New Jersey, for more favorable summertime weather and better fundraising opportunities.

Frank worked for the Seeing Eye from 1929 to 1956, promoting the use and acceptance of guide dogs. Frank, and especially his guide dog Buddy, became well known in the United States. Buddy I died in 1938. Throughout his life Frank had six guide dogs, Buddy I through Buddy VI. In 1942 and 1943 Frank traveled the United States with Buddy II, visiting ninety-six Army and Navy hospitals and twenty-nine Veterans Administration Hospitals, showing doctors and nurses how to work with persons who were blind.

With Blake Clark, Morris Frank wrote an autobiographical book about his life from 1927 to 1938, titled First Lady of the Seeing Eye (1957). A made-for-television movie, Love Leads the Way (1984), was made about Frank and the beginning of the Seeing Eye guide dogs, starring Arthur Hill, Patricia Neal, Timothy Bottoms, Eva Marie Saint, and Glynnis O’Connor.

IAN FRASER Born August 30, 1897, in Eastbourne, England Died December 19, 1974, in London, England William Jocelyn Ian Fraser was educated at military schools and served in the British Infantry. He was blinded in France at the Battle of Somme in 1916 at the age of eighteen. In 1917 he began working at St. Dunstan’s Rehabilitation Center for blind soldiers in London as assistant to the director, Sir Arthur Pearson. When Pearson died in 1921, Fraser became chairman of St. Dunstan’s at the age of twentyfour. He was chairman for more than fifty years. In 1930 he went to Germany and Switzerland to learn about the use of guide dogs for the blind. Fraser promoted the establishment of guide schools in the British Isles and expanded St. Dunstan’s.

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Becoming interested in politics, Fraser served on the London County Council from 1922 to 1924, and in 1924 was elected to the British House of Commons. He was defeated in 1929 but won back the seat in 1931. He retired from the House of Commons in 1936. He was on the Board of Governors of the British Broadcasting Company from 1936 to 1939 and from 1941 to 1946. Throughout the years he continued to promote St. Dunstan’s. He wrote an autobiography, Whereas I Was Blind (1942).

ROBERT FRASER Born March 14, 1906, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Date of death unknown The seventh of eight children, Fraser was blind at birth. He attended Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, and as a boy had an interest in religion, church work, and music. At age sixteen Fraser began singing popular songs and jazz on the radio. He also sang in vaudeville, restaurants, banquets, and carnivals. On Christmas Day, 1923, Fraser became a born-again Christian at age nineteen. He gave up vaudeville and began preaching. He attended seminary for a year and the Pennsylvania Bible Institute for another year. Fraser conducted revivals and began broadcasting the Radio Gospel Hour.

Fraser established the Fraser Home for Girls, and wrote an autobiography, The Life of Robert Fraser (1936).

EMIL B. FRIES Born February 11, 1901, in Brewster, Washington Died June 7, 1997, in Vancouver, Washington Fries had poor vision all his life. He graduated from the Washington State School for the Blind in 1924 and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington in 1930.

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From 1931 to 1949 Fries was the head of the piano tuning department at the Washington State School for the Blind. In 1949 the school decided to phase out vocational courses, including piano tuning. Fries felt that piano tuning should continue to be an opportunity for the blind, and established the Piano Hospital and Training Center the same year. It became a nonprofit organization in 1966. The Board of Trustees later changed the name to the Emil Fries Piano Hospital and Training Center. In 1997 the organization became known as the Emil Fries School of Piano Tuning and Technology.

Fries wrote an autobiographical book, But You Can Feel It (1980).

The title came from what his mother replied when he used to say, “I can’t do it because I can’t see.”

E.B. FROST Born July 14, 1866, in Brattleboro, Vermont Died May 14, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois Frost graduated from Dartmouth College in 1886 and earned a master’s degree there in 1889. He was an instructor at Dartmouth from 1887 to 1892. From 1892 to 1898 he was a professor of astronomy at Dartmouth. In 1898 he became a professor of astrophysics at the University of Chicago. Beginning in 1905 he was also the director of the Yerkes Observatory, a position he held until 1932.

Frost began having vision problems in 1907 at age forty-one due to severe myopia. He lost the use of his right eye at age forty-nine from a detached retina, and at age fifty-five a hemorrhage took most of the vision in his left eye. Frost continued his work in astronomy, depending on others to do the observations.

He wrote an autobiography, An Astronomer’s Life (1933). In it he wrote, “During the years since I lost my sight, and when the newspapers were too freely commenting on it, I had many suggestions—all

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kindly meant—for the restoration of my vision. The only one which I remember, however, was this advice: ‘Beat the white of an egg and use it in your eye twice a day. If two eyes, use two whites.’”

MIGUEL DE FUENLLANA Born c. 1525 near Madrid, Spain Died c. 1579 in Valladolid, Spain Blind from birth, Fuenllana became a master on the vihuela (a small twelve-string guitar) and a composer. He was employed as a musician by the Marquis de Tarifa and served as a court musician for King Philip II and King Philip III for many years. Fuenllana’s book Orphenica Lyra (1554) contained more than 180 of his compositions. In his book Fuenllana advocated for the exclusive use of the fingers to pluck the strings, saying, “Only the finger, the truly living thing, can communicate the intention of the spirit.”

Musicologist John Griffiths said, “Without any doubt, Miguel de Fuenllana is one of the most outstanding instrumental composers of the sixteenth century and still largely underestimated. He is a composer who deserves to be included among the most outstanding instrumental musicians of the sixteenth century alongside Antonio de Cabezon, Francesco de Milano, William Byrd, John Dowland, or any other acknowledged Renaissance master.”

HARVEY FULLER Born November 1, 1834, near Mannsville, New York Died March 7, 1925, in Akron, Ohio When he was six years old Fuller moved with his family from New York to Ohio. In a childhood fall Fuller injured and then lost the sight of an eye. At age twenty while he was assisting in a blacksmith

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shop, a hot cinder hit his blind eye. An inflammation set in and his good eye was attacked as well. In a few months he was totally blind.

Fuller said, “I cursed my existence and longed for death to relieve me. I envied the lowest reptile that could see.”

Fuller considered suicide but decided to go to the East Coast to see an eye specialist who might be able to improve his vision. The remedy did not work but Fuller was recommended to be a student at the New York Institute for the Blind, where he studied from 1856 to 1860. Fuller traveled back to the Midwest and attended Hillsdale College in Michigan, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1868.

He had a long career as a lecturer in the eastern and midwestern United States, speaking on such topics as astronomy, physiology, the education of the blind, “What a Blind Man Saw in College,” “What a Blind Man Saw Among the Stars,” and “Temperance.”

Fuller wrote two autobiographical books, Trimsharp’s Account of Himself (1876) (Trimsharp was a nickname given to him by his grandfather) and Where Dark Shadows Play (1890). Fuller wrote and published several books of poetry, including Stray Leaves (1888), Hidden Beauties (1905), Beauties of the Gloaming (1908), and Glancing Backwards (1922). Fuller sold the books he had written one by one, and often door-to-door.

He continued his speaking tours and selling his books well into his eighties. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Fuller, who was eighty-three years old, offered his services as an army chaplain and was disappointed when he was turned down.

Some of Fuller’s philosophy is revealed in his book Where Dark Shadows Play. In it he wrote, “Life is such a mystery we cannot tell what is best, and so may as well conclude that everything is best. If we ever have bad luck, it might be worse. If we are successful, we might be still more fortunate. If we are behind, we mourn our inertness. If we are ahead in spite of all obstructions, we are in fear lest we have been butting against Providence. Very much like a man who,

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in describing the highway, said, ‘When you get to the forks you may take which road you please, but whichever you take, you will be sorry you did not take the other.’”

JAMES GALE Born in July, 1833, in Plymouth, England Died in 1887 Gale began to have vision problems at age twelve, probably from severely hitting his head on the pavement while swinging upside down from a metal bar. By age seventeen he was totally blind.

Gale helped start a school for the blind in Plymouth in 1860. He moved to London in 1862 and became involved in several scientific groups. After a gunpowder explosion in 1864 that destroyed scores of buildings in London, Gale worked on a method to make gunpowder safer, perfecting a method to make gunpowder nonexplosive by mixing it with powdered glass.

WILLIAM F. GALLAGHER Born October 30, 1922, in Maynard, Massachusetts Died April 19, 2000, in Webster, Massachusetts Gallagher became blind at age fifteen from an infection. He entered Perkins School for the Blind in 1941 and was captain of the wrestling team. At Holy Cross College he was student manager of the basketball team that won the NCAA Championship in 1947. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Holy Cross in 1948 and a master’s degree in social work from Boston College in 1950.

From 1950 to 1954 Gallagher was a child welfare worker for the city of Boston, and from 1954 to 1959 was supervisor of social services at the Catholic Guild for the Blind in Newton, Massachusetts. He

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worked at the Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind from 1959 to 1965 and at the New York Association for the Blind from 1965 to 1972. In 1972 he went to the American Foundation for the Blind as Director of Program Planning. He was Associate Director from 1978 to 1980 and was Executive Director of the Foundation from 1980 to 1991.

As Executive Director he promoted radio reading services and established national advisory committees.

ELIZABETH GARRETT Born October 12, 1885, in Alto, New Mexico Died October 16, 1947, in Roswell, New Mexico Garrett was the daughter of legendary western sheriff Pat Garrett.

She is known for writing the words and music for the state song of New Mexico.

Born blind, at age six Garrett went to the Texas School for the Blind where she learned to sing and compose music. After graduating she studied music in Chicago and New York. Garrett performed at the San Diego World Exposition in 1915. A longtime friend of Helen Keller, she gave individual music lessons and composed and sang Spanish, Native American, cowboy, and state folklore songs. She wrote “O Fair New Mexico� in 1915, and it was adopted as the state song by the New Mexico Legislature in 1917.

SAMUEL GENENSKY Born July 26, 1927, in New Bedford, Massachusetts Died June 26, 2009, in Santa Monica, California At birth, when a hospital employee put an alkaline solution in his eyes instead of silver nitrate, Genensky was left with no vision in his left eye and limited vision in his right.

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Genensky attended “sight saving” classes in Massachusetts schools, and earned a bachelor’s degree in physics, magna cum laude, from Brown University in 1949. He earned a master’s degree in mathematics from Harvard University in 1951 and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics from Brown University in 1958. From 1951 to 1954 Genensky was a mathematician for the National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C. From 1958 to 1976 he was mathematician for the Rand Corporation in Santa Monica, California. While working for Rand he led the development of aids for partially sighted persons, which resulted in the creation of a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) system. The CCTV system enabled partially sighted persons to read regular print.

In 1976 Genensky established the Center for the Partially Sighted in Santa Monica, California, and was Executive Director of that organization from 1976 to 1991. He wrote numerous articles on the partially sighted.

TERRI GIBBS Born June 15, 1954, in Augusta, Georgia Teresa Fay Gibbs was blind from birth. She played the piano at age three, and after attending public school began a musical career. Gibbs played keyboard with the group Sound Dimension in 1972 and 1973. From 1975 to 1980 she played locally in the Augusta, Georgia, area. Signing a recording contract in 1980, Gibbs performed in the Grand Ole Opry in 1981. She returned to gospel music in 1986, and in 1988 had three top five Christian records.

Her best-known song is “Somebody’s Knockin’” (1981).

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ELIZABETH GILBERT Born August 7, 1826, in Oxford, England Died February 7, 1885, in London, England Gilbert was the third of eleven children. Her father was principal of a college and later the Bishop of Chichester. At age two years and nine months, she contracted scarlet fever, leaving her totally blind. Her parents endeavored to treat her like her seven sighted sisters, and she used raised letter books to help her learn. Eventually Gilbert could read in Italian, French, and German. After getting out of school she received an inheritance from her godmother and spent the rest of her life helping other people who were blind.

At age twenty-seven she met William Hanks Levy at the Blind School in London. Becoming collaborators and using her idea to give jobs to beggars who were blind, in 1854 they founded the Association for Promoting the General Welfare of the Blind. Initially they employed seven men who were blind, making brushes and baskets in their own homes. In the twentieth century the organization was still employing people who were blind in London. Gilbert introduced the idea of travel training to people who were blind in rural areas in England, and with William Levy wrote the book Blindness and the Blind (1872).

THOMAS P. GORE Born December 10, 1870, near Embry, Mississippi Died March 16, 1949, in Washington, D.C. Thomas Pryor Gore’s adulthood was spent as a lawyer and politician, and he was the first person who was blind to become a United States Senator. Gore was well known for standing up for his convictions, which in part was the reason for his political defeats in

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1920, 1924, and 1936. Gore’s biographer, Monroe Lee Billington, wrote, “The words ‘independence’ and ‘conviction’ best characterize the Senator’s career. . . . Many times he voted as his conscience dictated in the face of overwhelming pressures, sometimes to the point of being ineffective.”

Gore lost most of the sight in his left eye at the age of eight, when he was struck in the eye by a stick thrown by a playmate. At the age of eleven he lost all the sight in his right eye in an accident with a toy crossbow, and by age twenty he was totally blind. Gore attended public school in Mississippi, and at age twelve was a page in the Mississippi Senate. He graduated from Cumberland University Law School in Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1892. He practiced law in Walthall, Mississippi, until 1895, when he moved to Corsicana, Texas. He became involved in Texas politics, including an unsuccessful attempt to be elected to the United States Congress.

In 1901 he moved to Oklahoma, where he practiced law and was a member of the Territorial Council. He was nominated by the Governor and elected by the Oklahoma Legislature to become a United States Senator when Oklahoma became a state in 1907. Gore was reelected to the Senate in 1908 and again in 1914. Defeated in the Democratic primary in 1920, he stayed in Washington, D.C., practicing law. Gore ran for the Senate again in 1930 and was elected. He supported Franklin Roosevelt for president, but opposed much of the New Deal legislation, believing assistance should be handled at the local and state level. During Gore’s legislative career, he supported Native Americans, soil conservation, and aid for farmers. In 1936 he was defeated in the Democratic primary. From 1937 until his death in 1949 he practiced law in Washington, D.C. Thomas P. Gore was the grandfather of Albert Arnold Gore, Senator from Tennessee (1953-1971), and great grandfather of Albert Arnold Gore Jr., Senator from Tennessee (1985-1991) and Vice-President of the United States (1993-2001).

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JOHN GOUGH Born January 17, 1757, in Kendal, England Died July 28, 1825, in Kendal, England Gough became blind at age two from smallpox. He was educated at a private school and enjoyed natural history, studying plants by touch using his fingers, lips, and tongue. Gough wrote articles for scientific magazines on topics such as the germination of seeds, nutrition in plants, suspended animation in vegetables, relative humidity, and the augmentation of sound.

Gough taught mathematics to many students, including the widelyknown chemist and physicist John Dalton, and mathematician and philosopher William Whewell. The poet Coleridge said of him, “John Gough of Kendal is not only an excellent mathematician, but an infallible botanist and zoologist. . . . The rapidity of his touch appears fully equal to that of sight and the accuracy greater.”

R. BUDD GOULD Born May 10, 1937, in Pasadena, California Died June 2, 1997, in Missoula, Montana Gould attended the University of Montana and became blind at the age of thirty-three from diabetes. He was a member of the Montana House of Representatives from 1974 to 1981 and again from 1985 to 1991. He was a member of the President’s National Council on the Handicapped from 1983 to 1985. Gould was a popular and highly respected legislator, and his credibility often swayed many legislative votes. He once said, “My work is my bond; nothing is more important.” Gould said that one of the secrets of his success was that as part of his campaign for the House of Representatives he visited every household in his district every two years. He also had

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an exceptional memory and was often called upon to recount extensive conversations about political issues. A friend said, “He had total recall that was unequaled by a computer.” Gould died at age sixty from complications from his diabetes.

EDWIN GRASSE Born August 13, 1884, in New York, New York Died April 8, 1954, in New York, New York A talented violinist, organist, and composer, Grasse toured and performed from 1902 to 1940.

Grasse became blind as an infant. He studied violin in New York City from age five to age fourteen. From 1898 to 1901 he studied violin and organ at the Brussels Conservatory in Belgium. He began performing professionally in Berlin, Germany, in 1902. He played in major cities in Europe and America. He continued to perform until 1940 when he retired due to poor health.

Grasse reportedly had perfect pitch. He composed “American Fantasie” for violin and orchestra, and other compositions for violin and for organ. In his twenties Grasse said, “My great ambition is to be such a musician that people will lose sight of my blindness.”

ROOSEVELT GRAVES Born December 9, 1909, in Summerland, Mississippi Died December 30, 1962, in Gulfport, Mississippi Born blind, Graves became a singer and guitar player, performing secular and sacred songs. Graves teamed up with his brother Uaroy, who played kazoo and tambourine, playing gigs around the Hattiesburg, Mississippi, area. In 1929 they recorded for Paramount Records as Blind Roosevelt Graves and Brother. In 1935 the brothers teamed up with pianist Cooney Vaughn and formed

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the Mississippi Jook Band. In 1936 the Jook Band recorded for the ARC record label.

Graves’s best-known blues songs were “Guitar Boogie” and “Crazy About My Baby.” Other blues songs included “Bustin’ the Jug,” “Hittin’ the Bottle Stomp,” “Dangerous Woman,” and “Barbecue Bust.” His best-known sacred songs were “Take Your Burdens to the Lord,” “I Shall Not Be Moved,” “Woke up This Morning (With My Mind on Jesus),” and “I’ll Be Rested (When the Roll is Called).”

In the early 1940s Graves disappeared from the music scene. Shortly before he died he said, “I ain’t never see’d the light of day one time in my life. Lord knows I tried to keep His teachings and live right, but I ain’t never seen the sun rise one time.” Suffering from diabetes, he died in 1962 at the age of fifty-three.

ARVELLA GRAY Born January 28, 1906, in Sommerville, Texas Died September 7, 1980, in Chicago, Illinois Arvella Gray, also known as Walter Dixon, was orphaned at age eleven and worked in the circus before becoming a drug dealer, smuggler, and getaway driver. At age twenty-four he was blinded by a shotgun blast, also losing the index and middle finger of his left hand. He told different versions of being shot, but once said the real story was he was shot trying to hold up a grocery store.

After becoming blind, Gray was in an institution for two years before he escaped and traveled to Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago he began playing his steel guitar on the street for coins. Often known as Blind Dixon, he played for money at parties, racetracks, shopping centers, bus stops, and on the streets. He played and sang songs such as, “Corrina, Corrina,” “John Henry,” “Captain’s A-Hollering,” and “Have Mercy, Mr. Percy.” In the early 1970s Gray played on the college concert circuit.

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LLOYD GREENWOOD Born March 28, 1922, in McGraw, New York Died June 12, 1962, in Homer, New York Greenwood attended St. Lawrence University before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1942. He earned his pilot’s wings in July 1943, and was blinded on a flying mission in 1944. He received training at Old Farms Convalescent Hospital in Avon, Connecticut.

Greenwood helped form the Blinded Veterans Association and was editor of the BVA Bulletin from the first issue in April 1946 until he became the first Executive Director of the organization in 1947.

Greenwood committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning at age forty.

ROBERTA A. GRIFFITH Born in 1870 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died January 24, 1941, in Grand Rapids, Michigan Griffith became blind at the age of three. She spent her early childhood in Bay City, Michigan, and attended the Michigan School for the Blind and the Ohio School for the Blind. Griffith earned a scholarship to Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. After graduating she lived in Ohio and Indiana. To support herself she gave piano lessons and wrote for newspapers and magazines.

In 1900 Griffith moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to help her mother. She worked there as a writer and real estate agent. In 1905 she was instrumental in organizing a Michigan conference of workers for the blind from all over the United States. That conference resulted in the establishment of the American Association of Workers for the Blind. In 1913 Griffith spearheaded a successful effort in which the Michigan State Legislature made putting silver nitrate in newborn babies’ eyes mandatory, thus saving the eyesight of many

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newborns. Also in 1913 with the help of volunteers, Griffith founded what became the Association for the Blind and Sight Conservation, a private rehabilitation agency. She was Executive Secretary of the Association from 1913 until her death in 1941.

BILL GRIFFITHS Born in 1921 in Lancashire County, England Griffiths left school at age fourteen to work in his family’s transport business. In 1941 he joined the British Royal Air Force. He was serving in the Air Force in Java in 1942 when he was captured by the Japanese. As a prisoner Griffiths was forced by his captors to clear away netting in a booby-trapped area. The area exploded and he was taken to a hospital in Bangoeny. Griffiths had lost both eyes and both hands, and had a leg broken in several places. In great pain he longed for death, and had even less wish to go on living when he realized the extent of his injuries. After he had been in the hospital for a month, the Japanese moved the hospital staff and patients to a prison. With the help of fellow prisoners, Griffiths survived his three and a half years in various Japanese prison camps.

In November 1945 at the end of the war, Griffiths returned home to Blackburn, England. He received training at St. Dunston’s Rehabilitation Center for Blind Servicemen and in 1947 started a transport business. He ran the business until 1949, being forced out of business when Britain nationalized the hauling businesses.

His girlfriend Alice Jolly encouraged him to take singing lessons, and he went on to compete in local talent contests. Eventually he began singing with Alice, who had sung professionally. They performed together for the next several years, and later he and Alice were married. In 1965 Griffiths became a public relations officer for St. Dunstan’s. He spent several years in this role and was widely regarded as a hero in England for his courage and positive outlook.

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Griffiths coauthored with Hugh Pophorn the book Blind to Misfortune (1989), an autobiography about his life from 1942 to 1988. The book is subtitled A Story of Great Courage in the Face of Adversity.

LUIGI GROTO Born September 7, 1541, in Adria, Italy Died December 13, 1585, in Venice, Italy Known as “the blind man of Adria,” Groto was an actor, musician, outstanding orator, poet, and scientific commentator, but is best known for his writing. He wrote in many forms, including comedy, epic poetry, pastoral plays, tragedy, political speeches, and sonnets.

Groto became blind shortly after birth and was educated by tutors.

At age eighteen he delivered a speech before the Queen of Poland.

Groto translated the first book of the Iliad, wrote two pastoral dramas, Calisto (1561) and The Lover’s Repentance (1575), and three comedies, Emilia (1579), The Treasure (1583), and Altina (1587). He composed a tragedy, Adriana (1578), thought to be the source for Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Groto also received commissions to write addresses for public events and acted in plays, including a role as a blind seer in Sophocles’s play Oedipus. When he died Groto left a volume of letters he had written that were of great interest to historians for their detailed descriptions of Italian daily life.

HARRY GRUNWALD Born December 3, 1922, in Vienna, Austria Died February 26, 2005, in New York, New York Heinz Anatol Grunwald and his family left Austria in 1938 and settled in the United States in 1940. Grunwald was interested in

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journalism and started as a copy boy at Time Magazine. He worked as a correspondent, senior editor, and then managing editor of Time Magazine until his retirement in 1987. From 1987 to 1990 Grunwald was the United States Ambassador to Austria.

Grunwald was writing his autobiography, One Man’s America: A Journalist’s Search for the Heart of His Country (1997), when he began losing his sight to macular degeneration at age seventy. He subsequently wrote Twilight: Losing Sight, Gaining Insight (1999), an intelligent and highly readable memoir. He then wrote a novel, A Saint More or Less (2003).

GORDON GUND Born October 15, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio Gund was educated at Harvard University, earning a bachelor’s degree in 1961. While at Harvard he played on the hockey team and became a private pilot. He worked at a New York bank before starting his own company, Gund Investments. In his mid-twenties he began losing his sight due to retinitis pigmentosa, and by age thirty he was totally blind. His extremely successful business sense combined with his interest in sports led him to become the owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers professional basketball team and co-owner of the San Jose Sharks, a National Hockey League team.

A snow skier before becoming blind, Gund continued this activity, stating, “I ski better than before I lost my sight. Without sight, you have more touch and feel. I’ve only had three minor collisions in thirty years. The most memorable one was with a woman who was trying to see what my Blind Skier bib said. After we collided and were dusting ourselves off she said, ‘Oh, that’s what it says.’”

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JOHN LANGSTON GWALTNEY Born September 25, 1928, in Orange, New Jersey Died August 29, 1998, in Reston, Virginia Blind from birth, Gwaltney graduated from Upsala College in 1952 and earned a master’s degree from the New School for Social Research in 1957. He earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from Columbia University in 1967. Gwaltney’s Ph.D. dissertation resulted in his ethnographic first book, Thrice Shy: Cultural Accommodation to Blindness and Other Disasters in a Mexican Community (1970). He taught at the State University of New York from 1967 to 1971 and at Syracuse University from 1971 to 1991. He also wrote Drylongso; A Self-Portrait of Black America (1980), a study of what black persons in the United States think is the core of black culture, and later wrote The Dissenters: Voices from Contemporary America (1986).

WILLIAM A. HADLEY Born February 24, 1860, in Mooresville, Indiana Died October 2, 1941, in Winnetka, Illinois Hadley was an English teacher at Lakeview High School in Chicago, Illinois, from 1900 to 1915. He loved to read and to teach. When he lost his sight in 1915 at age fifty-five, he learned Braille so he could read again. With his love for teaching and the encouragement and help from his ophthalmologist friend, Dr. E.V.L. Brown, Hadley founded the Hadley Correspondence School for the Blind in 1920.

He taught his first student, a Kansas housewife, to read Braille so she could read to her daughter.

The Hadley Correspondence School expanded, offering classes by mail to people who were blind throughout the country. Hadley ran the school from its inception until he retired in 1936. The school

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continued to grow, and by the beginning of the twenty-first century it had students enrolled from all fifty states and from more than ninety countries around the world.

KENNY HALL Born October 14, 1923, in San Jose, California A legendary folk and old-time musician, Hall played the fiddle and mandolin with a repertoire of more than a thousand songs.

Born blind, Hall attended the California School for the Blind from age five to seventeen. At five he learned to play the piano and fiddle, and at age thirteen he learned the mandolin. When he was seventeen Hall was kicked out of school for either flunking algebra or geometry, holding hands with a girl, or reading detective stories instead of doing schoolwork. As he gave several reasons, it is unclear which is the real one.

From 1941 to 1954 Hall worked in various broom factories.

After quitting in 1954 he sold brooms door-to-door. In 1952 he began playing with The Happy Hayseeds on the radio in Stockton, California. From 1946 to 1952 he played with the Desmond Family in Hayward, California. He didn’t play much music from 1952 to 1966, explaining, “During that period there wasn’t very much oldtime music being played.”

When the 1960s brought back interest in folk and old-time music, Hall began playing professionally again. From 1968 to 1976 he played with the Sweet’s Mill String Band. The group recorded an album in 1972 and another in 1973. In 1974 Hall recorded a solo album and played at the World’s Fair in Spokane, Washington. In 1977 he formed the Long Haul String Band. In 1980 the group recorded an album titled Kenny Hall and the Long Haul String Band.

Based in Fresno, California, in the 1970s and 1980s, he toured the United States and Ireland.

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Hall wrote a book with Vykki Mende Gray titled Kenny Hall’s Music Book (1999) that contained biographical information and the words and music to more than 250 songs. Hall continued to perform into his eighties.

LANSING V. HALL Born in 1828 in Cayuga County, New York Died February 21, 1891, in Danville, New York Hall was born blind and educated at the New York Institution for the Blind. After graduation he taught for a year at the Institution. He and a classmate, William Artman, wrote The Beauties and Achievements of the Blind (1857), a book about more than fifty well-known people who were blind, including Thomas Blacklock, Torlogh Carolan, Frances Jane Crosby, Francois Huber, and John Milton.

Hall also wrote a book of poetry, Voices of Nature (1868), and wrote The World as I Hear It (1878), subtitled Containing Reminiscences of Institution Life, How the Blind See, Night Thoughts, Gold Worshipers, and Other Productions in Prose and Verse Never Before Published in Book Form. He settled in Danville, New York, and operated a music store.

NEIL HAMILTON Born March 14, 1920, in Regina, Saskatchewan Hamilton was raised on a farm in Saskatchewan, and after graduating from high school was drafted into the Canadian Army Reserves and joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. When his thirty-six combat missions out of North Africa were completed, he went to England as a flight instructor. On a training flight at high altitude Hamilton’s eyes began hemorrhaging. He was left with almost no vision at age twenty-four.

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After returning to Saskatchewan, Hamilton became ill with tuberculosis. He entered a tuberculosis sanitarium in 1945, staying until 1950. In 1951 he fell on a step and badly damaged his spine, requiring spinal surgery. From 1957 to 1968 Hamilton worked as a field secretary and liaison officer in Saskatchewan for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. In 1968 he became an administrator for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in Calgary, Canada. He served in that position until he retired in 1980.

Hamilton wrote an autobiography, Wings of Courage (2000), subtitled A Lifetime of Triumph Over Adversity.

HOKIICHI HANAWA Born in 1746 in Saitana Prefecture, Japan Died in 1821 in Japan A famous Japanese scholar, Hanawa was known for his work, the Gunsho Ruiju (A Collection of Japanese Literary Classics).

The son of a farmer, Hanawa became blind at age seven. He trained as an acupuncturist and also studied classic Japanese literature.

Hanawa had a prodigious memory and in 1779 began compiling a vast collection of classics. He worked for forty years to produce the Gunsho Ruiju. This work contained over 1500 volumes.

W .C. HANDY Born November 16, 1873, in Florence, Alabama Died March 28, 1958, in New York, New York Self-proclaimed Father of the Blues, Handy did not invent the blues but was the first to write them down and give them the “blues� label.

William Christopher Handy began entertaining in his teens and by his mid-twenties was a band leader. In 1903 Handy discovered the

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blues sound while living in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He later settled in Memphis, Tennessee, and by 1914 had composed the songs that eventually made him famous, “The Memphis Blues” and “The St. Louis Blues.” Handy moved to New York City in 1918 and continued to write and perform music. In his early sixties his eyesight began to fail, and he became totally blind by age seventy. He continued to write music, especially sacred songs, and established and supported an aid for students, the W. C. Handy Foundation for the Blind.

LOUIS HARDIN Born May 26, 1916, in Marysville, Kansas Died September 8, 1999, in Munster, Germany Hardin was an avant-garde composer and the most famous street musician of his time. Known professionally after age thirty as Moondog, Hardin gave himself the name after a dog he owned in Missouri that howled at the moon.

The son of an Episcopalian minister, Hardin claimed to be a relative of the outlaw John Wesley Hardin. When Hardin was a young child, he moved with his family from Kansas to southwestern Wyoming.

Spending time drumming with the Arapaho Indians developed an early interest in percussion music.

At age sixteen Hardin was blinded when a dynamite cap exploded in his face. He attended the Missouri School for the Blind and the Iowa School for the Blind, where he learned to play piano, violin, and viola, and learned to read and write in Braille. In his early twenties he developed a passion for composing music. After studying music in Memphis he moved to New York City in 1943. Moondog performed as a street musician on New York City streets for thirty years and was an avant-garde composer.

Moondog was also known as the Viking of Sixth Avenue. He said wearing his Viking helmet, cloak, sandals, and homemade spear was

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an expression of his Nordic philosophy. He wrote a song recorded

by Janis Joplin, wrote music for radio and television commercials, and wrote a composition for the movie Drive, He Said (1972).

In 1973 Moondog disappeared from New York City streets, turning up in Germany where he continued to compose avant-garde music until his death in 1999 in Munster, Germany.

DAVID W . HARTMAN Born June 25, 1949 in Philadephia, Pennsylvania Hartman was born with poor vision and became totally blind at age eight. He attended Overbrook School for the Blind from third to sixth grade and went to public junior and senior high schools. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Gettysburg College.

Hartman aspired to become a medical doctor but had trouble finding a medical school that would accept him. The television movie Journey From Darkness (1975) depicted Hartman’s struggle to enter medical school. He was finally accepted and graduated from Temple University Medical School in 1976. He completed an internship at Temple University Hospital in 1977 and did his residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in 1980. Hartman wrote an autobiographical book, White Coat, White Cane (1978), and had a private psychiatric practice in Roanoke, Virginia, for many years.

CLARENCE HAWKES Born December 16, 1869, in Goshen, Massachusetts Died January 19, 1951, in Northhampton, Massachusetts Clarence Hawkes was a prolific author who said his books did not bring him much money, but brought many friends who were more valuable to him than gold.

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At the age of nine Hawkes twisted his ankle, and a few days later an inflammation set in. His leg had to be amputated below the knee.

At age thirteen he was shot and blinded by his father in a hunting accident. Hawkes attended Perkins School for the Blind, graduating in 1888. He began lecturing on the Chautauqua circuit and continued to lecture for twenty-five years. Hawkes was the author of hundreds of poems and essays and more than fifty books. Most of his books are about animals and nature, for example, Shaggycoat, the Biography of a Beaver (1906), Field and Forest Friends (1913), Silversheene, King of Sled Dogs (1924), Patches: A Wyoming Cow Pony (1928), and Roany: The Horse Who Smelled Smoke (1935). As he lived in Hadley, Massachusetts, for a good part of his life, Hawkes was often referred to as “the blind poet of Hadley.”

Hawkes also wrote two autobiographical books, Hitting the Dark Trail (1915) and The Light That Did Not Fail (1935). At the end of The Light That Did Not Fail Hawkes wrote, “To feel the Infinite Spirit keeping us in all earth’s devious ways, that is the great solace of human life and the comfort of such afflictions I have borne for over a half-century. Love, friendship and truth; these are the three angels that watch over our destiny and make life worth living.”

MORRISON HEADY Born July 19, 1829, in Spencer County, Kentucky Died December 20, 1915, in Louisville, Kentucky Known as “the blind bard of Kentucky,” Heady became blind in his early twenties and deaf by age forty. During his blindness and deaf-blindness he continued to learn and write using methods he devised himself.

James Morrison Heady lost the sight in his right eye in childhood when he was struck in the eye by a woodchip. At age sixteen he lost the sight in his other eye when he was accidentally hit in the left eye by a playmate. He attended schools for the blind in Kentucky and

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Ohio. Heady taught piano students for two years, but then began losing his hearing. By age forty he was totally deaf. Heady read widely from his large Braille library and wrote poetry, including an epic poem about Indian life titled Yoonemskata in Seen and Heard (1869). He communicated using a glove on which letters of the alphabet were printed, and invented a writing machine.

Heady published The Farmer Boy (1863), a biography of George Washington before the American Revolution. He wrote two books of poetry, Seen and Heard (1869) and The Double Night (1901), and many of his poems were published in the Louisville Journal Newspaper.

Known for his wit and good humor, Heady kept them until the end of his life. One day he discussed a publisher’s request to rewrite a manuscript he had submitted for publication with his sister Emarine, who assisted him in his later years. “They ask me to condense this book of mine,” he said. “I’ll do it too if I’m not condensed first.” He died a few minutes later.

JEFF HEALEY Born March 25, 1966, in Toronto, Canada Died March 2, 2008 in Toronto Canada Norman Jeffery Healey became blind when he was one year old from retinoblastoma. He began playing guitar at age three, and by six was singing and playing in public. From age six to twelve Healey attended the W. Ross Macdonald School for the Blind and then went to public school. At age fourteen Healey was a music specialist at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and a year later formed the Jeff Healey Band. In 1985 he formed the Jeff Healy Trio, playing jazz, reggae, heavy metal, rhythm & blues, and country music. The trio started making recordings in 1988 and toured Canada. They recorded the soundtrack and appeared in the movie Road House

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(1989). In 1992 he formed Jeff Healey’s Jazz Wizards. Healy died of cancer on March 2, 2008 at age 41.

DENIS HEMPSON Born in 1695 in County Londonderry, Ireland Died in 1807 in Magilligan, Ireland Hempson lived in three different centuries and was known as “the blind bard of Magilligan.”

Hempson became blind at three years old from smallpox. He learned to play the harp at age twelve, and at eighteen traveled throughout Ireland and Scotland playing for noblemen. Also known as Denis O’Hampsey, he played for Bonnie Prince Charlie in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1745. It is unclear whether he had married earlier in his life; however, he did marry at age eighty-six. Hempson played at the famous harping festival in Belfast, Ireland, in 1792 at the age of ninety-seven, playing tunes so old they were unfamiliar to the other harpers. It was said Hempson played the harp a few hours before he died at the age of 112.

HENRY HENDRICKSON Born December 16, 1843, in Valders, Norway Died November 7, 1920, in Chicago, Illinois Hendrickson became blind at six months when he had wasting sickness and nearly died. At age three he immigrated with his parents to the United States, settling in Wisconsin. From 1854 to 1863 he attended the Wisconsin State School for the Blind in Janesville.

After finishing school he supported himself running broom-making

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operations in various cities in the Midwest. He sold musical instruments for several years before becoming a traveling lecturer throughout the United States.

Hendrickson wrote an autobiography, Out From the Darkness (1879), about his life up to age thirty-five with some European history thrown in. It was subtitled An Autobiography Unfolding the Life Story and Singular Vicissitudes of a Scandinavian Bartimaeus.

HENRY Born c. 1440 in Lothian, Scotland Died in 1492 in Scotland Blind from birth, he was known as “Henry the minstrel” or Blind Harry. Henry was a traveling poet in central and southern Scotland.

He is best known as the author of an epic poem about the Scottish hero William Wallace. His poem of nearly twelve thousand lines is titled The Life and Heroic Actions of the Renowned William Wallace, General and Governor of Scotland (c. 1460). The poem is known more often as simply Wallace.

EUCLID HERIE Born October 14, 1939, in Manitoba, Canada Herie had eye problems from birth and was blind by age sixteen from a severed optic nerve. He attended the Ontario School for the Blind and earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Manitoba. Herie worked for a child welfare agency after college and in 1977 began working for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). He was President of the Institute from 1982 to 2001.

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Herie was the President of the World Blind Union from 1996 to 2000 and was a principal founder of the World Braille Foundation, an organization that provides Braille literacy programs to developing nations. Herie wrote a history of blindness in Canada titled Journey to Independence (2005).

JOHN HERRESHOFF Born April 24, 1841, near Bristol, Rhode Island Died July 20, 1915, in Bristol, Rhode Island Known as the blind boat builder, Herreshoff headed the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, world famous for building racing yachts and fast steam vessels.

At the age of fourteen Herreshoff was struck in the eye by a ball in a schoolyard incident. In a few weeks he was totally blind. Before the accident Herreshoff had been building a fifteen-foot boat. After a few months he resumed work on the boat with the help of Nathanael, his eight-year-old brother. Herreshoff finished his education in public schools, and at the age of twenty-three began a yacht-building business with his father.

In 1878 John and Nathanael became partners and sole owners of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. The company, producing steam engine boats and racing yachts, established a reputation for building fast and stylish boats. They built America’s first torpedo boat and designed and built five America’s Cup winners: “Vigilant” (1893), “Defender” (1895), “Columbia” (1899), “Reliance” (1903), and “Resolute” (1920). Herreshoff’s company built ships and yachts for William Randolph Hearst, John Jacob Astor, Cornelius Vanderbilt, J.P. Morgan, and many others. The brothers were referred to by competing boat builders as “those wizards of Bristol.”

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AL HIBBLER Born August 16, 1915, in Tyro, Mississippi Died April 24, 2001, in Chicago, Illinois A distinctive vocal sound made Al Hibbler a success as a live performer and recording artist in the 1940s and ‘50s. Hibbler’s singing was characterized by growling techniques, a bizarre use of vibrato, a Cockney accent, and distorted accenting of words.

Albert George Hibbler was blind from birth. He moved with his family at age twelve from Mississippi to Little Rock, Arkansas. At age fifteen he attended the Arkansas State School for the Blind, singing in the school choir. After he left school he sang with local bands in Arkansas and Texas.

In 1942 Hibbler auditioned with Duke Ellington’s band and was well received. Hibbler celebrated by getting drunk. The next day Ellington told Hibbler he was ready to handle a blind man but wasn’t ready for a blind drunk. Hibbler sang for a year with Jay McShann’s band, then tried again with Ellington and got the job. From 1943 to 1951 he sang with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, recording such songs as “Do Nothing ‘Til You Hear From Me,” “Ain’t Got Nothin’ but the Blues,” “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore,” “I’m Just a Lucky So and So,” “Pretty Woman,” and “Good Woman Blues.” Ellington called Hibbler’s singing style “tonal pantomime,” and another musician said, “You could drive a truck through that vibrato.”

In 1954 Hibbler began a solo career, recording several successful songs including “Unchained Melody” (1955), “He” (1955), “After the Lights Go Down Low” (1956), and “Never Turn Back” (1956).

In the late 1950s and early 1960s Hibbler was involved in the Civil Rights movement in the United States and arrested twice during anti-

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segregation protests. He made a few recordings and club appearances in the 1960s and 1970s; however, these did not match the popularity of his earlier work. At Louis “Satchmo” Armstrong’s funeral on July 9, 1971, in New York City, Hibbler sang “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen” and “When the Saints Go Marchin’ In.” During his career Hibbler recorded nineteen albums, including A Meeting of the Times (1972), recorded with well-known blind musician Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Once asked if he ever wanted to see, Hibbler replied, “No, I want to see the world as I see it in my mind and not see it like it actually is.”

BLAKE ALPHONSO HIGGS Born in 1915 in Matthew Town Inagua, Bahamas Died November, 1985, in Nassau, Bahamas A well-known performer of calypso music in the Bahamas from the 1930s to the 1980s, Higgs learned to play music at an early age. As a young child he played on a piece of wood with a string stretched across it. With his mother and older brother encouraging him, he learned to play several stringed instruments, focusing on the banjo.

Higgs became blind at age nineteen. He played for many years at the Royal Victoria Hotel in Nassau, in lodge halls, and at private parties.

Later in his career he became a fixture at the Nassau International Airport playing for tourists. He became known as Blind Blake and is often confused with Arthur Blake, a blues pianist who was also blind and known as Blind Blake. Higgs was featured on five calypso albums produced in 1951 and 1952. Some of his songs were “Bahama Mama,” “My Pigeon Gone Wild,” “Watermelon Spoilin’ on the Vine,” “Never Interfere With Man and Wife,” “Consumptive Sara Jane,” “Gin and Coconut Water,” and “The Goombay Rock.”

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GEOFF HILTON-BARBER Born May 31, 1947 in Harare, Zimbabwe Born into a well-known South African pioneer family, Geoff HiltonBarber began losing his sight in his early twenties from retinitis pigmentosa. By age twenty-three he could no longer drive a car due to poor vision, and by age thirty-three he was totally blind.

While partially sighted he had done parachute jumping, white water rafting, and sailing. After becoming totally blind Hilton-Barber became involved with marathon running, tandem biking, and mountain climbing, and he continued sailing. He has competed in the Comrades Marathon ten times and the New York Marathon four times.

One of Hilton-Barber’s big adventures was sailing solo across the Indian Ocean. He departed from Durban, South Africa, on December 1, 1997, in a thirty-three foot sailboat, and arrived in Fremantle, Australia, on January 20, 1998, a distance of 4500 miles. He used navigation gear with speech output to accomplish the journey.

In 1999 Hilton-Barber climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and since then has led people who are blind on once-a-year climbs of Kilimanjaro.

He has worked for several years for the National Society for the Blind in South Africa.

MILES HILTON-BARBER Born December 20, 1948, in Harare, Zimbabwe The younger brother of Geoff Hilton-Barber, Miles began losing his sight in his early twenties due to retinitis pigmentosa, and by age thirty was totally blind. As a teenager he had wanted to become a fighter pilot but was not able to because of his poor eyesight. Instead he did parachute jumping and white water rafting.

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After becoming blind Miles moved to England and worked for the Royal National Institute for the Blind. After becoming blind Miles said, “I was afraid of walking 400 meters to a local supermarket for a loaf of bread.” He credits his older brother Geoff for inspiring him to change his attitude and pursue his dreams.

Miles began participating in sporting adventures such as marathon running, mountain climbing, and flying a Microlight airplane. In 1998 Hilton-Barber ran in the London Marathon and in 1999 did a 250 kilometer ultra-marathon in the Sahara Desert. In 2000 he climbed to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro.

In the year 2000 Hilton-Barber pursued his dream to become the first blind man in history to sled from the Antarctic coast to the South Pole. He sledded 250 miles toward the pole in thirty-five days, but had to turn back when a circulation problem was causing frostbite. He said, “I faced a devastating, heart-rending decision: keep my fingers or reach the Pole!” In 2002 he ran in the Siberian Ice Marathon, and was a member of a five-man team that set a new world record for an unsupported 200 kilometer crossing of the Qatar desert. Also in 2002 he was part of a team of three persons with disabilities who circumnavigated the globe using more than eighty modes of transport.

Still interested in aviation, he learned to fly a Micro-light aircraft using a sighted copilot and speech output technology to monitor flight instruments. In 2007 Hilton-Barber flew his Micro-light from London, England, to Sydney, Australia. He used the flight to help raise money for sight restoration in developing countries throughout the world.

Miles Hilton-Barber also works as a motivational speaker and says, “The only limits in your life are those you accept yourself.”

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SHEILA HOCKEN Born in 1946 in Nottingham, England Born with congenital cataracts, Hocken was severely visually impaired as a child. By age nineteen she was totally blind. She attended regular schools and got a job as a switchboard operator. In 1971 she went to the Guide Dog Training Center and got a Labrador retriever guide dog named Emma. Hocken wrote several books about her guide dog, including Emma and I (1977), Emma V.I.P. (1980), Emma’s Story (1981), and Emma Forever (1990). In September 1975 when she was twenty-nine years old, an operation restored her vision and she had to learn to live as a sighted person. A television movie, Second Sight: A Love Story (1984), starring Elizabeth Montgomery, was based on Hocken’s life.

ALICE A. HOLMES Born February 9, 1821, in Norfolk County, England Died January 18, 1914, in Jersey City, New Jersey In 1830 Holmes emigrated with her family from England to the United States. On the ocean voyage she contracted smallpox, becoming totally blind at age nine. She attended the New York Institute for the Blind from ages sixteen to twenty-one and then began to write poetry. She wrote three books of poetry, Poems (1849), Arcadian Leaves (1858), and Stray Leaves (1868). She also wrote Lost Vision (1888), an autobiographical book that included twenty-seven poems.

Holmes was a friend of Fanny Crosby, a hymn writer who was blind, from their school days at the Institute. Fanny visited Alice in October 1911 when they were both in their nineties, and the two elderly ladies reminisced about their school days. When they

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were parting Alice said, “Goodbye Fan. We shall meet again in the better land.”

ALFRED HOLLINS Born September 11, 1865, in Hull, England Died May 17, 1942, in Edinburgh, Scotland Blind from birth, Hollins attended the Wilberforce Institution for the Blind in York, England, and the Royal Normal College for the Blind in Upper Norwood, England. He studied piano, playing at sixteen years of age for Queen Victoria. In 1884 when he was nineteen years old, Hollins was appointed organist at St. John’s Church in Red Hill.

He played the organ at the Upper Norwood Presbyterian Church from 1886 to 1895. In 1886 Hollins studied music in Frankfurt, Germany, and later on that year went to the United States to perform. He toured the States again in 1888, playing with orchestras in New York City and Boston.

Hollins toured Australia and New Zealand in 1904, and South Africa in 1907, 1909, and 1916. He gave a recital tour in the United States in 1925 and 1926, playing in more than sixty cities. He was recruited to play the organ at St. George’s West in Edinburgh, Scotland, and held this position from 1895 to 1942.

Hollins wrote an autobiography, A Blind Musician Looks Back (1936).

JAMES HOLMAN Born October 15, 1786, in Exeter, England Died July 29, 1857, in London, England Known as “the blind traveler,” Holman traveled by himself extensively and then wrote about his experiences.

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As a ten-year-old, Holman vowed he would circumnavigate the world. He joined the English Royal Navy when he was twelve years old, serving as a seaman until age eighteen when he became a lieutenant. However at age twenty-four he became blind, probably from uveitis, and had to put his goal aside. He received a small pension and studied literature and medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

In 1818 Holman traveled through Europe, writing about his experiences in a book titled Journey in France: The Narrative of a Journey, Undertaken in the Years 1819, 1820 & 1821, Through France, Italy, Savoy, Switzerland, Parts of Germany Boarding on the Rhine, Holland and the Netherlands (1824).

In 1822 Holman began an around-the-world journey, traveling east through Europe and Russia. In Siberia he was stopped by the Russian government, returned to Moscow, and detained briefly before being escorted to the Polish border. After returning to England in 1824 he wrote another book, Travels in Russia, Siberia, Poland, Austria, Saxony, Prussia, Hanover &c. (1825), subtitled Undertaken During the Years 1822, 1823 and 1824 While Suffering From Total Blindness, and Comprising an Account of the Author Being Conducted a State Prisoner From the Eastern Posts of Siberia.

Holman said he was constantly asked, “What is the use of traveling to someone who cannot see?” He felt the lack of sight added to his curiosity. He wrote, “I could bring many living witnesses to bear testimony to my endless inquiries, and insatiable thirst for collecting information. Indeed this is the secret of the delight I derive from traveling; affording me as it does a constant source of mental occupation.”

In 1827 he began another around-the-world journey that was completed in 1832. He wrote a four-volume book about this trip, titled A Voyage Around the World Including Travels in Africa, Asia, Australia, America, &c. The first two volumes were published in 1834 and volumes three and four in 1835.

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Reflecting on his travels Holman wrote, “On the summit of the precipice and in the deep green woods, emotions as palpable and as true have agitated me as if I were surveying them with the blessing of sight. . . . It entered into my heart and I could have wept, not that I did not see, but that I could not portray all that I felt.�

From 1840 to 1846 Holman continuously traveled through much of Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. In 1852 he traveled through Norway and Sweden. Holman worked diligently on an autobiography, finishing the manuscript just before he died in July 1857 at age seventy. The manuscript languished for several years and then was lost.

HOMER Born c. 700 B.C. in Greece Died c. 640 B.C. in Greece One of the most famous people of all time, the blind poet Homer is thought to be the author of the classics in Greek literature, the Iliad and the Odyssey.

Some scholars believe Homer did not exist, attributing his works to tales told and passed on by many different people over the centuries.

However, the Greeks believed the Iliad and the Odyssey were in fact written by Homer, and most modern scholars agree.

FRANCOIS HUBER Born July 2, 1750, in Geneva, Switzerland Died December 22, 1831, in Lausanne, Switzerland Huber began losing his sight in childhood and was totally blind at the age of fifteen due to congenital cataracts. He attended the University of Geneva but dropped out when he developed

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consumption. A doctor recommended a quiet life in the country, so he moved to the countryside near Geneva and began studying honeybees. With the aid of his wife Marie Aimee, his manservant Francois Burnens, and later his son Pierre, he conducted extensive research into the life of the honeybee.

In 1789 Huber introduced a hinged beehive to study bees, and was the first to discover and describe the bees’ process of wax production.

He also discovered that the mating of the queen bee takes place not in the hive as previously thought but in the air away from the hive. Huber wrote a classic book on bees, New Observations of the Bees (1792).

JOHN M. HULL Born April 22, 1935, in Corryong, Victoria, Australia Hull earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 1955 and was a teacher in a Melbourne secondary school from 1957 to 1959. In 1959 he immigrated to Great Britain and was a teacher in London from 1962 to 1966. He was a professor at Westhill College of Education from 1966 to 1968. In 1967 he earned a master’s degree from Cambridge, and a Ph.D. from the University of Birmingham in 1970. Hull began losing his sight at age thirty-five and by age forty-five was totally blind. Hull was professor of religious education at the University of Birmingham beginning in 1989.

Hull wrote two autobiographical books, Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness (1990) and On Sight & Insight, a Journey into the World of Blindness. He also wrote In the Beginning There Was Darkness (2001), subtitled A Blind Person’s Conversations with the Bible.

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TED HULL Born December 11, 1937, in Jamestown, Tennessee Hull had partial vision from birth. He graduated from Michigan State University in 1961 and earned a master’s degree from DePaul University in 1978. From 1963 to 1969 Hull worked for the Motown Record Company as a personal teacher and business manager for Stevie Wonder.

From 1969 to 1989 Hull worked in commercial business management and ran a nonprofit organization in Michigan. From 1989 to 2004 he was District Administrator for the Division of Blind Services in Tampa, Florida.

Hull wrote a book with Paula L. Stahel titled The Wonder Years: My Life and Times with Stevie Wonder (2000).

TAHA HUSAYN Born November 14, 1889, in Izbat al-Kilu, Egypt Died October 28, 1973, in Cairo, Egypt Husayn wrote novels, literary criticism, political essays, and autobiographical books, and is known as one of the great men of letters in the Arab world.

Husayn lost his sight at the age of three from ophthalmia. After studying in a local mosque school, he went to Cairo, Egypt, at age thirteen to attend al-Azhar, a mosque theological seminary. He failed his final exams due to his outspoken criticism of the school’s outdated systems. He earned a Ph.D. at Cairo University in 1914, and in 1915 studied literature and philosophy in France at Montpellier and the Sorbonne. Husayn returned to Egypt and was professor of Ancient History and Letters at Egyptian University from 1917 to

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1932, when he was dismissed for his zealous support of academic freedom. He then wrote extensively for magazines and newspapers, and wrote many books. Husayn’s best-known novels are The Call of the Curlew (1941) and The Tree of Misery (1944). In 1943 he helped establish the University of Alexandria. While Husayn was the Egyptian Minister of Education from 1950 to 1952 he introduced several educational reforms. His motto was “Education is like water and the air we breathe.”

Husayn wrote three autobiographical books, An Egyptian Childhood (1925), The Stream of Days (1939), and A Passage for France (1967).

ALDOUS L. HUXLEY Born July 26, 1894, in Godalming, England Died November 22, 1963, in Los Angeles, California The English novelist and essayist is best known for his novel Brave New World (1931) that depicts an ominous futuristic society.

At age sixteen while attending school at Eton, Huxley had an attack of keratitis that left him with impaired vision the rest of his life. He earned a degree from Oxford in 1915. Huxley lived in England, France, and Italy from 1915 to 1937, and produced the novels Crome Yellow (1921), Antic Hay (1923), Point Counter Point (1928), Brave New World (1931), and Eyeless in Gaza (1936).

In 1937 Huxley moved to the United States, settling in Hollywood, California. He wrote screenplays for the movies Pride and Prejudice (1940) and Jane Eyre (1944). He wrote several other novels, including After Many a Summer Dies the Swan (1939), Ape and Essence (1948), The Devils of Loudon (1952), and The Genius and the Goddess (1955).

About 1939 Huxley discovered the Bates Method for natural vision, and he practiced it enthusiastically. He claimed to have improved

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his sight using this method and wrote a book about his experience, The Art of Seeing (1942).

MARY INGALLS Born January 10, 1865, near Pepin, Wisconsin Died October 17, 1928, in Keystone, South Dakota Ingalls became blind at age fourteen from an illness, while living with her family in Dakota Territory. Her younger sister Laura often read to Mary after she became blind. Mary entered the Iowa School for the Blind at age sixteen, graduating in 1889 at age twenty-four.

In the Iowa School she studied the academics and music, sewing, beadwork, and knitting. After graduating Ingalls returned home to live with her parents. She was a church organist and Sunday school teacher and also wove fly nets for horses. After her father and mother died she lived with her sister Grace for a short time, and then with her sister Carrie in Keystone, South Dakota. She died in 1928 at the age of sixty-three from pneumonia.

Mary Ingalls was not well known in her lifetime and had no idea before she died in 1928 that she would become famous. In 1935 Mary’s younger sister Laura published the book Little House on the Prairie. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book, telling of their family’s life on the American frontier, became a classic of American literature and the basis for the popular television series of the same name that ran from 1974 to 1983.

BILL IRWIN Born August 16, 1940, in Alabama Irwin ran away from his home in Alabama at age fifteen. He worked for a year in Texas as a wildcatter, a worker in the oil fields, before

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returning to school. At age twenty-six his left eye was removed when the doctors thought it was cancerous. It was discovered later he had choriretinitis, a degenerative eye disease. At age thirty-three he began losing the sight in his right eye and by age thirty-six he was totally blind.

In 1990 Irwin hiked more than 2,100 miles from Georgia to Maine along the Appalachian Trail. He wrote a book about his hiking experiences, Blind Courage (1992). Since 1992 he has worked as a motivational speaker.

ROBERT B. IRWIN Born June 2, 1883, in Rockford, Iowa Died December 12, 1951, in Bremerton, Washington As an infant Irwin moved with his parents from Iowa to Washington State. He became blind from an eye infection at the age of five. Irwin graduated from the Washington State School for the Blind in 1901, and at Harvard University studied work for the blind from 1907 to 1909.

In 1909 Irwin was appointed a supervisor of classes for the blind in the Cleveland, Ohio, public schools. He worked with a psychologist in 1914 to adapt the Binet Intelligence Test for the blind. From 1923 to 1929 Irwin was Director of Research and Education at the American Foundation for the Blind and from 1929 to 1949 was Executive Director of the Foundation. During his time as director Irwin promoted the establishment of state agencies for the blind, aided in the development of improved methods of Braille printing, and established a special reference library of books for workers for the blind.

Irwin also played an important role in helping to establish federal legislation for the vending stand program, one-fare laws, and legislation

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providing library services, workshops, and financial assistance for the blind.

From 1946 to 1950 Irwin was Executive Director of the American Foundation for Overseas Blind. Irwin wrote an autobiography titled As I Saw It (1955) that was published posthumously.

TAKEO IWAHASHI Born in 1898 in Osaka, Japan Died October 28, 1954, in Japan Iwahashi was studying engineering at Waseda University in Tokyo when he became blind at age twenty from detached retinas. After losing his sight, Iwahashi said his life was, “a pendulum swing between agony and tedium.” Determined to commit suicide on December 31, 1919, Iwahashi’s life was saved when his mother intervened.

Iwahashi attended the Osaka Municipal School for the Blind, graduating from Kansai Gakuin University. After graduating he taught at the Osaka School for the Blind. He traveled to England and studied at Edinburgh University, earning a master’s degree in 1928. Iwahashi lectured at Kwansei Gakuin College from 1929 into the 1930s. He opened the Lighthouse for the Blind in Osaka in 1935 and was its director for many years. Iwahashi wrote an autobiography, Light From Darkness (1933), about his life from age twenty to age thirty-eight.

RAVINDRA JAIN Born February 28, 1944, in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India Jain, nearly totally blind from birth, became a noted music director and singer associated with the Indian movie business. Jain

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studied classical music, writing his first musical film score in 1972.

He has written music for over a hundred films and performed in many countries, including Canada, England, Germany, South Africa, and the United States. He wrote an autobiography, Sunhare Pal (Golden Moments).

EMIL JAVAL Born May 3, 1839, in Paris, France Died January 20, 1907, in Paris, France Javal graduated from medical school in 1868. He pursued a career in ophthalmology, writing articles on astigmatism, orthoptics, and the optometer. In 1878 he became the first director of the Laboratory of Ophthalmology at the University of Paris. Working with student Hjallmar Schiotz, he produced an improved optometer in 1885.

At age forty-five Javal had the first signs of eye damage from glaucoma, and at age forty-six he lost the use of his right eye. By age sixty-one he was totally blind. He wrote a book about his experience, On Becoming Blind (1905), subtitled Advice for the Use of Persons Losing Their Sight.

LEMON JEFFERSON Born September 24, 1893, near Wortham, Texas Died in December 1929, in Chicago, Illinois Sometimes known as the Father of Texas Blues, Lemon Jefferson had a short but prolific career recording and singing the blues. He lived the rough life of a blues musician, which was reflected in the subjects of his songs: bad liquor, wild women, the penitentiary, and hangings. A national blues pioneer, Jefferson was the first successful blues recording artist.

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Jefferson had partial sight as a child but became totally blind as a teenager. Self-taught on the guitar, he performed at local functions.

At age twenty he went to Dallas, Texas, where he formed a duo with Huddie Ledbetter (Leadbelly), performing in brothels and parties in Dallas, Galveston, and Silver City, Texas. During the 1920s he traveled the southern United States as a performer. Jefferson was an outstanding guitar player, and he had a high, powerful voice.

Reverend Gary Davis, another blues singer who was blind, said he liked Lemon’s guitar playing, but of his singing he said, “He hollered like someone was hitting him all the time.” Jefferson influenced many singers, including Louis Armstrong, Bix Beiderbecke, and Bessie Smith, and he was a major influence on American blues and rock-and-roll music.

Jefferson moved to Chicago, Illinois, sometime in the mid-1920s.

Blind Lemon Jefferson recorded blues songs such as “Long Lonesome Blues,” “Black Snake Moan,” “Hangman’s Blues,” “Match Box Blues,” and “Jack O’Diamond Blues.” Under the name Deacon L. J. Bates, Jefferson recorded spirituals such as, “I Want to Be Like Jesus in My Heart” and “All I Want is that Pure Religion” around 1925 or 1926. An acquaintance said, “He’d be singing in church one day and singing at a house of ill repute the next.” Jefferson wrote more than seventy-five songs and recorded nearly one hundred songs in his short career.

Jefferson must have really understood having the blues. In “Lonesome House Blues” he wrote, “I got the blues so bad, it hurts my feet to walk/ I got the blues so bad, it hurts my feet to walk/ It have settled on my brain and it hurts my tongue to talk.” Jefferson was found dead on a snowy Chicago street at age thirty-two, either from exposure or a heart attack.

Music writer Bob Groom said of Jefferson, “Lemon was a superb singer and a magnificent guitarist, perhaps a genius on his instrument. He had a supreme talent for the translation into music of his feelings and ideas. Forty years after his death, his records are played

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and enjoyed in countries all around the world. No greater testimony to his art can be imagined.”

ANDREW JENKINS Born November 26, 1885, in Jenkinsburg, Georgia Died April 25, 1957, in Upson County, Georgia Sometimes known as Blind Andy or Reverend Jenkins, Jenkins was an important preacher, country music songwriter, and radio performer.

As an infant he lost most of his vision when the wrong medicine was prescribed for an eye ailment. What little vision remained was gone by his thirties. Jenkins was interested in religion from an early age, and as a child preached sermons to his playmates.

Primarily a self-taught musician, he wrote songs and learned to play the banjo, guitar, mandolin, organ, and piano. At age twenty he was ordained a Methodist minister, and also sold newspapers in Atlanta to earn a living.

In 1919 Jenkins married Jane Eskew, a widow with two daughters and a son. The daughters, Mary and Irene, were musically talented, and they joined their stepfather as The Jenkins Family. Performing on the Atlanta radio station WSB beginning in 1922, The Jenkins Family was on the radio for nearly ten years, receiving fan mail from many parts of North America. The Jenkins Family recorded for the Okeh and Bluebird labels from 1924 to the 1930s. Jenkins composed most of the material they performed, and wrote for other artists as well. He wrote many spiritual songs such as “Church in the Wildwood” and “If I Could Hear My Mother Pray Again.”

During his lifetime Jenkins composed nearly eight hundred songs, about two-thirds being sacred songs. Jenkins’s best-known secular songs were about events such as “The Death of Floyd Collins” about

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a cave exploring death, “The Wreck of the Royal Palm” about a train wreck in Rockmart, Georgia, and “The Fate of Frank Dupree,” about an Atlanta robbery and murder.

On April 21, 1957, Jenkins was injured in an automobile accident while traveling to preach and died four days later.

KENNETH L. JERNIGAN Born November 13, 1926, in Detroit, Michigan Died October 12, 1998, in Baltimore, Maryland Born blind, as a young child Jernigan moved from Michigan to Tennessee with his family. He graduated from the Tennessee State School for the Blind, earned a bachelor’s degree from Tennessee Technological University in 1948, and a master’s degree from Peabody College in 1949.

Jernigan taught English at the Tennessee School for the Blind from 1949 to 1953. He worked for the California Training Center for the Blind in Oakland from 1953 to 1958, and was director of the Iowa Commission for the Blind from 1958 to 1978. He was a key figure in the National Federation of the Blind for more than thirty-five years and National President of the organization from 1968 to 1986.

From 1978 until his death Jernigan was Executive Director of the American Action Fund for Blind Children and Director of the National Center for the Blind.

LARRY P. JOHNSON Born August 28, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois Born blind, Johnson attended public schools in Chicago. At age eighteen he made a trip to Mexico on his own for the challenge and the adventure. While attending Northwestern University he

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hosted a radio show interviewing foreign students. He graduated from Northwestern in 1955, and in 1957 moved to Mexico, where he earned a master’s degree from the Universidad de Las Americas.

Johnson worked for seventeen years as a disc jockey on Mexico City radio stations. Moving back to the States, he settled in San Antonio, Texas, and became a motivational speaker and corporate trainer.

Johnson wrote an autobiographical book, Mexico by Touch (2003), subtitled True Life Experiences of a Blind American Dee Jay.

WILLIE JOHNSON Born in 1897 near Brenham, Texas Died in 1945 in Beaumont, Texas A gospel singer and guitar player, Willie Johnson recorded thirty songs between 1927 and 1930. As soon as his first recordings were played, he began having an influence on gospel music. Over the years he had a huge influence on guitar players and gospel and blues music. As he was interested in music at an early age, Johnson’s father made five-year-old Willie a guitar out of a cigar box. Around the same age, when he was five or six, his mother died and he decided he wanted to become a preacher.

How Johnson became blind is not certain. Two stories give possible causes. In the first, when Willie was about seven years old his father found out his second wife had consorted with another man. When he gave her a beating for it, she retaliated. Attempting to throw lye in her husband’s face, she hit Willie instead. In the other story he became blind from viewing an eclipse of the sun through a smokecolored piece of glass. Whatever the cause, he became totally blind about age seven.

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Apparently self-taught on the guitar, Johnson played on the streets of Herane and Marlin, Texas, in his teens and twenties. In his late twenties he moved to Dallas, Texas, playing on the streets there.

On December 3, 1927, Johnson recorded six songs for Columbia Records in Dallas, Texas. Included in this session were “Jesus Make Up My Dying Bed,” “It’s Nobody’s Fault But Mine,” “If I Had My Way I’d Tear This Building Down,” and his moaning classic “Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground.” Johnson recorded again December 1928 in Dallas, Texas, December 1929 in New Orleans, Louisiana, and April 1930 in Atlanta, Georgia. These sessions produced such gems as “Lord, I Just Can’t Keep From Crying,” “Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning,” “Bye and Bye I’m Goin’ to See the King,” “You’ll Need Somebody On Your Bond,” and “John the Revelator.” He did not record after 1930, but continued to sing on the streets of various East Texas towns.

When Johnson’s records came out there was an immediate reaction, as no one had ever heard anything like it. He possessed a fine tenor voice, but usually sang in a powerful, raspy false bass voice. Johnson was also one of the finest slide guitar players of all time. Johnson’s recordings are astounding and must be heard to have any understanding of his talent. As musician Ry Cooder said, “It’s something you can’t really talk about.”

In the 1930s and until his death in 1945, Johnson sang on street corners and at Mount Olive Baptist Church in Beaumont, Texas.

“He loved to play on the streets,” said his second wife Angeline.

In the winter of 1945 Johnson’s house partially burned down. When he slept in the cold, damp, partially burned-out structure, Johnson became sick. He continued to sing on the streets, developed pneumonia, and died a few days later.

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RAGNHILD KAATA Born in May 14, 1873, in Vestre Slidre, Norway Died February 12, 1947, in Hamar, Norway At the age of two Kaata had scarlet fever that left her deaf-blind and without a sense of taste. She was taught to communicate by reading lips by touch and spelling in her hand. She did not know the manual alphabet. When Helen Keller learned in 1890 that Kaata had been taught to speak, Keller resolved to learn to speak also.

Kaata became accomplished in embroidery, knitting, and weaving, and earned enough money producing craft items to help support herself. Although she was seven years older than Helen Keller, Kaata became known as the Helen Keller of Norway.

YOUNG WOO KANG Born January 16, 1944, in Kyonggi, Korea Kang’s father died when he was thirteen years old. At age fourteen Kang was hit in his left eye with a soccer ball, which reduced his vision due to detached retinas. His sight deteriorated and he became totally blind. He received training at the Rehabilitation Center for the Blind of Korea and entered the Seoul National School for the Blind. He graduated from Yonsei University in Seoul in 1972. Kang earned a master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1973 and a Ph.D. in 1976.

Kang has written six books: A Light in My Heart (1987), Love, Light, Liberty (1989) with Kyoung Sook Kang, Two Candles Shining in the Darkness of the World (1990), Secrets to Success Through Education (1995), Dreams of a Father and His Sons (1998), and There Is No Mountain That We Can Not Climb (2000).

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HELEN KELLER Born June 27, 1880, near Tuscumbia, Alabama Died June 1, 1968, in Westport, Connecticut One of the most famous people of the twentieth century, Helen Keller inspired millions of people worldwide with her accomplishments as a person who was deaf-blind.

Helen Keller’s father, a newspaper editor in Tuscumbia, was a Confederate captain in the Civil War and a distant relative of Robert E. Lee. Helen’s mother was a cousin of the author Edward Everett Hale. She was a normal, healthy child until the age of nineteen months, when a severe fever left her deaf-blind. In 1886 Keller’s parents asked Michael Anagnos at Perkins School for the Blind to recommend a governess for their deaf-blind daughter. Anagnos convinced Anne Sullivan, a partially-sighted graduate of Perkins, to accept the position. After studying Samuel Gridley Howe’s notes on teaching Laura Bridgman, Sullivan traveled to Tuscumbia in March, 1887, to work with Keller. After much effort she taught Helen to read using raised print. In 1888 Sullivan and Keller went to Perkins, where Helen Keller stayed until 1894. From 1894 to 1900 Keller studied at the Wright-Humanson School in New York, New York.

In 1900 Keller entered Radcliffe College, where she earned a bachelor’s degree cum laude in 1904. Sullivan continued to work with Keller and remained her constant companion until Sullivan’s death in 1936. While attending Radcliffe Keller wrote an autobiography, The Story of My Life (1902). She wrote several other books, including The World I Live In (1908), Out of the Dark (1913), My Religion (1927), Midstream—My Later Life (1929), and Teacher: Anne Sullivan Macy (1955). Keller made a movie about her life named

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Deliverance (1918), and she and Anne Sullivan did a vaudeville act about Helen’s life. Keller became a counselor on national and international relations for the American Foundation for the Blind in 1924, a position she held until her death. In 1946 she became a counselor on international relations for the American Foundation for Overseas Blind. Between 1946 and 1957 she visited thirty-five countries, bringing inspiration to millions of people. A feature length documentary film titled Helen Keller in Her Story (1955) won an Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Miracle Worker, a Broadway play written by William Gibson about Helen’s life, was extremely popular in the late 1950s. In 1962 The Miracle Worker was made into a movie starring Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke.

H. G. Wells, the British novelist, called Keller “the most wonderful thing in America.” Mark Twain said, “Helen Keller is fellow to Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon, Homer, Shakespeare and the rest of the immortals. She will be as famous a thousand years from now as she is today.”

HRANT KENKULIAN Born in 1901 near Istanbul, Turkey Died August 29, 1978, in Istanbul, Turkey Kenkulian, a singer and master of the oud, a twelve-string fretless lute, was considered the father of modern oud playing.

Born blind, Kenkulian began playing the oud at age ten. At age seventeen his family moved to Istanbul, where he studied with several well-known teachers. He played on Ankara Public Radio in the 1930s and 1940s. He also sold musical instruments, and often played in cafes, singing in Turkish and Armenian. Some of Kenkulian’s songs were “There Is a Stone on My Heart,” “Sweet Lover,” “Our Little Home,” and “I Am Sick, but I Am Living.” In

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1950 he performed in the United States, playing in Boston, New York, Detroit, and Los Angeles. It was said of Kenkulian, “The blind master sees with his heart and sings with his heart.”

DEBORAH ANN KENT Born October 11, 1948, in Little Falls, New Jersey Kent was born blind from Leber’s congenital amaurosis and attended public schools in New Jersey. She graduated from Oberlin College in 1969 and earned a master’s degree from Smith College in 1971.

Kent was a social worker in New York City from 1971 to 1975, and worked and studied in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, for five years. After Kent wrote a novel, Belonging (1978), about a girl who was blind and going to school with sighted children, she became a writer of stories for young people, eventually writing more than one hundred books. Some of her books are Cindy (1982), That Special Summer (1982), Love to the Rescue (1985), Taking the Lead (1987), and One Step at a Time (1989).

Kent wrote many books for the America the Beautiful series about the states and the Cornerstone of Freedom series about American history.

Kent also has been a frequent contributor of articles for Disabled USA and the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness.

RICHARD KINNEY Born June 21, 1923, in East Sparta, Ohio Died February 19, 1979, in Evanston, Illinois A man who was deaf-blind and became an educator, lecturer, author, and poet, Kinney was Executive Director of the Hadley School for the Blind from 1975 to 1979. Kinney became blind at age seven from an illness. He was attending Mount Union College when he became totally deaf at age twenty. With the aid of a fellow student

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who translated lectures using the manual alphabet, Kinney graduated from Mount Union College in 1952 as class valedictorian.

In 1954 Kinney began working as an instructor at the Hadley School for the Blind. He became Assistant Director and Executive Director at Hadley, working there until his death in 1979. He wrote numerous articles and a textbook, Independent Living Without Sight and Hearing (1972). He also wrote books of poetry, including Harp of Silence (1967).

Kinney once said, “When someone says to me that a man or woman is physically handicapped, I say ‘Handicapped in doing what?’ After all, not even the perfect in physique can do everything well. A blind man may never excel as a truck driver or a deaf man as a piano tuner or a paralyzed man as an Olympic track star, but virtually no physical handicap can prevent us from learning to do something well— and perhaps exceedingly well.”

MARIANNE KIRCHGASSNER Born June 5, 1769, in Bruchsal, Germany Died December 9, 1808, in Schaffhausen, Germany Kirchgassner became blind at the age of four. She learned to play the glass harmonica, which was in vogue at the time, making numerous European concert tours between 1791 and 1808. Mozart heard her at a Vienna concert in 1791 and was inspired to write “Adagio and Rondo” and “Fantasie” for glass harmonica, flute, oboe, viola, and cello. He also wrote “Adagio” for glass harmonica. Some believe (probably erroneously) that Kirchgassner’s early death at age thirtynine was caused by nerve damage caused by the unusual piercing vibrations of the glass harmonica.

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RAHSAAN ROLAND KIRK Born August 7, 1935, in Columbus, Ohio Died December 5, 1977, in Bloomington, Indiana Kirk was in love with sound. He was totally absorbed with music, thinking about it all the time while he was awake and dreaming about music when he was sleeping. Difficult to classify as a musician, Kirk played primarily jazz but was interested in all kinds of music. Ronald Theodore Kirk had poor vision at birth and lost the rest of his vision at age two when a nurse put too much medicine in his eyes. At age seven he cut off a piece of a garden hose and played it incessantly, and at age nine he learned to play the trumpet.

Kirk attended the Ohio State School for the Blind from age five to age sixteen. He began playing the saxophone at age thirteen, and while still in school began playing in rhythm and blues bands. Kirk made his first album in 1956, but it went unnoticed. Then in 1960 he recorded again, and his career took off. During the 1960s Kirk toured in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, using the name Roland Kirk.

The opening paragraph of John Kruth’s biography of Kirk says, “It’s easy to see how most people get the wrong idea when it comes to Roland Kirk. He just doesn’t fit very neatly into anyone’s concept of reality. It’s not every day someone like him comes careening down the pike, glowing with the pure spark of originality.”

In 1963 Kirk said, “I constantly think about music. When I go to sleep, I actually dream about music and hear things, which I try to play during my waking hours. One night about five years ago, I dreamed I was playing three instruments at once. The sounds and feeling created combined with what I had been seeking on one instrument.” Another dream inspired him to begin using the name Rahsaan Roland Kirk about 1970.

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Accused of gimmickry for playing multiple instruments at the same time, Kirk said, “I do everything for a reason; nothing is a gimmick.

I can outplay anybody on one horn anytime.” Kirk recorded twentynine albums and toured widely.

Kirk suffered a paralyzing stroke at age thirty-nine, but continued to perform with one hand. At age forty-one, shortly after finishing a concert in Bloomington, Indiana, he had another stroke and died on December 5, 1977.

GEORGINA KLEEGE Born in 1956 in New York, New York Kleege worked as a translator, novelist, teacher, and essayist. She became legally blind at age eleven from macular degeneration. Kleege graduated from Yale University and taught English at Oklahoma State University and Ohio State University before beginning a full time writing career in 1997. Kleege wrote Home for the Summer (1989), a novel about violence within a family, and Sight Unseen (1999), a nonfiction book consisting of eight essays about the experiences of a person who was legally blind in a sighted world.

In 2006 Kleege wrote Blind Rage: Letters to Helen Keller. In the beginning note to readers Kleege said, “I wrote this book to exorcize a personal demon named Helen Keller. While most people revere Keller as a symbol of human fortitude in the face of adversity, to me she always represented an example I could not hope to emulate.”

ERIC KLOSS Born April 3, 1949, in Greenville, Pennsylvania Kloss was blind from birth from retinopathy of prematurity. He attended Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children, where he

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learned to play the saxophone. He began playing jazz professionally at age sixteen, and graduated from Duquesne University in 1972.

From 1965 to 1990 Kloss toured the United States and Europe, recording more than twenty albums of pop, rock, funk, and jazz music. He has also composed music sound tracks for films.

ESMOND KNIGHT Born May 4, 1906, in East Sheen, Surrey, England Died February 23, 1987, in London, England Educated at Westminster School, Knight was an accomplished actor with fifteen years of experience when he joined the British Navy in 1940. He was serving on the battleship Prince of Wales when it was attacked by the German battleship Bismarck. A direct hit on his gun turret injured Knight’s face, while all those around him were killed. Knight was evacuated to a hospital in Iceland where doctors removed his left eye. With no useful vision in his right eye he was left completely blind. Two years later his right eye was operated on and he regained some vision, which Knight described as “rather like looking through clouds.”

Knight soon went back to acting, learning all the details of the stage sets so he could move about freely. From 1943 until his death in 1987 Knight acted in scores of plays and movies, did work on television, and had a one-man show in 1973. Some of the films he made after losing his vision were Henry V (1944), Black Narcissus (1947), Hamlet (1948), The Red Shoes (1948), Richard III (1954), Sink the Bismarck (1960), The Spy Who Came in From the Cold (1965), Anne of a Thousand Days (1969), Robin and Marian (1976), and Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987).

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JIM KNIPFEL Born June 2, 1965, in Grand Forks, North Dakota Knipfel is a writer of books and articles that have evoked words such as twisted, insightful, bleak, brilliant, and caustic. Writing about Knipfel’s book Slackjaw, The Chicago Sun-Times said, “For a guy who has attempted suicide several times, he sure is funny.”

Raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Knipfel began losing his eyesight from retinitis pigmentosa in his teens, and by his thirties was nearly totally blind. He studied at the University of Wisconsin, and from 1987 to 1994 wrote a newspaper column in the Philadelphia Weekly.

From 1994 to 2006 he wrote for the New York Press, a Manhattan weekly. Knipfel wrote three memoirs: Slackjaw (1999), Quitting the Nairobi Trio (2000), and Ruining It for Everybody (2000). His first novel, The Buzzing (2002), is about Roscoe Baragon, a wacky journalist who writes about kooky people investigating an imaginary case. His second novel, Noogie’s Time to Shine (2007), is about a thirty-five-year-old automatic teller machine repairman on the run from the law.

After his book Slackjaw came out to good reviews, Knipfel said, “For eleven years the column has been reviled, I’ve received death threats on a regular basis. Now that book comes out and everyone is being so very, very nice. It’s unnerving.”

HAROLD KRENTS Born November 5, 1944, in New York, New York Died January 12, 1987, in New York, New York Krents was the inspiration for Butterflies Are Free, a 1968 Broadway play written by Leonard Gershe about a young blind man’s struggle for independence in New York City. The play was made into

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a movie of the same name in 1972 starring Goldie Hawn, Edward Albert, and Eileen Heckart.

Krents had limited vision until age eight, when he became totally blind. He graduated from Harvard University cum laude in 1967 and from Harvard Law School in 1970. Krents wrote To Race the Wind (1972), an autobiographical book about his life up until he became a member of the New York Bar Association. His book was made into a television movie of the same name in 1980.

In 1974 and 1975 Krents spent a year at Oxford University in England, receiving another law degree. He worked for a Washington, D. C., law firm, and in 1975 founded Mainstream Inc., a nonprofit organization to promote the legal rights of the disabled. Krents died in 1987 from a brain tumor at the age of forty-two.

ROY KUMPE Born January 18, 1910, in Ironton, Arkansas Died September 13, 1987, in Little Rock, Arkansas Kumpe was known internationally as a proponent of training and employment for the blind. He lost much of his vision at age eight from trachoma, and attended the Arkansas School for the Blind. He graduated as valedictorian of his class in 1929. From 1930 to 1936 he sold Bibles, magazines, and life insurance, and from 1936 to 1938 attended law school. Kumpe became a member of the Arkansas Bar in 1938 and was an unsuccessful candidate for the Arkansas Legislature the same year.

In 1939 Kumpe became supervisor of the Arkansas Rehabilitation Program for the Blind that opened vending stands for the blind. In 1947 he started Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind, a private residential rehabilitation center that eventually provided services to persons

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from all fifty states and more than fifty foreign countries. Kumpe ran the agency until his retirement in 1978. Besides his work at Arkansas Enterprises, Kumpe served on the Little Rock City Council from 1943 to 1948, ran unsuccessfully for an Arkansas Senate seat in 1950, and ran a private business, Arkansas Canteen Services, from 1948 to 1967.

Kumpe wrote a book with Jim Lester titled The Lion’s Share (1983).

Subtitled A History of the Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind, the book is an informative and readable account of Kumpe’s life.

STEPHEN KUUSISTO Born in 1955 in Exeter, New Hampshire An American writer and poet, Kuusisto is best known for his memoir, Planet of the Blind (1998).

Born premature, Kuusisto had very limited vision in his left eye as a result of retinopathy of prematurity. He attended public schools, graduated from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, and was a Fulbright Scholar. Kuusisto was an elementary school teacher for several years and wrote articles for magazines. At age forty he lost the little sight he had in his left eye when a bookmark sliced his eye. Kuusisto trained with a guide dog and became Director of Student Services at Guiding Eyes for the Blind (a guide dog school). He taught at Hobart College and William Smith College, and since 2000 has been a professor of creative writing at Ohio State University.

Kuusisto wrote his acclaimed memoir Planet of the Blind in 1998 and Only Bread, Only Light, a collection of poems, in 2000.

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FRANCESCO LANDINI Born c. 1325 near Florence, Italy Died September 2, 1397, in Florence, Italy Known as Francesco the Blind or Francesco of the Organ, Landini was a well-known fourteenth-century Italian musician and composer.

Landini became blind in childhood from smallpox. The son of a Florentine painter, he received a thorough education in astronomy, geometry, grammar, and rhetoric. His primary interest became music, with the organ as his chosen instrument. He was organist of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence from 1362 to 1397 and composed over 150 songs, many of which were still performed more than six hundred years after they were written. Landini also wrote poetry and in 1364 won a poetry contest.

Landini’s epitaph reads, “Francesco/ deprived of sight/ but with a mind skilled in instrumental music/ whom alone music has set above all others/ has left his ashes here/ his soul above the stars.”

JEAN LANGLAIS Born February 15, 1907, in La Fontenelle, France Died May 8, 1991, in Paris, France A renowned organist and prolific composer, Langlais was one of the great twentieth-century French musicians.

Jean-Francois Hyacinthe Langlais was blind from age two, possibly from congenital glaucoma. He trained at the National Institute for the Young Blind in Paris, and was a student of Andre Marchal.

Langlais said, “I became interested in music because I was blind.

Otherwise I would have been a stonecutter like my father.”

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He studied at the Paris Conservatory from 1927 to 1930, and taught music at the National Institute for Young Blind from 1930 to 1968.

He taught organ and composition at Schola Consortium in Paris from 1961 to 1976.

Langlais was principal organist at the Basilica of Sainte Clotilde in Paris from 1945 to 1984. He toured as a concert organist in Europe and the United States until 1988. Most of his more than 250 compositions are organ and sacred choral music. He also composed instrumental and chamber music and secular songs.

Langlais was energetic and creative but also contradictory. He was a staunch Catholic but had extramarital affairs, living for a few years with both his first wife and his mistress. Langlais fathered a child at age seventy-three.

HENRY RANDOLPH LATIMER Born in 1871 in Prince George County, Maryland Died July 15, 1944, on the eastern shore of Maryland Latimer had weak sight as a child and slowly lost his vision, becoming totally blind when he was an adult. He was a teacher at the Maryland School for the Blind for thirty years. In 1921 and 1922 he was Acting Director of the American Foundation for the Blind, and from 1921 to 1941 he was the Executive Secretary of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind.

Latimer wrote three books: Virginia Dare and Other Poems (1909), The Conquest of Blindness, subtitled An Autobiographical Review of the Life and Work of Henry Randolph Latimer (1937), and The Conquest of Blindness in Pennsylvania.

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GERALDINE LAWHORN Born December 31, 1916, in Dayton, Ohio Lawhorn lost her sight by age ten and her hearing by age nineteen, perhaps from a severe case of measles when she was five years old.

After losing her hearing, she worked hard at keeping her ability to speak clearly. Interested in drama and music, she received musical training and became an entertainer. She had a one-woman show in New York City in 1955. After her show business career, Lawhorn moved back to Illinois and worked at the Hadley School for the Blind. At age sixty-seven she earned a college degree from Northeastern Illinois University. She continued her work at Hadley School and wrote an autobiography, On Different Roads (1991).

JOE LAZARO Born January 8, 1918, in Waltham, Massachusetts Lazaro was in the United States 109th Combat Engineers in World War II. In 1944 at age twenty-six he was blinded in a land mine explosion while working on an Army mine detection team near Florence, Italy. He did rehabilitation training at Valley Forge Army Rehabilitation Center in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and at Old Farms Convalescent Hospital in Avon, Connecticut. During his training he learned to play golf and went on to win seven Blind Golf National Championships between 1962 and 1974. Lazaro worked for the Raytheon Corporation for thirty-nine years.

Lazaro was president of the United States Blind Golfers Association from 1954 to 1955 and wrote a golf instruction book, The Right Touch (1978).

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BRYAN LEE Born March 16, 1943, in Two Rivers, Wisconsin Lee became totally blind at age eight. He learned to play the guitar and by age thirteen was playing in local bands. From 1962 until 1983 he toured Washington State and the midwest United States.

In 1983 Lee formed the blues group Jump Street Five, and began performing at the Old Absinthe House in New Orleans, Louisiana, playing there until 1996. Starting in 1991, Lee recorded over ten albums, with about one half of the material his original songs. Some of the songs he recorded were, “Memphis Bound,” “Heat Seeking Missile,” “Crawfish Lady,” “Braille Blues Daddy,” “Key to the Highway,” “Flip, Flop & Fly,” and “Waiting on Ice.”

IRY LEJEUNE Born October 28, 1928, near Church Point, Louisiana Died October 8, 1955, near Eunice, Louisiana LeJeune had severe eye problems as a child and very limited vision throughout his life. He learned to play the accordion as a child and began recording Cajun music at age nineteen. Extremely popular in Louisiana and southeast Texas, between 1947 and 1954 LeJeune recorded twenty-six songs for Gold Band Records. Some of his bestknown songs are “The Church Point Breakdown,” “The Love Bridge Waltz,” and “The Waltz of the Mulberry Limb.”

LeJeune was killed at age twenty-six when the car he was riding in had a flat tire. As he stood by the side of the road, he was struck by another car.

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WILLIAM HANKS LEVY Born c. 1800 in England Died in 1874 in England Blind from an early age, Levy worked with Elizabeth Gilbert establishing a work program in 1854 for men who were blind in London, England. Levy wrote a book, Blindness and the Blind (1872), subtitled A Treatise on the Science of Typhlology. He also used an early version of the long cane touch technique, moving his cane from side to side in front of himself. Referring to the blind in his book, Levy said, “Their physical enjoyments are comparatively few and they should therefore beware of the temptations to indulgence. . . .

Guard carefully against the allurements of the palate.�

GASTON LITAIZE Born August 11, 1909, in Menil-Sur-Belvitte, France Died August 5, 1991, in Says, France Blind from birth, Litaize studied at the National Institute for the Blind in Paris from age seventeen to age twenty-two, and then studied music at the Paris Conservatory. Beginning in 1946 he was organist at St. Francois-Xavier Church in Paris and taught music at the National Institute for the Blind. He also toured France, England, and the United States, playing the organ. He composed many works for organ and a number of sacred choral works. Litaize was an important influence on twentieth-century music in France.

Among his many students were Olivier Latry and Eric Lebrun, who have become well-known musicians.

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JEAN LITTLE Born January 2, 1932, in T’ai-nan, Taiwan Flora Jean Little’s parents were Canadian medical doctors serving as missionaries. At birth she had very limited vision as a result of corneal scarring. The family moved back to Canada in 1939. Little earned a bachelor’s degree in 1955 from the University of Toronto and trained to teach handicapped children. She taught for several years and then began writing. Little wrote more than thirty books for children, including Mine For Keeps (1962) about a girl with cerebral palsy, One to Grow On (1969) on adult and child conflicts, From Anna (1972) the story of a visually impaired girl emigrating from Germany to Canada, Hey World, Here I Am (1986) about the early teen years of a girl, and The Belonging Place (1997) the story of a Scottish orphan coming to Canada.

Little wrote two autobiographical books, Little By Little: A Writer’s Education (1987) and Stars Come Out Within (1990).

FRED LOWERY Born November 2, 1909, in Palestine, Texas Died December 11, 1984, in Jacksonville, Texas Known as the Blind Whistler, Lowery performed on the radio, made recordings, and toured for more than fifty years.

When his mother died shortly after his birth, Lowery’s father deserted him and his three sisters. Lowery and his sisters were raised by their maternal grandmother. Scarlet fever at age two left him blind in his right eye and severely visually impaired in his left eye.

Lowery attended the Texas School for the Blind, where he studied piano, saxophone, violin, and voice. He developed his hobby of whistling, and he began whistling professionally on a Dallas,

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Texas, radio station in 1931. Lowery performed with big bands led

by Vincent Lopez and Horace Heidt, and worked with performers such as Dale Evans, Rudy Vallee, Glenn Miller, Harry James, Judy Garland, Mary Martin, and Bing Crosby. He performed for President Roosevelt in 1937. Lowery recorded eleven albums over the years. His best-known songs are “Indian Love Call” and “The High and the Mighty.” Lowery wrote an autobiography, as told to John R. McDowell, titled Whistling in the Dark (1983).

RICHARD LUCUS Born in 1648 in Radnorshire County, England Died June 29, 1715, in Westminster, England Lucus had poor vision as a child, becoming totally blind about age thirty-five. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Jesus College, Oxford, in 1668, and with a Master of Arts in 1672. He received Holy Orders and worked as a preacher and schoolmaster.

After becoming blind he said, “The vigour and activity of my mind, and the health and strength of my body continuing unbroken under this affliction. . . . I thought it my duty to set myself some task, which might serve at once to divert my thoughts from a melancholy application on my misfortune; and entertain my mind with such a rational employment as might render me most easy to myself, and most serviceable to the world.”

Lucus was vicar of St. Stephens Church in London from 1683 to 1696. He published several devotional treatises, with the best known “An Enquiry after Happiness” (1685) and “Practical Christianity” (1690). He also published Sermons in five volumes.

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WILLIAM LUCUS Born May 29, 1918, in Wynne, Arkansas Died December 11, 1982, in Minneapolis, Minnesota Nearly totally blind from childhood, Lucus had a long career as a musician, vocalist, and radio show host.

Lucus grew up on a farm in Arkansas. He first learned guitar then learned to play the piano at age fourteen. He played guitar on the streets of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, in 1936 and 1937, Commerce, Missouri, from 1937 to 1939, and St. Louis, Missouri, in 1940. He moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1941, playing on the streets and in clubs around Chicago. In the 1950s and early 1960s he performed with many great blues artists such as Sonny Boy Williamson and Little Walter. During this time he became known as Lazy Bill Lucus, but it is uncertain how he got the nickname.

Lucas moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1964. He played at festivals and recorded three albums, The News About the Blues (1970), Lazy Bill and His Friends (1971), and Lazy Bill Lucus (1974). In 1979 Lucus started the Lazy Bill Lucus Show, playing jazz on KFAI Radio.

After his death in 1982, the show was carried on by Minneapolis blues lovers and continued into the twenty-first century.

JACQUES LUSSEYRAN Born September 19, 1924, in Paris, France Died July 21, 1971, near Paris, France Lusseyran had poor vision as a child. When he was eight years old he fell against the teacher’s desk at school. His eyeglasses so damaged his right eye that it had to be removed, and he lost the sight in his left eye from sympathetic ophthalmia. At age fifteen he became a leader in the French Resistance. He was arrested by the German Gestapo

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and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp. Surviving the war, he graduated from the Sorbonne and became a professor in Greece and Paris, France. In 1958 he moved to the United States and taught at Hollins College, Western Reserve University, and the University of Hawaii.

Lusseyran wrote an autobiography And There Was Light (1963) that covered his life up to age twenty. He also wrote a collection of six essays that were published posthumously in the book Against the Pollution of the I (1999). Lusseyran died with his wife in an automobile accident at age forty-six.

ABDUL ALA AL MA’ARRI Born in 973 in Ma’arri, Syria Died in 1051 in Ma’arri, Syria Regarded as a classic poet in the Islamic world, Ma’arri was born into a well-to-do literate family. Losing his sight from smallpox at the age of four, he received an education from his family and tutors until age twenty. With a superb memory and interest in a great many subjects, he memorized a large number of books from several libraries. With poetry as his principal interest, he began writing verses for patrons, for which he was well paid. By his early thirties Ma’arri had established a reputation as one of Syria’s best poets.

In 1008 Ma’arri left home to study in Antioch, Tripoli, and Baghdad.

While in Baghdad he was exposed to thoughts from other parts of the world that had a profound influence on the rest of his life. He returned to Ma’arri in 1010, living the life of an ascetic. Ma’arri wrote more than fifty books of poetry on a wide range of subjects.

His best-known work was a collection of poems called Luzumyyat (The Necessity of What Is Not Necessary).

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A Muslim by birth and upbringing, Ma’arri adopted his own view of the world. This included an admiration for philosophies from India and rejecting the belief in life after death. Regarding religions as the work of man, he verbally attacked Islamic leaders and wrote of them, “To his own sordid end the pulpit he ascends.” Of his blindness Ma’arri wrote, “Someday when dust is in this eye/ the years of blindness will not signify/ the graveyard cannot bring me gloom/ nor yet can one eye’s blindness nor this other’s rheum.” He also wrote, “Be like one seated near a garden, who, even though he cannot see the beautiful view, still can inhale the fragrant odor. Joy is abiding, albeit the vision is transient; love controls the breast, albeit the dwelling is in ruins.”

MELVIN J. MAAS Born May 14, 1898, in Duluth, Minnesota Died April 13, 1964, in Bethesda, Maryland A Marine who saw active service in World War I, World War II, and the Korean War, Maas was Chairman of the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped.

When Maas was a young child, he moved with his family from Duluth to Minneapolis, Minnesota. He joined the Marines in 1917 and served in World War I. After the war he graduated from the College of St. Thomas. He established and ran an insurance agency in Minneapolis, and served in the United States Congress from 1927 to 1932 and from 1935 to 1945.

Maas was Commandant of an Air Force Base on Okinawa in May, 1945, when an enemy bomb caused head wounds that affected his optic nerves. His sight deteriorated and six years later, at age fiftythree, he became totally blind. During the Korean War he was

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returned to active duty and was a member of the Reserve Force Policy Board. Another general said to Maas, “You’re probably the only blind general to serve on active duty.” Maas replied, “Oh no, General, only the first to admit it.”

Maas began serving on the President’s Committee on the Employment of the Handicapped in 1949, and representing the Committee he traveled and made speeches in every state of the Union. Maas frequently used humor in his speeches. He once said, “When I speak of the physically handicapped filling skilled jobs, I know what I’m talking about. I’m handicapped, too—I have false teeth.” In 1954 Maas became Chairman of the Committee, a post he held until his death in 1964.

DOUGLAS C. MACFARLAND Born December 25, 1918, in Jersey City, New Jersey Died May 3, 1977, in Springfield, Virginia MacFarland became blind at age eight and was educated in the New Jersey public schools. He earned a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and a Ph.D. all from New York University. After working as a placement counselor in New Jersey and vocational counselor in Delaware, he was Assistant Director at the Virginia Commission for the Blind for six years and Director for four years. From 1964 until his death in 1977, MacFarland was Chief of Services for the Blind in the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, where he enhanced and protected services for the blind in the United States. He also traveled as a Health, Education, and Welfare consultant to rehabilitation projects in countries in Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe.

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CRAIG MACFARLANE Born June 16, 1963, in Desbarats, Canada MacFarlane became blind at age two when a four-year-old playmate accidentally hit him in the left eye with a striker (a device for lighting arc welders). Within a few months he was totally blind from sympathetic ophthalmia. He entered the Ontario School for the Blind at age six, and at age seven began wrestling. He wrestled in tournaments in the lightest weight class, winning his first match in twentyfour seconds. He went on to have a stellar grade school and high school wrestling career. At age thirteen he was chosen to compete in Canada’s first National Games for the Physically Disabled, and won or placed well in the 60, 100, and 200 meter dashes.

At age fifteen MacFarlane returned to his hometown of Desbarats and attended public school. He went back to the Ontario School for the Blind for his junior and senior years. He continued to expand the number of sports he participated in, and over the years won more than one hundred gold medals in wrestling, track, snow-skiing, water skiing, and other sports. After his athletic career MacFarland worked for Edward Jones Investments as a motivational speaker in Canada and the United States. He wrote an autobiography with Gib Twyman called Inner Vision and subtitled The Story of the World’s Greatest Blind Athlete (1997).

CLUTHA MACKENZIE Born February 11, 1895, in Belclutha, New Zealand Died March 30, 1966, in Auckland, New Zealand Mackenzie was the youngest child of Thomas Mackenzie, a New Zealand Member of Parliament and his country’s high commissioner in London for eight years. Clutha was educated at Otago Boys’ High

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School and Waitaki Boys’ High School. At the start of World War I he enlisted in the Army. Part of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment, he was sent to Egypt and then Gallipoli. In August of 1915 when he was twenty years old, he was blinded by an explosion when a shell from a British ship landed too short. He was sent to St. Dunstan’s in England and received rehabilitation training. In 1916 he edited a magazine for the troops titled Chronicles of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force.

In 1919 Mackenzie returned to New Zealand, did sheep farming, and made an unsuccessful campaign to be elected to Parliament from Auckland. He wrote a book about his experiences as a soldier, The Tales of a Trooper (1921). In 1921 Mackenzie won a seat in Parliament and served for two years.

In 1923 Mackenzie was appointed Director of the Jubilee Institute for the Blind in Auckland, New Zealand, serving as its director until 1938. Although he was an excellent fundraiser, his tenure at the Institute was not without controversy. Students were fined as a disciplinary measure, and many people thought he had a dictatorial style.

In 1932 a former secretary of the Board of Trustees of the Jubilee Institute wrote a critical book as a means to oust the management, but the campaign failed. In 1938 Mackenzie was brought to court, accused of ten counts of assault on boys at the Institute between 1933 and 1938. The charges were thrown out by a grand jury.

In 1935 Mackenzie was knighted for his services to the blind. He began to work on international issues for the blind in 1938, including the development of an international Braille system. From 1940 to 1942 he did a lecture tour of the United States to raise money for St. Dunstan’s, and from 1943 to 1948 Mackenzie campaigned for the blind in India, Burma, and Malaya. He worked for UNESCO in Paris from 1950 to 1952 on a universal Braille system, resulting in the book World Braille Usage (1953). In the 1950s MacKenzie served on numerous missions to East Africa and various Asian countries before retiring in 1958.

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ANNE SULLIVAN MACY Born April 14, 1866, near Springfield, Massachusetts Died October 20, 1936, in New York, New York One of the best-known teachers of all time, Anne Sullivan Macy had only one student in her teaching career, the internationally known Helen Keller.

Anne Sullivan was partially sighted as a result of trachoma at the age of five. At age eight her mother died, and at age ten her father deserted the family. She was placed in the county poorhouse at Tewksbury, surrounded by aged and mentally ill people living in squalid conditions. At age fourteen she went to Perkins School for the Blind, graduating as valedictorian of her class in 1886.

In March of 1887, at the request of the director of Perkins School for the Blind, she agreed to work with Helen Keller. She traveled to the Keller home in Tuscumbia, Alabama, to find a spoiled and sometimes unruly child. Through a long, patient effort, Sullivan taught Helen to associate spelling in her hand with objects around her. Once Helen grasped this concept she learned quickly. In 1888 Sullivan and Keller went to Boston, Massachusetts, where Anne continued to be in charge of Helen’s education. Helen attended Perkins School for the Blind from 1888 to 1894, the Wright-Humason School in New York, New York, from 1894 to 1900, and Radcliffe College from 1900 to 1904. In her work with Keller, Sullivan showed great imagination, versatility, determination, and dedication.

In 1905 Sullivan married the writer John Macy, and John, Anne, and Helen lived together. Anne and John began a permanent separation in 1913, but they never divorced. Anne was Helen’s constant companion in lecture tours, vaudeville shows, and work for the American Foundation for the Blind, until Anne Sullivan Macy died in 1936.

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ARTHUR N. MAGILL Born in 1910 in Cobourg, Canada Died June 11, 1986, in Toronto, Canada Magill lost the use of one eye at the age of six months when he fell on a pair of scissors, and at age seventeen lost the use of the other eye when it was hit by a paperclip fired from a rubber band.

After becoming totally blind Magill attended the Ontario School for the Blind, and then earned a master’s degree from Michigan State University in 1935.

Magill went to work for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind in 1935 as a field representative in Winson, Ontario. He continued to work for the Institute in various positions until 1962 when he became National Managing Director, a position he held until his retirement in 1975. Magill was also active in the World Blind Union.

ROBERT D. MAHONEY Born October 16, 1921, in Duluth, Minnesota Mahoney was a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 1955 to 1972.

At age four Mahoney’s family discovered he was blind in his right eye. He lost the sight of his left eye at age sixteen from a detached retina. When he was ten years old his mother died from pneumonia, and shortly thereafter he moved with his father and two sisters from Minnesota to Detroit, Michigan. Mahoney attended the Michigan School for the Blind his junior year of high school and Detroit’s Northern High School his senior year, graduating in 1940. In 1941

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he married Jennie Kubinger, a woman who was blind whom he had met while attending the Michigan School for the Blind. Over the years they had ten children.

Mahoney worked as a door-to-door salesman and was active in the Young Democrats. He became a precinct delegate in 1954, winning a seat in the State House of Representatives. Mahoney became an insurance agent, and he and his wife started a mail-order business selling seals and bonds to notaries. He was reelected eight times as Representative from the east side of Detroit. During his tenure in the legislature, he introduced hunter safety legislation, helped establish a rehabilitation center for the blind, and was Chairman of the House Policy Committee.

In 1972 Mahoney was defeated in the Democratic primary due to his refusal to take an anti-busing position. In 1975 he was appointed to the Wayne County Board of Commissioners and served two and a half years. From 1977 to 1984 Mahoney was a lobbyist for the Michigan Hospital Association. Mahoney wrote an autobiography, Living Out of Sight (1995), which related many stories about his experiences in the legislature and raising ten children.

LYNN MANNING Born in 1955 in Fresno, California Raised in Los Angeles, California, in 1978 Manning was a twentythree-year-old aspiring artist when he got into an altercation in a Hollywood bar. He was shot in one eye, destroying his optic nerves, which left him totally blind. Looking for a physical activity, Manning became interested in judo. He achieved world-class status in competitive judo and represented the United States in the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. He won the Blind Judo World Championship in 1990 and a silver medal at the 1992 Paralympics in Barcelona, Spain.

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Manning acted in commercials and television shows starting in 1992. He has written many plays, and served as a technical consultant for the movie Blind Fury (1990) starring Rutger Hauer, and the television series Blind Justice (2005).

ANDRE MARCHAL Born February 6, 1894, in Paris, France Died August 27, 1980, in St. Jean-de-Luz, France Blind from birth, Marchal studied at the National Institute for Blind Youth in Paris from 1903 to 1911. He was the organist at St. Germain-des-Pres from 1915 to 1945 and organist at St. Eustache from 1945 to 1963. Marchal began a concert career in 1923, touring in Europe, Australia, and the United States. He made his first recording of organ music in 1934. Esteemed as a teacher, Marchal taught organ, improvisation, and composition at the National Institute for Blind Youth from 1919 to 1959. Among his many students at the Institute was Jean Langlais, the renowned organist who was also blind. Marchal also recorded the complete organ works of Bach, Couperin, and Franck. He gave his last recital at age eighty-five, a year before his death.

MARGARET OF RAVENNA Born c. 1442 near Ravenna, Italy Died January 23, 1505, in Italy Nearly totally blind from an early age, Margaret was a pious young person who had many ascetic practices. As an adult she was consulted on spiritual issues, and with the help of a priest formed a religious community which did not survive after her death. Although she was never beatified or canonized by the Catholic church, her followers referred to her as “Blessed.�

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PHILIP MARSTON Born August 13, 1850, in London, England Died February 13, 1887, in England Marston was an English poet whose writing became more and more melancholy after the deaths of many close family members and friends. However, through all his losses he was personable, sociable, and often described as the life of the party.

Born into a literary family, Marston had severe vision loss at age three from a blow to an eye, and was nearly totally blind the rest of his life. He composed a book of verse at age thirteen, and in 1871 at age twenty-one published his first book of poetry, Songtide (1871).

Beginning in 1870 with the death of his mother, many of Marston’s friends and family died in a twelve-year span. His fiancée died in 1871, his closest friend Oliver Brown in 1874, his sister Cecily in 1878, his sister Eleanor in 1879, and both a poet friend Dante Rossetti and another close friend James Thomson in 1882. Marston published two more books of poetry, All in All (1873) and Wind Voices (1883). Marston’s own health began to deteriorate in 1883 and he died in 1887 at the age of thirty-six.

GEORGE MATHESON Born March 27, 1842, in Glasgow, Scotland Died August 28, 1906, in North Berwick, Scotland Known as the blind poet-preacher, Matheson had poor vision from an inflammation at eighteen months and was nearly totally blind by age eighteen. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1861 and a master’s degree in 1862 from Glasgow University. Matheson was a minister at Innelan, Scotland, from 1868 to 1886 and minister at St. Bernard’s in Edinburgh from 1886 to 1899. He memorized sermons

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and large sections of the Bible. Matheson wrote a well-known hymn titled “Oh Love That Wilt Not Let Me Go” (1882) and a book, Sacred Songs (1890).

MARC MAURER Born June 3, 1951, in Des Moines, Iowa Born premature, Maurer became blind shortly after birth due to retinopathy of prematurity. He attended the Iowa Braille and Sight Saving School until age ten and then attended a parochial school in Boone, Iowa. Maurer graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1974 and earned a law degree from the University of Indiana in 1977. From 1978 to 1981 he worked as an attorney for the Civil Aeronautics Board. In 1981 he set up a private law practice in Baltimore, Maryland, specializing in civil rights litigation and property matters. During this time he represented many people who were blind and groups in civil litigation. Since 1986 Maurer has been president of the National Federation of the Blind.

FRANCES MCCOLLIN Born October 24, 1892, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died February 25, 1960, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania McCollin became totally blind at age five, probably from congenital glaucoma. She was educated at the Pennsylvania Institute for the Blind and at Miss Wright’s School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania.

McCollin studied piano, organ, and composition, and by age fifteen was composing anthems and hymns. From 1922 to 1933 she was the conductor of a chorus at a school in Philadelphia.

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McCollin had Quaker ancestry and was an ardent pacifist, handing out pacifist cards and writing letters to servicemen. She was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for these activities.

McCollin wrote instrumental compositions for piano, organ, violin, harp, and full orchestras. She also composed sacred and secular vocal works for solo voice, duets, and chorus. In her career she wrote more than 330 compositions. McCollin gave lectures on the weekly Philadelphia Orchestra Talks program for many years. Linton Martin, music critic of the newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer, said of her lectures, “Miss McCollin has the felicitous faculty of combining a lively sense of humor with the soundest musical erudition, thoroughly humanizing her presentation of the most conservative classics. So graphic is her manner of delineating the works to be presented that her Music Talks really constitutes a performance in miniature.�

DURWARD MCDANIEL Born November 27, 1915, in Oklahoma Died September 6, 1994, in Austin, Texas McDaniel lost his sight in an oil field accident at the age of fourteen. He attended the Oklahoma School for the Blind, graduated from the University of Oklahoma, and earned a law degree also at the University of Oklahoma. After gaining his law degree, he practiced law in Oklahoma until 1968. In 1949 McDaniel helped found the Oklahoma League for the Blind and was a founding member of the American Council of the Blind in 1961. In 1968 he moved to Washington, D.C., and was National Representative for the American Council of the Blind until 1981. An expert on the Randolph-Sheppard vending program, he served as legal counsel for the program for many years. He was also a founding member of the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities.

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FRED MCKENNA Born February 17, 1934, in New Brunswick, Canada Died November 18, 1977, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada Born blind, McKenna was raised in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and educated at the Halifax School for the Blind. He began playing the guitar at age eleven, holding it in his lap Hawaiian style, and by his late teens was singing and performing in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. McKenna performed on the Canadian television show Don Messer’s Jubilee in 1958, and in 1961 became part of the cast of Sing Along Jubilee. He also could play the fiddle and mandolin.

McKenna performed throughout eastern Canada. Some of his bestknown songs were “A Dollar Ain’t a Dollar,” “I Saw the Light,” “Steel Rail Blues,” and “Bound for Glory.” From 1973 until his death in 1977 he was the music director of the George Hamilton TV Show, a television show featuring Canadian musicians that was syndicated in many parts of the world. McKenna recorded a few albums and played on several Sing Along Jubilee albums.

WILLIE MCTELL Born May 5, 1901, in McDuffie County, Georgia Died August 19, 1959, in Milledgeville, Georgia Variety seems to have been the spice of Willie McTell’s life. After becoming blind he attended schools for the blind in Georgia, New York, Michigan, and North Carolina. His music included ballads, blues, folk, gospel, pop tunes, and rags, which he recorded using the names Barrel House Sammie, Blind Sammie, Blind Willie, Blind Willie McTell, Georgia Bill, and Hot Shot Willie. He had family, friends, and girlfriends in many of the cities he toured in the South.

What remained constant was the high quality of his performances and the songs he wrote.

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Born Willie Samuel McTear, he changed his name to McTell when he began his music career. There are conflicting stories that he was blind at birth, became blind as an infant, or became blind in his teens. After attending schools for the blind he played his guitar and sang at private parties, backyard barbecues, medicine shows, hotel lobbies, stores, fraternity parties, school assemblies, proms, vaudeville theaters, railroad stations, churches, drive-in-restaurants, street corners, parks, and resort areas.

A master of the twelve-string guitar, McTell began recording in 1927, and over the next twenty-nine years recorded over 120 titles.

McTell’s recordings were never a commercial successes, but he toured widely for twenty-five years using Atlanta, Georgia, as his base. Some of his best-known songs were “Statesboro Blues,” “Broke Down Engine Blues,” “Love Changing Blues,” “Three Woman Blues,” and “Georgia Rag.” He performed until the mid-1950s.

McTell never earned a lot of money in his career, and in later life played in restaurant parking lots and on street corners in Atlanta for tips; however, he was a giant in blues music. One blues writer said of McTell, “People not given to speaking in awe of anyone at all spoke of McTell in hushed tones.” Folk artist Bob Dylan in a tribute song to McTell says, “And I know no one can sing the blues like Blind Willie McTell.”

KEN MEDEMA Born December 7, 1942, in Grand Rapids, Michigan Blind from birth, Medema learned to play the piano at age five and read Braille music at age seven. He attended public schools and later said, “I’ve known ever since I was a little kid I would create songs.

I did it when I was a little boy.” Medema became known for his improvisations and said he spent time learning a lot of different styles. He related, “When high school English teachers told us about

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alliteration and onomatopoeia, I took those things seriously. I used to practice speaking in iambic pentameter.”

Medema studied music therapy at Michigan State University and earned a master’s degree in 1969. He worked for four years as a music therapist at Essex County Hospital in New Jersey. In 1973 Medema began a career writing, performing, and recording Christian music.

For more than thirty years he has toured the United States and the world speaking and performing for corporate conventions, schools, and university youth groups. Medema recorded more than twentyfive albums and has run his own record label, Brier Patch Music, starting in 1985.

VED MEHTA Born March 21, 1934, in Lahore, India A distinguished American essayist and novelist, Mehta has been described as having an elegant writing style and a mastery of the essay form, and as being unsurpassed as a prose stylist.

Mehta was born in Lahore, India, now a part of Pakistan. Mehta became blind at age three from cerebrospinal meningitis. From age five to age nine he attended a school for the blind in Bombay, India. After writing letters to many schools around the world, he was accepted at the Arkansas State School for the Blind. At age fifteen he traveled alone to the United States to attend there. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Pomona College in 1956, another bachelor’s degree from Balliol College, Oxford, England, in 1959, and a master’s degree from Harvard University in 1961.

Mehta was a staff writer for the New Yorker Magazine from 1961 to 1994. He became a naturalized United States citizen in 1975.

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Mehta has written several books, including Fly and the Fly Bottle (1962), Encounters with the Written and Spoken Word (1971), and Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles (1977). The central theme of his books has been India and his life as an Indian expatriate. He wrote a series autobiographical books, starting with Daddyji (1972) about his father. Others in the series include Mamaji (1979) about his mother, Vedi (1982) about his early school days, The Ledge Between the Streams (1984) his childhood in India, Sound-Shadows of the New World (1986) his early days in the United States, The Stolen Light (1989) his college days in California, Up at Oxford (1993) his university studies in England, Remembering Mr. Shawn’s New Yorker (1998) his years at the New Yorker Magazine, and All for Love (2001) a book about his romances.

Mehta has said about his writing, “I am basically a classicist about writing. I care about the reader and I explain things.”

SAYED MEKKAWI Born May 8, 1926, in Cairo, Egypt Died April 21, 1997, in Cairo, Egypt A staunch Egyptian patriot, Mekkawi was one of the best Egyptian singers of his time. He became blind at the age of two. As an adult, an eye surgeon wanted to perform an operation in hopes of restoring Mekkawi’s eyesight, but he refused, saying, “I am used to blindness. It doesn’t hurt anymore, but I would hate to hope and then be disappointed.” Mekkawi sang, played the lute, and composed his first song at age twenty-five. He often performed his own compositions in a long musical career. He was best known for his popular operetta of the 1960s, The Big Night.

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GEORGE MENDOZA Born April 1, 1955, in Governors Island, New York Mendoza began losing his vision at age fifteen due to a rare form of macular degeneration, but retained a small amount of residual vision. Mendoza attended the New Mexico State School for the Blind and graduated from New Mexico State University in 1978.

In 1980 he represented the United States in the Olympics for the Physically Disabled, and in the 1984 International Games for the Disabled, running in the 800 and 1500 meter races.

From 1985 to 1993 Mendoza was the coordinator of the disabled student programs at New Mexico State University. He wrote a screenplay, Blinding Speed (1988), and became a motivational speaker. He also took up painting and has had several art exhibits.

JOHN METCALF Born August 15, 1717, in Knaresborough, England Died April 26, 1810, near Spofforth, England John Metcalf was a master road builder, an adventurer, and a most interesting character of eighteenth-century Great Britain.

Metcalf became blind at age six as a result of smallpox. Within six months he went to the end of his street by himself, and at age nine traveled everywhere in the town of Knaresborough. At age thirteen Metcalf learned to play the violin and soon played at country dances for pay, which he did for many years. With a reputation as an expert swimmer, at age fourteen Metcalf was called upon to

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dive into a nearby river to recover the bodies of two men who had drowned. He recovered one body and the other was never found.

On another occasion Metcalf helped save the lives of three friends from drowning. Metcalf was an avid traveler, and as a travel aid he used a six foot-staff he had made out of a tree limb. In his early twenties Metcalf traveled two hundred miles to London and walked back. Blind Jack was extremely active and enjoyed hunting, fishing, swimming, horseracing, wrestling, boxing, playing cards, and wagering on cockfights. He excelled at all of them except cockfights, where he lost a considerable amount of money.

In 1739 Metcalf married Dolly Benson, whom he had courted for many years. She was one of the most attractive young women in the area, and when asked why she had turned down many good offers of marriage to marry Blind Jack she said, “Because I could not be happy without him. His actions are so singular and his spirit so manly and enterprising that I could not help liking him.” Asked by friends how he had won the lady, Metcalf replied that many women “were like liquor merchants, who purchased spirits above proof, knowing that they can lower them at home.” Blind Jack and Dolly were married for thirty-nine years and had four children before she died in 1778.

In 1745 Metcalf participated in the Jacobite Rebellion, fighting against the rebelling Scots. He served as an assistant recruiter, enlisting 140 recruits within a few days. Marching with the troops to Scotland, he played music and encouraged his recruits. During a battle in which the Rebels won, Metcalf was captured. When his captors asked why a man who was blind had joined the Army, Metcalf replied, “Had I a pair of good eyes, I would never have risked the loss of them by gunpowder.” The Rebels retreated to the north, leaving Metcalf to rejoin his regiment. A few months later the Rebels were defeated, and Metcalf returned home to England.

After returning from Scotland Metcalf earned a living playing the fiddle, buying and selling horses, and secretly smuggling rum, brandy, tea, and silks to avoid paying their heavy duties and taxes.

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At age thirty-eight Metcalf convinced a surveyor friend to let him build a three-mile section of a twelve-mile road that the surveyor was contracted to build. Metcalf went about his new task in an energetic and business-like manner, organizing materials and laborers. He successfully completed his section of the highway on time and to the complete satisfaction of the surveyor. Shortly after completing the highway section, Metcalf made a bid on the construction of a bridge near Broughbridge. Despite skepticism on the part of the contracting officials, Metcalf completed this project successfully as well. Over the next thirty-seven years Metcalf won contracts to build 180 miles of highway and many bridges in northcentral England, earning a reputation as a forthright, industrious, and innovative contractor.

At age seventy-five Metcalf retired from road building and lived with his daughter and son-in-law’s family. He worked part-time buying and selling hay, and played the fiddle and told stories well into his eighties. He lived quietly many more years, dying at age ninety-three.

The last two lines on Metcalf’s gravestone in Spofforth churchyard are “Reader! Like him exert thy utmost talent given/ Reader! Like him adore the bounteous hand of heav’n.”

ROD MICHALKO Born in 1946 in Saskatchewan, Canada A sociologist who has written about blindness, Michalko had about 10 percent of normal vision as a child. In his late twenties his remaining vision began to decrease, and by his forties he was nearly totally blind. After finishing graduate school he taught sociology in Alberta, Toronto, and St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Michalko wrote The Mystery of the Eye and the Shadow of Blindness (1998) to analyze the influence that blindness had on his life and on societal attitudes toward people who are blind, and to examine

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research on blindness. He also wrote The Two-in-One (1999), an autobiographical book about his blindness and guide dog Smokie, and The Difference That Disability Makes (2002).

RAUL MIDON Born March 14, 1966, in Embudo, New Mexico Born six weeks premature, Midon became blind shortly after birth from retinopathy of prematurity. His mother died of an aneurysm when he was four years old. Midon began playing guitar while attending the School for the Blind in New Mexico, finished his education at Santa Fe Prep, and earned a college degree in music from the University of Miami. He worked as a back-up guitarist in Florida before moving to New York City in 2002.

Midon’s debut album, State of Mind (2005), included rhythm and blues, folk, Latin, and jazz influences. Midon’s identical twin brother Marco, also blind, is an engineer for the National Aeronautical and Space Agency.

WILLIAM H. MILBURN Born September 26, 1823, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died April 10, 1903, in Santa Barbara, California Known as the blind preacher or the blind chaplain, Milburn preached and lectured widely, for many years speaking in public every day. He wrote four books and was Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. Milburn lost most of his vision in an accident at five years old, when a child threw a piece of glass in his left eye. It became inflamed, with the infection spreading to his other eye. Although he spent two years in a darkened room under medical treatment for his eyes, he became totally blind in his twenties.

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In 1838 he moved with his family to Jacksonville, Illinois. From 1841 to 1843 he attended Illinois College, but left due to poor health. In 1843 Milburn began traveling as a Methodist preacher.

He rode a circuit, preaching eight to ten times a week and traveling two hundred miles a month. He considered his time on the frontier an education, saying, “The terms of tuition in Brush College and Swamp University are high, the course of study hard, the examinations frequent and severe, but the schooling is capital.”

Traveling on a steamboat from Cincinnati, Ohio, to Wheeling, West Virginia, Milburn was shocked that a number of United States Congressmen, “swore outrageously, played cards day and night and drank whisky to excess.” When Sunday came, Milburn was asked to preach to those aboard. After the service Milburn chastised the members of Congress for their behavior. Later that day Milburn was approached to allow his name to be considered for an upcoming election for Chaplain of Congress, as the Congressmen had been impressed by Milburn’s sincerity and fearlessness. He was elected Chaplain of the Congress at the age of twenty-two. He served two years, then married and moved south due to poor health. From 1850 to 1852 he was minister of a church in Mobile, Alabama, and from 1852 to 1853 he did missionary work in Mobile. He returned to Washington, D. C., and from 1853 to 1861 was again Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives.

From 1862 to 1885 Milburn lectured and preached in the United States, Canada, England, and Ireland, traveling hundreds of thousands of miles. Some of his lectures were titled “Sketches of the Early History and Settlement of the Mississippi Valley,” “An Hour’s Talk About Women,” “The Southern Man,” “What a Blind Man Saw in Paris,” and “What a Blind Man Saw in California.” From 1885 to 1893 he was Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives for a third time, and from 1893 to 1902 he was Chaplain of the United States Senate.

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Milburn wrote four books: Rifle, Axe, Saddle Bags, and Other Lectures (1857), Ten Years of Preacher Life: Chapters from an Autobiography (1858), The Pioneers, Preachers and People of the Mississippi Valley (1860), and The Lance, Cross, and Canoe; the Flatboat, Rifle and Plough in the Valley of the Mississippi (1892).

The Dictionary of American Biography (1933) wrote of Milburn, “His style as a speaker and writer was undecorated, but enlivened by humor and illustrations.�

ORAL MILLER Born April 7, 1933, in Sophie, Kentucky Miller, who lost his sight at age ten, attended the Kentucky School for the Blind and a public high school in Louisville, Kentucky.

He graduated from Princeton University, earning a law degree from the Chicago Law School. He was National President of the American Council of the Blind from 1978 to 1981 On a committee of the National Council on Disability, he helped write a report that resulted in the drafting of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Act became law in 1990. Over the years Miller was involved in several pieces of legislation concerning the disabled and often spoke before Congress.

RONNIE MILSAP Born January 16, 1943, in Robinsville, North Carolina Milsap was abandoned by his mother when he was one year old because he was born blind. He was raised by his father and paternal grandparents. At six years old he left his home in western North Carolina and lived at the North Carolina School for the Blind in Raleigh. At the school he learned classical music and how to play the violin, keyboard, woodwinds, and guitar. After graduating from the

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School for the Blind, Milsap studied pre-law at Young-Harris College in Atlanta, Georgia, but dropped out to devote all his time to music.

Milsap was a member of J. J. Cale’s band in the early 1960s and started his own band in 1965. In 1969 he moved to Memphis, Tennessee, and was a session musician, playing the keyboard on Elvis Presley’s hit song “Kentucky Rain.” In 1973 Milsap moved to Nashville, Tennessee. In 1974 he had three hit records which hit Number One on the charts: “Pure Love,” “Please Don’t Tell Me How it Ends,” and “I’d Be a Legend in My Time.” In the late 1970s and the 1980s Ronnie Milsap was at the peak of his popularity, recording songs like “It Was Almost Like a Song”(1977), “What a Difference You’ve Made in My Life”(1977), “Smoky Mountain Rain” (1980), “There’s No Getting Over Me”(1981), “I Wouldn’t Have Missed It for the World”(1981), “Any Day Now” (1982), “Stranger in My House”(1983), “Lost in the Fifties Tonight”(1985), and “Button Off My Shirt” (1988).

Milsap became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1976, won six Grammy Awards, and had forty Number One hit records. He wrote an autobiography with Tom Carter titled Almost Like a Song (1990).

JOHN MILTON Born December 9, 1608, in London, England Died November 8, 1674, in London, England A giant in English literature, Milton wrote the famous epic poems Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained and some of the best sonnets in the English language. Between the ages of seven and ten Milton entered St. Paul’s School in London, where he studied Greek, Latin, and classic works of literature. He entered Christ’s College in Cambridge at the age of

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eighteen, earning a bachelor’s degree at age twenty-one and a master’s degree at twenty-four. He spent the next six years living in his father’s house, studying Greek and Latin authors and writing poems, including “Lycidas.”

Milton began losing his vision between the ages of thirty-four and thirty-six, and by age forty-four was totally blind. The cause of his blindness is believed to have been an infection or glaucoma. Milton traveled to Europe in 1638, meeting and talking with influential people in France and Italy. When he returned to England in 1639, the country was on the verge of civil war. He became involved in politics, serving as Oliver Cromwell’s Secretary of State for Foreign Tongues from 1649 to 1660.

Returning to writing, he began work on a poem about the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The result was Paradise Lost (1667), judged by many the greatest epic poem in the English language. Milton wrote Paradise Regained (1671) about Christ overcoming Satan’s temptations. He also wrote many sonnets, including “Sonnet on His Blindness.”

Once, saying goodnight to his daughters, Milton said, “May it indeed be as good to you as to me. You know, night brings back my day; I am not blind in my dreams.”

BHARAT MISHRA Born June, 1937, in District Bhojpur, India Blind from an early age, Mishra attended Patna School for the Blind and later earned a master’s degree from Patna University and a Ph.D. from Magadh University. He wrote several books and numerous articles for journals and newspapers in India. Mishra worked as a Political Science professor at Jain College, Magadh University. His book, Eminent Blind Persons of the World (1992), contains fifty-four biographical sketches of blind men and women, including Takeo

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Iwahashi, Henry Fawcett, John Milton, Helen Keller, Louis Braille, Laura Bridgman, Tilly Aston, Fatama Shah, and Olga Shorokhodova.

Mishra also started a school for blind girls in Arrah, India.

MICHIO MIYAGI Born April 7, 1884, in Kobe, Japan Died June 25, 1956, in Kaiya, Japan Michio Wekabe began losing his sight shortly after he was born and became totally blind at age eight. Also at eight he began studying the koto (a Japanese stringed instrument like a zither) and made his first public performance at age nine. He lived in Korea from age thirteen to age twenty-three. In 1913 he took the surname Miyagi. With two associates Miyagi founded the New Japanese Music Movement in 1920. From 1930 he was a lecturer and in 1931 a professor at the Tokyo Music School until World War II, but in 1946 he resumed teaching. Beginning in 1950 he taught at the National University of Arts and Music in Tokyo.

Miyagi wrote an opera, more than a thousand songs for stringed instruments, and choral works. He wrote the world famous composition “The Spring Sea” (1927). He died in a fall from a train on the way to a concert performance at the age of sixty-two.

PETRONELLA MOENS Born November 16, 1762, in Kubaard, Holland Died January 4, 1843, in Utrecht, Holland Moens became blind at the age of four. She was an author of children’s books and books of poetry,

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including De Ware Christen (1785), Hugo de Groot (1790), and Winterloveren (1820). In the 1790s she helped edit several periodicals, and in 1798 she founded the periodical The Lady Friend Nation. She wrote a book of prose titled The Twelve Months of the Year (1810). Moens was the most active Dutch female journalist of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

RALPH MONTANUS Born December 18, 1919, in New York, New York Died August 9, 1986, in Boca Raton, Florida Montanus lost the vision in his right eye from a difficult delivery which caused damage to his optic nerve. When he was a child he developed glaucoma in his left eye and had diminishing vision until age twenty-eight, when he became totally blind. At age sixteen Montanus became a born-again Christian. He attended Zion Bible Institute in East Providence, Rhode Island, and received rehabilitation training at the New York Association for the Blind.

Montanus did evangelistic work in the New York City area, and in 1947 established the Gospel Association for the Blind, a nonprofit organization that brought the Gospel to persons who were blind, worldwide, largely through a monthly Braille magazine titled The Gospel Messenger. At the end of 1949 he began a radio ministry, broadcasting to the eastern United States and eastern Canada, later expanding throughout the United States. In the 1950s and 1960s Montanus was known as America’s Blind Evangelist.

In 1967 Montanus moved to Florida, as his wife with Parkinson’s disease needed a warmer climate. By 1978 the Gospel Association for the Blind and his radio broadcasts had moved to Delray Beach, Florida. Montanus wrote an autobiography with Harold Hostetler titled That They Might See (1985) about his life up to 1978.

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TETE MONTOLIU Born March 28, 1933, in Barcelona, Spain Died August 24, 1997, in Barcelona, Spain Montoliu was one of Spain’s most popular jazz artists and gained a world-wide reputation. Vincente Montoliu y Massana was blind from birth. He played the piano at age four, learned to read Braille music, and at age sixteen began studying music at the Barcelona Conservatory. He became interested in jazz while listening to recordings by American jazz artists. In the late 1950s and 1960s Montoliu toured in Europe, Scandinavia, and the United States.

Montoliu recorded with Lionel Hampton in 1956, Art Taylor in 1958, Roland Kirk in 1964, and Anthony Braxton in 1974. He recorded more than thirty-five solo albums from 1965 to 1993. He died at age sixty-four from lung cancer.

WILLIAM MOON Born December 18, 1818, in Horsmonden, England Died October 10, 1894, in Brighton, England At age four Moon had scarlet fever and lost the sight in his right eye and most of the vision in his left eye. By age twenty-one he was totally blind. His family moved to Brighton and then to London, England, where he was educated in a public school. After schooling he moved back to Brighton and married Mary Ann Caudle, the daughter of a prominent physician. They had a son, Robert, and a daughter, Adelaide. The children helped Moon with his projects when they were older.

Moon taught at the school for the blind in Brighton and worked on a simple embossed lettering system. In 1845 he perfected his system of embossed type, known as Moon Type, which consisted of a modi-

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fied Roman alphabet. This system was easier to read than Braille, especially for people who lacked great sensitivity in their fingertips.

The disadvantage of the system was that it took up a great deal of space. When Moon reproduced the Bible in Moon Type, it took ten years to complete and was five thousand pages long.

MICHAEL MORAN Born in 1794, in Dublin, Ireland Died April 3, 1846, in Dublin, Ireland Moran became blind from illness at the age of two. With an extraordinary memory, he was a famous street rhymer, reciting poems, ballads, and essays.

One of Moran’s recitations was “St. Mary of Egypt,” a tale of the priest Zozimus who administered the Holy Sacraments to St. Mary of Egypt. Moran told the tale so often that he became known as Zozimus. Some of his other recitations were “St. Patrick Was a Gentleman” and “The Finding of Moses.”

JOE MORELLO Born July 17, 1928, in Springfield, Massachusetts Died March 12, 2011, in Elizabeth City, New Jersey Born with partial vision, Morello had declining vision as he grew older and became totally blind at age forty-seven. He learned to play the drums and began playing professionally in 1950. He moved to New York City in 1952. Morello played with Stan Kenton and Gil Mell, and was a member of the Marion McPartland Trio from 1953 to 1956.

Morello played with the Dave Brubeck Quartet from 1956 to 1967, and became famous after the group recorded “Take Five.” From

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1967 to 1990 he was primarily a drum instructor, although he occasionally toured or recorded, playing on more than 120 albums. He also was a columnist for Modern Drummer Magazine.

BERNARD A. MORIN Born in 1931 in Shanghai, China When Morin was born his father was a French citizen who worked for a bank in Shanghai, China. Morin had glaucoma as a baby and was taken to France for medical treatment. He returned to Shanghai, but suffered detached retinas and by age six was totally blind. Morin returned to France and was educated in schools for the blind until age fifteen, when he went into the regular education system.

After studying philosophy for a few years, he switched to mathematics. He was employed as a researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in 1957. Morin earned a Ph.D. in 1972 and spent most of his career teaching at the University of Strasbourg, retiring in 1999.

Morin’s specialty in mathematics was topology, the study of special properties of shapes and surfaces. He was part of a group that first demonstrated the eversion of the sphere, and he discovered the Morin surface, a halfway model for the sphere eversion. In discussing his work Morin said, “Our spatial imagination is formed by manipulating objects. You act on objects with your hands not your eyes.”

JOHNSON MUNDY Born May 13, 1832, near New Brunswick, New Jersey Died August 16, 1897, in Geneva, New York Mundy moved with his parents when he was three years old from New Jersey to Geneva, New York. He began drawing about age

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twelve. Mundy developed retinitis pigmentosa about age fourteen and slowly lost his sight, becoming totally blind about age fifty.

Mundy worked in New York City doing marble cutting and learned to do sculpture in clay. Starting in 1863 he taught art classes in Rochester, New York. For twenty years he created busts, medallions, portrait paintings, and statuettes. About 1882 he moved to Tarrytown, New York, where he did some of his most important work, including a statue of the writer Washington Irving completed in 1891.

MARY MUNN Born June 28, 1909, in Montreal, Canada Died October 10, 1991, in Calgary, Canada Born blind, Munn attended regular school in Montreal. She began playing the piano at age three and studied music with Catherine Smith from 1920 to 1926. After further music studies including two years in London, in 1931 she began touring in Europe and North America as a concert pianist. From 1953 to 1965 she was a teacher and head of the piano department at Mount Royal College in Calgary. Munn earned a master’s degree in 1967 and a Ph.D. in music from Boston University in 1973. From 1973 to 1983 she was the Calgary Conservatory’s principal.

MICHAEL A. NARANJO Born August 28, 1944, in Santa Fe, New Mexico Sometimes known as the artist who sees with his hands, Naranjo achieved a worldwide reputation for creating exceptional sculptured pieces.

When Naranjo was a boy, his mother, the noted potter Rose Naranjo, gave Michael clay to make shapes. He aspired to become

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a sculptor. In 1967 he was drafted into the United States Army.

In 1968 he was blinded in a grenade explosion in Vietnam, and also lost partial use of his right hand. After some time in a Tokyo, Japan, hospital, Naranjo received training at the Western Blind Rehabilitation Center in Palo Alto, California. He returned to New Mexico and became a renowned sculptor, working with wax, bronze, and stone. Much of his work has dealt with American Indians and nature themes.

ALBERT A. NAST Born in 1883 in France Date of death unknown A multi-talented Frenchman, Nast studied music in Paris as a youth and considered a career as an opera singer. However, he was a practicing lawyer when his wife died in childbirth in 1913. He resolved to devote his life to helping mothers and their babies. Nast studied medicine and served as an Army surgeon in World War I. By 1921 he had opened a maternity clinic in Chelles, France. In 1931 Nast had delivered hundreds of babies, when he became totally blind at age forty-six. Aided by his second wife, a secretary, midwife, and nurse, he continued to run his successful maternity clinic, delivering babies well into his seventies. Nast delivered more than two thousand babies after becoming blind.

BENNIE NAWAHI Born July 3, 1899, in Honolulu, Hawaii Died January 29, 1985, in Long Beach, California Nawahi taught himself to play guitar, playing in Honolulu parks for tourists. He was a master of the Hawaiian steel guitar and ukulele, and performed professionally, toured, and recorded for several

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record labels. At age thirty-six he went blind from unknown causes.

After becoming blind he continued to play in nightclubs and restaurants until he was seventy-six years old. Nawahi also gained fame as a long distance swimmer. In 1946 at age forty-seven he swam from San Pedro, California, to Catalina Island, a distance of about twentyfive miles.

FRANCES LIEF NEER Born February 6, 1915, in New York, New York Died May 28, 2007, in San Francisco, California Neer had a long career as a teacher. She began losing her sight at age sixty-two and by age sixty-six was totally blind. Neer went back to school and earned a master’s degree from San Francisco State University. At age seventy-nine she published her first book, Dancing in the Dark (1994), which gave ideas on how visually impaired persons can lead full lives. She edited a second book, Perceiving the Elephant (1998), subtitled Living Creatively with Vision Loss. Neer edited another book, Breaking Barriers: Blind Rites of Passage (2000), subtitled The Extraordinary Stories of Uncommon People. A fourth book, Neer’s autobiography Too Busy to Die (2004), covered her life up to age eighty-six.

ABRAHAM NEMETH Born October 16, 1918, in New York, New York A longtime professor of mathematics, Nemeth developed the Nemeth code, a Braille code that enables a person who is blind to use mathematic and scientific notation.

Born blind, Nemeth attended public schools in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Brooklyn College in 1940 and earned a

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master’s degree from Columbia University in 1942. Nemeth earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from Wayne State University in 1964.

Nemeth was a math instructor at Brooklyn College in 1948, and from 1953 to 1955 was a math professor at Manhattanville College.

From 1955 to 1985 he was a professor at the University of Detroit.

Nemeth is the innovator and author of The Nemeth Code for Braille Mathematics and Science Notation (1965).

EDWARD J. NOLAN Born August 17, 1864, in Chicago, Illinois Died March 10, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois Described as one of the greater figures in work with the blind, Nolan was a successful attorney and longtime worker for the blind.

Nolan became blind at age two from optic atrophy, and his mother died when he was six. He began attending the Illinois School for the Blind at age ten and graduated from the Chicago College of Law. He was admitted to the Illinois Bar in 1894. Nolan opened a law practice in Chicago and wrote a book, Combinations, Trusts and Monopolies (1904).

Nolan had been a member of the Society of the Blind in Chicago since 1884. In 1895 the Society played an important role in establishing the Illinois Industrial Home for the Blind in Chicago. Nolan was part of another group that in 1896 founded the American Blind People’s Higher Education and General Improvement Association (later called the American Association of Workers for the Blind).

He also served on the Uniform Type Committee of the American Association of Workers for the Blind, and helped found the periodical, Catholic Review for the Blind.

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The first large-scale effort in the United States to integrate children who were blind into sighted public school classrooms was begun in Chicago, Illinois, in 1900, largely as a result of Nolan’s efforts.

ARTHUR O’NEILL Born in 1734 in County Tyrone, Ireland Died October 29, 1816, in County Armagh, Ireland At the age of two O’Neill was playing with a knife that pierced his right eye. He became totally blind from sympathetic ophthalmia. At age ten he learned to play the harp and at age fifteen began performing as an itinerant harpist. He traveled and played throughout Ireland and in Scotland. In 1808 the Belfast Irish Harp Society was founded, and O’Neill was its Resident Master until 1813. O’Neill wrote The Memoirs of Arthur O’Neill (c. 1810).

NIKOLAI A. OSTROVSKY Born September 29, 1904, in Viliya, Russia Died December 22, 1936, in Moscow, USSR A revered figure in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Ostrovsky wrote an inspirational novel about the building of socialism in the Soviet Union.

With only a few years of primary school education, Ostrovsky worked from age nine to age fourteen at various labor jobs. At age fourteen he joined the Communist Youth Organization and the Russian Army and fought for the Bolshevik cause. He was seriously wounded in the head and stomach when he was fifteen and at age sixteen was released from the army for medical reasons. He then worked as an electrician’s assistant and enrolled in an electrical engineering school.

At age seventeen he was ill with arthritis, rheumatism, and typhoid

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and at age eighteen was declared an invalid by a medical commission. While in hospitals and sanatoriums, Ostrovsky converted himself from a laborer into an intellectual. He later said, “I studied the most when I was ill; I had free time. I read twenty hours a day.”

He worked in various communist party posts, but at age twenty-two his arthritis became so acute he was bedridden for the rest of his life. Ostrovsky continued to work as a communist propagandist and completed a correspondence course with Sverslov University. At age twenty-four he became blind and partially paralyzed.

After becoming blind, Ostrovsky wrote articles for newspapers, spoke on the radio, and began an autobiographical novel. To write his book, Ostrovsky used a crude writing guide and then friends and family rewrote his work into notebooks. When this method proved too slow, Ostrovsky obtained a secretary to take dictation. In 1932 Part One of the novel, How Steel Was Tempered was published, and Part Two was published in 1934. The novel showed the enthusiasm of a young communist, Pavka Korchagin, and the struggles of Russian workers in establishing the Soviet system. His work soon became a classic of Soviet literature, selling over 1,500,000 copies the first year. How Steel Was Tempered was an inspirational best seller for decades and translated into more than one hundred languages.

Writing this novel was considered a heroic act by many in the Soviet Union, due to Ostrovsky’s blindness and paralysis.

Ostrovsky began working on a second novel, Born of the Storm. It was only one-third finished when he died at age thirty-two from uremia. After his death, hundreds of monuments were erected in the USSR in honor of Ostrovsky and his fictional character Pavka Korchagin. Ostrovsky’s two residences were converted into museums, and numerous streets, steamships, airplanes, and locomotives were named after him. Anna Karavaeva, a journal editor and friend,

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said, “Nikolai Ostrovsky is impossible to forget. He will never be forgotten by his friends or his readers. His image, personifying fortitude and dedication to the cause of socialism, will never be erased from our memories. He was a singularly charming . . . and nice person.”

GINNY OWENS Born April 22, 1975, in Jackson, Mississippi Virginia Leigh Owens became totally blind at age two from optic atrophy. At an early age she displayed an interest in music and began singing and playing the piano. She graduated from Nashville’s Belmont University with a bachelor’s degree in music education.

Soon after graduation she signed on as a songwriter at BMG Music and then as a singer with Rocketown Records, writing and recording Christian music. Owens has toured widely and recorded eight albums.

In 2005 Owens established a nonprofit organization, The Fingerprint Initiative, whose purpose is to “bring hope to the world, one touch at a time.”

BLAISE FRANCOIS PAGAN Born March 3, 1604, in Avignon, France Died November 18, 1665, in Paris, France Pagan joined the French Army at age twelve. He lost the sight of his left eye at the age of sixteen during the siege of Montauban, and he advanced in his military career by distinguishing himself and demonstrating courage. He was a field marshal at age thirty-eight, when an illness caused a loss of vision in his right eye, leaving him totally blind. Pagan studied the science of military fortifications and

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wrote a classic book on the subject, Traite des Fortification (1645).

Pagan also wrote on geometrical theorems and astronomical tables, and wrote a book titled A Historical and Geographical Account of the River of the Amazons.

MARIE THERESA VON PARADIS Born May 15, 1759, in Vienna, Austria Died February 1, 1824, in Vienna, Austria Marie Theresa was the only child of the Imperial Secretary and Court Conciliar to Austria’s Empress Maria Theresa. The cause of her blindness at the age of three and a half is not clear. Some accounts cite hysterical blindness and others a nervous ocular disorder. Although the best efforts to treat her failed, she received a good general education, and when she displayed musical talent she received the finest musical training.

By age sixteen von Paradis was performing as a pianist and singer in concert halls in Vienna. From August 1783 to February 1786 she made a concert tour of cities in Germany, Switzerland, France, England, Belgium, Holland, and Czechoslovakia. When visiting the major cities of Europe, von Paradis always inquired about persons who were blind and encouraged programs to help them. While in France in 1784 she met Valentin HaĂźy, who was to become a famous educator of the blind. He had already planned to open a school for children who were blind, but her encouragement and enthusiasm spurred him on so that before the end of 1784 he had opened the first known school for children who were blind in the world.

In 1784 von Paradis began composing and by 1797 had produced about thirty works, including two operas, three cantatas, and several piano sonatas. She founded her own music school for girls in Vienna

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in 1808 and taught there until her death in 1824. Hayden, Mozart and Salieri composed and dedicated concertos to Marie Theresa von Paradis, and she was admired by many other composers.

FRANCIS PARKMAN Born September 16, 1823, in Boston, Massachusetts Died November 8, 1893, in Boston, Massachusetts Parkman combined a yen for adventure in the wilderness with scholarly research and writing to become a noted American historian.

Parkman was the grandson of a wealthy merchant and the son of a minister. He attended private schools in Boston and graduated in 1844 from Harvard University and from Harvard Law School in 1846. In 1846 he developed poor health, including severe headaches, visual impairment, poor circulation, and arthritis. These ailments continued the remainder of his life.

Parkman’s first published work was an article in Knickerbocker Magazine in 1845 about New England camping trips, reflecting his interest in writing and the wilderness. In 1846 Parkman made a 1700-mile expedition from St. Louis, Missouri, to Wyoming, along the California and Oregon Trails. From his research on this journey, he wrote The California and Oregon Trail (1849). Parkman’s theme for his other historical works was the conflict of the French and English in North America. He wrote History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac (1851), Pioneers of France in the New World (1865), Discovery of the Great West (1869), The Old Regime in Canada (1874), Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV (1877), Montcalm and Wolfe (1884), and A Half-Century of Conflict (1892). Parkman also wrote an autobiographical novel, Vassal Morton (1856), and a horticulture book, The Book of Roses (1866).

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JOHN PARRY Born c. 1710 in Bryn Cynan, Wales Died October 7, 1782, in Ruabon, Wales Known as the blind harpist, Parry was the most notable harpist of his time. He played concerts in Dublin, Ireland, and in London and Oxford, England. Parry was employed as a harpist for the wealthy Welsh Wynn family from 1734 to 1782. He furthered Welsh music with three publications: Ancient British Music (1742), A Collection of Welsh, English and Scotch Airs (1761), and British Harmony, being a Collection of Ancient Welsh Airs (1781).

Parry’s patron was the Prince of Wales, and he impressed the composer Handel. He inspired the poet Thomas Gray to write the poem “The Bard.” In a letter after a John Parry performance, Gray wrote, “Mr. Parry has been here and scratched out such ravishing blind harmony, such tunes of a thousand years old, with names enough to choke you, as have set all this learned body a dancing.”

DAVID A. PATERSON Born May 20, 1954, in Brooklyn, New York David Paterson was the son of Basil Paterson, a Harlem politician who was a New York state senator and New York Secretary of State.

David Paterson as an infant had an infection that damaged his optic nerve, blinding his left eye and leaving his right eye severely visually impaired. He attended public schools in Long Island, New York, and graduated from Columbia University in 1977. He earned a law degree from Hofstra Law School in 1983.

Paterson worked in the District Attorney’s office in Queens before being elected to the New York State Senate in 1985. When he became minority leader in the New York Senate in 2002, he said, “I

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have had this desire my whole life to prove people wrong, to show them I could do things they didn’t think I could do.”

Paterson served in the New York Senate until 2006, when he was selected by Eliot Spitzer to be Spitzer’s running mate for Governor of New York. Spitzer was elected Governor and Paterson was elected Lieutenant Governor of New York in November of 2006. In early 2008 Spitzer was involved in a sex scandal and resigned as Governor of New York. On March 17, 2008, David Paterson became the fiftyfifth Governor of the state of New York.

KONRAD PAUMANN Born c. 1410 in Nuremberg, Germany Died January 24, 1473, in Munich, Germany Blind from birth, Paumann received instruction in music as a child and became one of the best musicians of the fifteenth century.

He became the town organist in Nuremberg in 1447. In 1450 he went to Munich as court organist for Duke Abrecht III of Bavaria.

Paumann traveled widely, giving concerts in Germany, Spain, Italy, and Austria. In addition to the organ, he played the harp and lute.

Known as the Father of German Organ Music, he taught many students and was a composer. Paumann wrote one of the first books on organ playing, Fundamentum Organisandi (1452).

LEON PAYNE Born June 15, 1917, in Alba, Texas Died September 11, 1969, in San Antonio, Texas One of country music’s most notable songwriters, Leon Payne was also a longtime performer, singing and playing the guitar.

Payne became blind as a child due to the wrong medication applied to an eye inflammation. He attended the Texas School for the Blind,

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graduating in 1935. He began working as a musician with bands in Texas, and played on several radio stations, the Louisiana Hayride, and the Grand Ole Opry. Some of the songs he wrote are “Lost Highway” and “They’ll Never Take Her Love From Me,” recorded

by Hank Williams; “Blue Side of Lonesome,” recorded by Jim Reeves; and “You’ve Still Got A Place In My Heart,” made famous

by Dean Martin. Payne’s best-known song, “I Love You Because,” was written about his wife and recorded by many artists.

ARTHUR PEARSON Born February 24, 1866, in Wookey, England Died December 9, 1921, in London, England Blind for only thirteen years before his premature death, Pearson had a large impact on services for the blind in Britain.

Cyril Arthur Pearson was educated at Winchester and became a journalist. He founded Pearson’s Weekly in 1890, and in 1900 founded the newspaper Daily Express. He became one of the world’s leading newspaper tycoons, controlling numerous newspapers in Britain. He was also involved in philanthropic causes, such as helping Robert Baden-Powell start the Boy Scout movement.

Pearson’s sight began to fail when he was forty-two, and by age forty-six he was totally blind. Pearson told his wife, “I could never be a blind man, I’m going to be the blind man.” In 1913 he became President of the National Institute for the Blind, which was having severe financial problems. With Pearson’s flair for publicity, he quickly turned the organization around. In 1915 he founded St. Dunstan’s for blind servicemen from World War I. Pearson was a popular and well-known figure in England, and was known as “the blind leader of the blind.” He was the author of Victory Over Blindness (1919).

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Pearson died tragically at age fifty-five when his foot slipped in the bath, he struck his head, fell unconscious face down in the water, and drowned.

PAUL PENA Born January 26, 1950, in Hyannis, Massachusetts Died October 1, 2005, in San Francisco, California Pena was born with congenital glaucoma. He attended Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts, from age five to age seventeen. He sang in the school chorus and learned to play bass, guitar, piano, and violin. While he attended Clark University, he played the guitar and sang in coffee houses. In 1969 he played at the Newport Folk Festival. Pena recorded his first album in 1971, and wrote the song “Jet Airliner,� recorded by Steve Miller. Pena died at age fifty-five from complications of diabetes and pancreatitis.

NEWELL PERRY Born December 24, 1873, in Dixon, California Died February 10, 1961, in Alameda County, California As a young child Perry moved with his family to Shasta County in northern California. He lost his sight at age eight from a severe case of poison oak that destroyed his eyeballs. According to one story, at age ten, barefoot and with twenty-one cents in his pocket, Perry hitchhiked nearly two hundred miles from his home in northern California to the California School for the Blind in Berkeley. After graduating from the School for the Blind, he graduated cum laude from the University of California in 1896.

From 1896 to 1900 Perry was a graduate assistant in mathematics and then an instructor at the University of California. In 1900 he went to Europe to study and earned a Ph.D. from the University of

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Munich in 1901. For the next two years he traveled and studied in Europe, before returning to New York in early 1904. Perry tutored students in mathematics at Columbia University, and was instrumental in the passage of legislation in New York State for reader scholarships for college students who were blind.

From 1912 to 1923 Perry was head teacher in mathematics at the California School for the Blind, and from 1923 to 1947 was director of the School’s department of advanced studies. In 1914 he helped secure legislation in California to aid students who were blind and attending college with reader services, and in 1928 he was a key player in getting legislation passed in California to provide public assistance to the blind.

Perry founded the California Council for the Blind in 1934 and was its president from 1934 to 1947. He was also a founding member of the National Federation of the Blind.

KONRAD PFEFFEL Born June 28, 1736, in Colmar, Germany Died May 1, 1809, in Colmar, Germany Gotlieb Konrad Pfeffel began having eye problems in his teens and by age twenty-two was totally blind. He studied law before switching to writing and education, becoming a poet, writer of fables, and educator. Pfeffel wrote several books of poetry, including Poetische Versuche (1761) and Fabeln (1783).

He also wrote Theatrical Diversions after French Models (1765) and Dramatic Plays for Children (1769). About 1785 he established and ran a military school in Colmar, Germany. He was also a prominent Protestant religious leader.

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Pfeffel was well known during his time and kept a log of visitors that included more than 2500 names. Among the people who visited were Marie Theresa von Paradis, Baron von Kalb and Baron von Heinbol, and members of the royal families.

JOSEPH PLATEAU Born October 14, 1801, in Brussels, Belgium Died September 15, 1883, in Ghent, Belgium Joseph Antonie Ferdinand Plateau earned a Ph.D. in physics and mathematics from the University of Liege in 1829. He was a professor of physics at the University of Gent from1835 to 1843.

At age twenty-eight while doing an experiment in optical psychology, he stared at the sun for thirty seconds and became blind for several days. Although he regained some useful vision, his sight was damaged and slowly deteriorated until he was totally blind at age forty-two. After becoming blind he continued his research privately with the help of his son and son-in-law. In 1832 he invented an optical toy that gave the illusion of movement.

LEV SEMYONOVICH PONTRYAGIN Born September 3, 1908, in Moscow, Russia Died May 3, 1988, in Moscow, Russia Pontryagin was blinded in an accidental explosion at age fourteen. He graduated from the University of Moscow in 1929 and taught there until 1934. In 1932 he discovered the general law of duality. In 1934 he became a member of the Steklov Institute and in 1945 became head of the Topology and Functional Analysis Department at the Institute.

Pontryagin wrote the book Topological Groups (1938), which became a classic. He also wrote several other books and articles on mathematics.

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ANDREW POTOK Born July 12, 1931, in Warsaw, Poland Potok and his family left Poland after the start of World War II and immigrated to the United States in 1940. He graduated from Yale University in 1953 and worked as an architect and an artist. Potok traveled and lived in Europe for several years before moving back to the United States in 1963.

In his late thirties Potok began losing his sight to retinitis pigmentosa, and at age forty-two he gave up his painting career. He earned a Ph.D. from Union Graduate School in 1976 and worked as a counselor to other persons who were blind. As he made his adjustment to blindness he realized, “The only thing that could replace the creative activity in the center of my life [painting] would be another creative activity.” Potok took up writing. He wrote about his own experiences in his first book, Ordinary Daylight: Portrait of an Artist Going Blind (1980). He wrote a novel, My Life with Goya (1986), about a Polish artist who emulates the Spanish artist Goya, escapes from Warsaw in 1940, and comes to the United States. Potok wrote another nonfiction book, A Matter of Dignity: Changing the World of the Disabled (2002).

JANE POULSON Born March 5, 1952, in Toronto, Canada Died August 28, 2001, in Toronto, Canada Martha Jane Poulson developed diabetes at age thirteen, lost the vision in one eye at age twenty-six, and became totally blind at age twenty-seven. Poulson earned a bachelor’s degree in 1974 and a master’s degree in 1976 from Queens University. She graduated from McGill University Medical School in 1980, a few months after becoming blind. She received rehabilitation training at the Montreal

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Association for the Blind. Poulson said later, “Those were the worst two months of my life. The rest of my classmates were delivering babies or doing open heart surgery, and I was learning to walk five stairs by myself.” Poulson worked as an attending physician in a Montreal hospital and in hospitals in Toronto, Canada. She became an expert in palliative care and pain management, teaching and writing on these subjects.

After developing heart disease, Poulson was diagnosed with breast cancer at age forty-four and given six months to live. She had a mastectomy, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, open-heart surgery, and a second mastectomy. Throughout all this she continued to write, living five more years.

Poulson wrote a powerful autobiography, The Doctor Will Not See You Now (2002), that was published posthumously.

WILLIAM E. POWERS Born December 18, 1907, in Valley Falls, Rhode Island Died January 7, 1989, in Providence, Rhode Island Powers quit school at age fourteen. He worked in a textile mill and a machine shop to help support the family after his father died.

Powers severely damaged an eye at age nineteen when a radio battery wire he was working with hit him in the eye. Within a few months he was totally blind from sympathetic ophthalmia.

For a while after becoming blind Powers did nothing, resisting suggestions from friends and family that he attend Perkins School for the Blind. He said he didn’t want to associate with a lot of blind people. Months later a Rhode Island Division for the Blind home teacher told Powers that a Perkins graduate had become a lawyer.

Powers had long wanted to become a lawyer, but had had to drop out of school to help support the family. At age twenty-one Powers entered Perkins determined to become a lawyer. He had a difficult

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time, as he was in his twenties and all his classmates were teenagers.

But he toughed it out and graduated from Perkins in 1932. Later he said, “I decided I would not be ‘William Powers, the blind man.’

I was determined to be William Powers, who incidentally is blind.

Except in humor I would not refer to my blindness, and I found it worked.” Powers entered Boston University Law School in 1932.

He was Associate Editor of the Law Review, and in 1935 graduated second in his class of one hundred and ten.

Powers passed the Massachusetts bar exam in 1935 and served as a probate judge for several years. He was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives in 1938 and reelected four times. He served until 1946, when he was elected Attorney General of Rhode Island. He remained in this post until 1958 and was reelected four times. From 1958 to 1973 he was an Associate Justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court.

WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT Born May 4, 1796, in Salem, Massachusetts Died January 28, 1859, in Boston, Massachusetts One of America’s best historians, Prescott chronicled the Spanish Colonial conquest of Mexico and Peru, writing in a literary style without sacrificing historical accuracy.

Prescott was the grandson of William Prescott, who led a Colonial regiment of Revolutionary War soldiers at the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Prescott became a second-year student at Harvard University at the age of fifteen. At sixteen he was blinded in his left eye when he was struck by a hard crust of bread thrown in a Harvard dining hall fracas. At age twenty he had a severe inflammation of the right eye, losing most of his sight in that eye. He graduated from Harvard in

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1814. From 1815 to 1817 he traveled in Europe, trying to regain his health.

In 1824 he studied the Spanish language and Spanish literature.

Combining an interest in history with his new interest in Spanish, he began writing a history of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain that resulted in his first book, The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic (1837). His best-known work was The History of the Conquest of Mexico (1843). He also wrote The History of the Conquest of Peru (1847) and The History of the Reign of Philip the Second (1855).

The town of Prescott, Arizona, was named for William H. Prescott in 1865.

RILEY PUCKETT Born May 7, 1894, in Alpharetta, Georgia Died June 14, 1946, in East Point, Georgia George Riley Puckett was one of the pioneers of country music.

Puckett became blind at three months old, when overly strong medicine was used when he was treated for an eye infection. He attended the Georgia School for the Blind, where he learned to play the banjo and piano. After graduating in 1912 Puckett played banjo, did vocals, and yodeled on the radio in Atlanta, Georgia.

He played with Clayton McMichen’s Hometown Band in 1922. In 1924 in New York City Puckett made recordings of “Rock All Our Babies to Sleep,” “Steamboat Bill,” and “The Little Old Log Cabin.”

He played with the legendary group The Skillet Lickers from 1926 to 1931.

Over the years Puckett was featured on more than two hundred recordings. Some of his other well-known recordings are “A Corn Licker Still in Georgia,” “My Carolina Home,” “Watermelon on

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the Vine,” and “How Come You Do Me Like You Do.” Puckett performed on radio stations in the South in the 1930s and 1940s.

In 1946 Puckett developed a boil on his neck. He left it untreated and died on June 14, 1946 from blood poisoning at age fifty-two.

JOSEPH PULITZER Born April 10, 1847, in Mako, Hungary Died October 29, 1911, in Charleston, South Carolina A famous newspaper editor and publisher, Pulitzer was blind the last twenty-two years of his life.

Born in Hungary, Pulitzer wanted an army career, but because of weak lungs and poor eyesight he was unable to join any European army. In 1864 when he was seventeen, Pulitzer immigrated to the United States. The Union Army, hard up for recruits, took him on as a soldier. After the Civil War he became a reporter for a German language newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. In his mid-twenties he was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives, where he was an anticorruption crusader. In 1878 Pulitzer bought the Saint Louis Post newspaper and in 1878 bought the Saint Louis Dispatch.

When he merged the two papers, the Saint Louis Post Dispatch became a success.

In 1883 Pulitzer purchased the New York World newspaper. Soon after Pulitzer’s sight began to deteriorate, and by 1889 he was totally blind. Pulitzer used a team of secretaries to carry out his work as editor. In 1887 he bought the Evening World. In 1890 he retired as editor of the New York World but continued to write editorials and manage the business matters of his newspapers. Pulitzer still was a crusader, promoting investigative reporting and exposing government fraud. He ran his newspapers until a few months before his death.

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Pulitzer’s will provided two million dollars for the establishment of a school of journalism at Columbia University and funds for the famous prize that bears his name.

PETER B. PUTNAM Born June 11, 1920, in Fort Ogelthorpe, Georgia Died September 23, 1998, in Princeton, New Jersey At age twenty while in college at Princeton University, Putnam attempted suicide with a rifle shot to the head. He survived the blast but was blinded. Later Putnam said about the shooting, “In a tenday sleep I cannot remember, I had a miraculous awakening to life and a sense of my own selfhood previously lacking. Near death and totally blind, I was more alive than I ever had been.” Putnam earned a bachelor’s degree in 1942, a master’s degree in 1946, and a Ph.D. in 1950 from Princeton University. He was a professor of history at Princeton from 1944 to 1955 and then worked as a freelance writer.

Putnam wrote two autobiographical books, Keep Your Head Up, Mr. Putnam! (1952) and Cast Off the Darkness (1957). He also wrote Love in the Lead (1954), a history of the Seeing Eye Guide Dog School, and Peter, the Revolutionary Tsar (1973).

ANTOINE RAFTERY Born c. 1784 in County Mayo, Ireland Died December 24, 1835, in County Galway, Ireland Raftery became blind from smallpox at the age of nine. Apparently self-taught, he wrote poems and performed mainly around the County Galway area. Raftery wrote a metered history of Ireland, love poems such as “Raftery’s Praise of Mary Hynes,” and poems about contemporary events such as political elections, hangings, and

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drownings. His poems were handed down orally until 1903, when they were written down in a collection edited by Douglas Hyde.

Asked by a stranger who he was, Raftery replied in verse: “I am Raftery the poet/ Full of hope and love/ With sightless eyes/ And undistracted calm/ Going west on my journey/ By the light of my heart/ Weak and tired/ To the end of my road/ Look at me now/ My face to the wall/ Playing music/ To empty pockets.”

EUCLID RAINS Born November 24, 1920, in DeKalb County, Alabama Died August 27, 2000, near Geraldine, Alabama At age five Thomas Euclid Rains was using a pair of scissors, when he was accidentally hit from behind and one blade of the scissors punctured his left eye. Within two years he was totally blind from sympathetic ophthalmia.

Rains graduated from the Alabama School for the Deaf and Blind in 1941 and from Jacksonville State University in 1944. He owned a broom manufacturing company and ran a 150–acre farm. He was a member of the Alabama State House of Representatives from 1978 to 1992.

Rains wrote an autobiography, I’m Not Afraid of the Dark (1978), about his life up to age twenty-four. In the forward of his book he wrote, “Blindness, ignorance and poverty all working together couldn’t keep me locked out of life for I have been motivated and driven, as far back as I can remember, by a fierce philosophy that if I want a thing, though it be barricaded behind a snowcapped mountain range, I will walk to it and take it—if I had no feet, I would crawl to it and get it—if I had no knees, I would talk my way

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through to it and possess it—and if I had no tongue, I would think my way through to that thing and make it mine.”

In the year 2000, Rains and his wife of forty years were killed in an automobile accident near their home in Geraldine, Alabama, when the car she was driving and in which he was a passenger went off a bridge in a heavy rainstorm.

GILBERT RAMIREZ Born June 24, 1921, in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico Died December 23, 2000, in Hollywood, Florida When he was nine years old, Ramirez moved with his family from Puerto Rico to New York, New York. In his teens he began to have reduced vision as a result of retinitis pigmentosa. His family moved back to Puerto Rico, and Ramirez graduated from the University of Puerto Rico. He returned to New York to work on a master’s degree at Columbia University, and soon after lost all his vision. Ramirez got a job with the Department of Welfare and began taking law classes at night, graduating from Brooklyn Law School in 1956.

In 1956 Ramirez passed the bar exam and opened a law practice.

Asked if he had any doubts about completing law school, Ramirez said, “I would have climbed the side of a building to finish school.”

In 1965 he decided to enter politics and in 1966 won a seat in the New York State Legislature. After a two-year term Ramirez decided not to run for reelection, and from 1968 to 1975 was a Family Court Judge. In 1975 he was elected to the New York State Supreme Court and served on it until 1989. He again served as a Family Court Judge until his retirement in 1999.

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ALFRED REED Born June 15, 1880, in Floyd, Virginia Died January 17, 1956, in Cool Ridge, West Virginia Reed was blind from birth and became one of the great fiddlers of his time. A singer, fiddle player, and songwriter, he was known professionally and often billed as Blind Alfred Reed. He spent most of his life around Princeton, Hinton, and Bluefield, West Virginia.

Reed recorded for Victor Records from 1927 to 1929. Some of his recordings were “How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live,” “Black and Blue Blues,” “Woman’s Been After Man Ever Since,” “Why Do You Bob Your Hair, Girls?” and “Explosion in the Fairmount Mines.” Some of his sacred songs were “I Mean to Live for Jesus” and “Walking in the Way with Jesus.” In his songs Reed made social commentaries, including criticizing preachers “who preach for gold and not for soul” and society in general, where he said people were “taxed and schooled and preached to death.” Reed retired from playing in public in the late 1930s.

ROSE RESNICK Born November 27, 1906, in New York, New York Died August 14, 2006, in San Francisco, California Resnick lost her sight at age two from congenital glaucoma. She was educated in public schools and earned a bachelor’s degree from Hunter College in 1932. She studied music at the Manhattan School of Music and the Fountainebleau Conservatory in France. Resnick toured the United States as a classical pianist for several years. In 1947 she earned a master’s degree from San Francisco State College.

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In 1947 with Nina Brandt, she started Recreation for the Blind, a camp for blind children. In 1961 Resnick founded the California League for the Handicapped and was its director until 1991. In 1981 at age seventy-five, Resnick earned a Ph.D. from the University of San Francisco.

Resnick wrote an autobiography, Sun and Shadow (1975), and another book, Dare to Dream: The Rose Resnick Story (1988) that was Sun and Shadow reprinted, plus four additional chapters.

KEN REVIS Born October 21, 1917, in Bedford, England Died March 7, 2002, in Oxford, England Revis joined the British Army at age twenty-three, and was commissioned in the Royal Engineers and assigned to bomb disposal. In 1943 while removing booby traps at the Brighton Piers, thirteen mines blew up in his face. He survived but became totally blind when his eyeballs were destroyed. Over the years Revis had more than twenty operations to repair his face and body.

After a year of training at St. Dunstan’s, he went to India to work with the Indian War Blind, and for a few months with Sir Clutha Mackenzie. After returning to England Revis was employed in the personnel department of Morris Motors. He studied law, became a solicitor, and practiced law for a short time before working as a press officer for the British Motor Company. Revis had a lifelong love of cars, and in 1959 appeared on the British television show It Happened to Me, driving a sports car on an airport runway at 100 miles per hour, with his wife beside giving him visual prompts.

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JOE REYNOLDS Born January 17, 1882, in Arkansas Died March 10, 1968, in Monroe, Louisiana A “bad man” throughout his life, Reynolds had a long criminal record before and after he became blind. Probably born Joe Sheppard, he used several names as he was often on the run from the law. A childhood friend said, “Anything bad was Joe,” and after Reynolds’s death the same friend said, “He died actin’ bad.”

Reynolds began a musical career in his late teens, singing, playing the guitar, and writing songs. In his early twenties he was sent to the Arkansas State Penitentiary for a year, probably for robbery. About age twenty-six he and an acquaintance had an argument that evolved into a shootout.

A shotgun blast hit Reynolds in the face, blinding him. He continued to perform in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, in bars and on the streets. In 1930 as Blind Joe Reynolds, he recorded four songs: “Outside Woman Blues,” “Nehi Blues,” “Cold Woman Blues,” and “Ninety Nine Blues.” His best-known song, “Outside Woman Blues,” was about a mistress, and begins, “When you lose your money/ great God don’t lose your mind/ And when you lose your woman/ please don’t fool with mine.”

In the 1930s Reynolds continued to perform and travel, and again spent time in prison, this time in Mississippi. He carried a .45-caliber pistol, and on one occasion during a street performance a dog nipped at his feet. It was disposed of with one pistol shot. In late February of 1968 Reynolds had a stroke, and died a couple weeks later on March 10 from pneumonia.

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BOB RILEY Born September 14, 1924, in Little Rock, Arkansas Died February 16, 1994, in Arkadelphia, Arkansas A charismatic politician and teacher, Riley’s two vocations were interwoven throughout most of his professional career.

Riley was a page in the 1939 Arkansas Legislature. He dropped out of high school and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

On July 24, 1944, Marine Corporal Riley was leading a rifle squad in an assault on a Japanese machine gun emplacement on the island of Guam. He received severe wounds that left him with only a little vision in his right eye and caused him to be hospitalized for a year and a half.

Back in Arkansas, Riley, a lifelong Democrat, served as a member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1946 to 1950, and attended college, graduating from the University of Arkansas in 1950. In 1950 he ran for a seat in the Arkansas Senate but was defeated. He taught economics and political science at Little Rock University from 1951 to 1955, and earned a master’s degree in 1951 and an Ed.D. in 1957, both from the University of Arkansas. In 1957 Riley began as an associate professor of history and political science at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. He became chairman of the political science department in 1958, was promoted to full professor, and chaired the social science division from 1960 to 1974.

Riley was a member of the Arkadelphia City Council from 1960 to 1966 and was Mayor of Arkadelphia from 1966 to 1967. In 1970

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he was elected Lieutenant Governor of the state of Arkansas. In 1972 he was again elected Lieutenant Governor. While serving as Lieutenant Governor he was defeated in a bid to become Governor in November 1974. In that same election, the serving Governor Dale Bumpers was elected to the United States Senate and David Pryor had been elected Governor. Bumpers’s term for the Senate started before his term as Governor ended, so he resigned on January 3, 1975. As a result Bob Riley served as Governor of Arkansas from January 3, 1975, to January 14, 1975.

A memorable character, Riley wore a black eye patch over his left eye. John D. Watson, a Little Rock attorney and a former student of Riley’s, said, “He [Riley] was one of the rare teachers a student meets once in a lifetime. He challenged you to think for yourself . . . to be part of the community, city, state, the nation and the world.”

LOUIS RIVES, JR. Born April 15, 1919, in Norfolk, Virginia Died September 4, 1986, in Sun City, Arizona Rives became blind at the age of two. He attended Perkins School for the Blind for three years, and then was educated in the Norfolk, Virginia, public schools. He earned a bachelor’s degree and a law degree from the College of William and Mary.

From 1943 to 1947 Rives worked on the legal staff in the Federal Security Agency, and from 1947 to 1967 he was on the staff of the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation. He worked in the Office of the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1967 to 1974.

From 1974 to 1975 he was Director of Research and Development for Arkansas Enterprises for the Blind and from 1975 to 1980 was Director of the Arkansas Division of Services for the Blind.

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MARCUS ROBERTS Born August 7, 1963, in Jacksonville, Florida An outstanding musician, Roberts performs a variety of musical styles including jazz, gospel, rag, swing, pop, and bebop. Also a prolific composer, Roberts has been described as one of the major talents on the jazz scene.

Marthaniel Roberts became blind at age four from inoperable cataracts. His parents bought him a piano when he was eight, and Robert’s mother, who had been blind from her teens, sang at a local church. Roberts attended the Florida State School for the Blind from age nine to age seventeen. At age twelve he heard a recording of Duke Ellington and decided to become a jazz pianist. He studied music at Florida State University for three years and then toured with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis from 1985 to 1991. Roberts later earned a bachelor’s degree from Florida State University. He began recording albums in 1988 with The Truth is Spoken Here, and since has recorded a dozen more. Roberts toured and recorded, playing the piano solo and with an orchestra, in a trio, and in band ensembles. Since 2005 Roberts has been a professor of jazz studies at Florida State University. Wynton Marsalis has said about Roberts, “When he plays, the entire history of jazz piano resonates. He is a true original, a real jazzman, not afraid to swing and play the blues with authority, intelligence, abandon and soul.”

LEONARD ROBINSON Born March 19, 1904, in Knoxville, Tennessee Died May 17, 1980, in Washington, D.C. Robinson lost the sight in his left eye at age seven from a shot from a BB gun, and became totally blind at age eleven when he lost the

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use of his right eye. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee in 1927 and graduated from Western Reserve University Law School in 1929. He practiced law from 1929 to 1938.

Robinson lobbied for the passage of the Randolph-Sheppard Act (1938) that established vending stands on federal property to employ people who were blind. From 1938 to 1971 he ran the RandolphSheppard Vending Program for the United States Department of Vocational Rehabilitation. Robinson wrote Light at the Tunnel End (1975), a history of the Randolph-Sheppard program.

ALEXANDER RODENBACH Born September 28, 1786, in Roeselare, Belgium Died August 17, 1869, in Rumbeke, Belgium A patriot, politician, and entrepreneur, Rodenbach was from a wellknown family in Belgium. He was blinded at age eleven in a shooting gallery accident. In 1820 Rodenbach bought a small brewery and went into partnership with his younger brother Pedro, establishing a successful brewing business. Rodenbach Beer continued into the twenty-first century.

In 1830 Rodenbach played an important role in an uprising against the Netherlands that resulted in Belgium’s independence.

Rodenbach was a member of the initial Belgium Parliament and served in public office for thirty-seven years, first in Parliament and then as Mayor of Roeselare, Belgium. In Parliament he promoted canals and railways for western Belgium that economically benefited Roeselare.

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LOUIS W . RODENBERG Born May 11, 1891, near Ellis Grove, Illinois Died November 15, 1966, in Jacksonville, Illinois Rodenberg became blind at the age of ten when he stumbled while walking to school and a writing pen pierced one of his eyes. He became totally blind from sympathetic ophthalmia. He enrolled in the Illinois Institution for the Education of the Blind (later named the Illinois Braille and Sight Saving School) in 1903 and graduated in 1913. From 1913 to 1963 he was Superintendent of the Braille Print Shop at the Illinois School for the Blind. Rodenberg, an expert on Braille and Braille notation, was the editor of the Musical Review for the Blind and The Illinois Braille Messenger.

JOAQUIN RODRIGO Born November 22, 1901, in Sagunto, Spain Died July 6, 1999, in Madrid, Spain Rodrigo was a renowned Spanish composer best known for his classical composition for guitar, “Concierto de Aranjuez.� He was largely responsible for popularizing the guitar as a classical concert instrument.

Rodrigo became blind at the age of three from diphtheria. He attended a school for the blind in Valencia, studying piano and violin. He studied in Paris from 1927 to 1933 and traveled in Europe, returning to Spain in 1939. After his first composition in 1923, he subsequently composed pieces for guitar, violin, cello, piano, flute, guitar and orchestra, and cello and orchestra. Some of

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his best-known compositions are “Concierto de Aranjuez for Guitar and Orchestra” (1939), “Fantasia Para un Gentil Hombre” (1954), and “Concierto Pastoral for Flute and Orchestra” (1978). Rodrigo was professor of music history at the University of Madrid for more than thirty years, beginning in 1949.

Rodrigo toured as a lecturer and pianist in Europe, Africa, and North and South America.

ARSENIO RODRIGUEZ Born August 30, 1911, in Matanzas Province, Cuba Died December 30, 1970, in Los Angeles, California Rodriguez, a giant in Cuban music, pioneered what was later called salsa music and became known as the Marvelous Blind Guy. The fourth of eighteen children, Rodriguez lost his sight at about age seven when he was kicked in the head by a mule. As a teenager he learned to play drums, bass, conga, and sexteto guitar. He began composing songs in his teens and eventually composed more than 175 songs. Also as a teen he formed a musical group, Sexteto Boston. Rodriguez formed a band in the 1940s and popularized Cuban “Son” music, a blend of Spanish and African music. Salsa music grew out of this Afro-Cuban style. He recorded in Cuba in the late 1940s and early ‘50s, moving to the United States in 1953.

He lived in New York and Los Angeles, performing and recording in the 1950s and 1960s.

Though he created a new musical style, when he died at age fifty-nine from pneumonia Rodriguez was living in obscurity and nearly destitute.

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DONA ROSA Born February 1, 1957, in Orporto, Portugal Rosa became blind at the age of four when she had meningitis. From a poor family, Rosa received little formal education. In her late teens she sold magazines and lottery tickets, and begged on the streets of Lisbon. She began singing on the streets and learned Fado music, the Portuguese blues. Recognized as a talent, Rosa first recorded in 1999. Since then she has produced more albums and made concert tours worldwide.

JENNIFER ROTHCHILD Born December 19, 1963, in Miami, Florida Rothchild is an author, motivational speaker, songwriter, and recording artist. At the age of fifteen Rothchild was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, and by her twenties had lost most of her vision.

She had planned to become a commercial artist or a cartoonist, but switched to writing and music. She continued the piano lessons she had started as a child, and was soon writing songs and performing.

After graduation from college, Rothchild recorded gospel music and performed in churches. Rothchild also began speaking to church groups, which lead to more motivational speaking appearances.

After singing and speaking for many years, Rothchild began writing and produced six books: Lessons I Learned in the Dark (2002), Walking by Faith: Lessons Learned in the Dark (2003), Touched by His Unseen Hand: Recognizing the Fingerprints of God on Your Life (2004), Fingerprints of God: Recognizing God’s Touch On Your Life

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(2005), Lessons I Learned in the Light: All You Need to Thrive in a Dark World (2006), and Self Talk, Soul Talk: What to Say When You Talk to Yourself (2007).

GEORGIUS RUMPHIUS Born in 1628 in Husau, Germany Died June 15, 1702, in Ambon, Indonesia Georg Rump lived near Frankfurt, Germany, until he was eighteen. In 1648 Rump and many others, thinking they were being recruited for service with the Republic of Venice, were instead taken by boat toward Brazil to be workers for the Dutch who were fighting the Portuguese. Their ship was captured by the Portuguese, and Rump was taken to Portugal. He spent three years there, becoming interested in tropical plants. He returned to Germany, and in 1652 enlisted as a soldier attached to the Dutch East-India Company. He was sent to what is now east Indonesia, where he spent the rest of his life.

Rump advanced as a soldier, becoming an officer and also doing engineering work. Shortly after arriving in Indonesia, he began to study the plants of the area in his spare time. In 1657 he transferred from the military to the Dutch East-India Company’s civil service, moving up to senior merchant by 1662. His language skills in Arabic, Dutch, German, Latin, Malay, and Portuguese enabled him to be successful.

Rump had become a patriotic Dutchman, and 1658 he became known by his Dutch name, Georgius Everhardus Rumphius.

In 1670 at the age of forty-two, he became blind from glaucoma. He

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was moved out of his administrative job and made a consultant to the governing body of Ambon. He was to spend the rest of his life studying plants and writing about them in great detail, with, as he said, “borrowed eyes and pen.”

In February of 1674 Ambon experienced a severe earthquake.

Rumphuis’s wife and daughter were killed, although his son Paulus survived. Rumphius wrote an article, “The True Account of the Dreadfull Earthquake” (1675).

The centerpiece of Rumphius’s writing was The Ambonese Herbal, more than seven hundred chapters and twelve volumes in manuscript form. A fire destroyed about half the illustrations in January of 1687. His son Paulus and others redid the drawings, and in 1690 Rumphius sent the first six volumes to Batavia, where it took two years to make a copy. In 1692 the manuscript was sent by ship to Holland, but the six volumes were lost when the ship was sunk by the French. Over the next two years the copies of the first six volumes and the second six volumes of the manuscript were sent to Holland, but they did not find a publisher until thirty-nine years after Rumphius’s death. The Ambonese Herbal was published in six volumes between 1741 and 1750.

MARLA RUNYAN Born January 4, 1969, in Santa Monica, California Runyan developed Stargardt’s disease at age nine and had partial vision. She was educated in California public schools and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1991 and a master’s in 1994, both from San Diego State University. Runyan became the first legally blind athlete to compete in the Olympic Games, when she ran in the 1500 meter race in the 2000 Games in Sydney, Australia. Runyan said, “I never

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really think that much about my vision, certainly not as much as the media does. . . . I never said to myself I want to be the first blind Olympian. I just said, I want to be an Olympian.�

Runyan wrote an autobiography with Sally Jenkins, No Finish Line: My Life as I See It (2001) about her life from age nine to age thirty-two.

EDWARD RUSHTON Born November 11, 1756, in Liverpool, England Died November 22, 1814, in Liverpool, England At age ten Rushton was apprenticed on a sailing ship as a seaman.

When he was eighteen he sailed on an American ship, picking up slaves in Africa. The slaves contracted malignant ophthalmia which often resulted in blindness. The crew refused to go near the slaves, and they had no food or water. After numerous requests, Rushton was allowed to take food and drink to the slaves. As a result he caught ophthalmia and became blind.

Rushton returned to England and studied literature, philosophy, and politics. He became an uncompromising opponent of the slave trade, spoke out against press gangs, and helped found the Liverpool Institute for the Blind in 1790. Rushton wrote a book of poems dealing with his disdain for the slave trade, called The West Indian Eclogues (1787).

CLINT RUSSELL Born October 8, 1895, in Duluth, Minnesota Died September 24, 1961, in Duluth, Minnesota Clinton F. Russell worked in the ice cream and dairy business, and enjoyed hunting, fishing, and golf. At age twenty-eight, a tire he was changing blew up in his face and blinded him. He continued

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his job in the dairy business, working on the telephone, and pursued his hobbies of fishing and golf. Russell improved his golf game, and by the early 1930s he was shooting in the low to mid 80s for eighteen holes.

Russell became well known as a blind golfer, providing inspiration for what was later to become the United States Blind Golfers’ Championship. Writing about their tournament, the Blind Golfers’ Association said, “In 1932, Robert Ripley’s Believe It or Not carried an article on Clint as the world’s only golfer who was blind. But six years later Ripley did a similar story, this time saying Dr. Beach Oxenham of London, England, was the world’s only golfer who was blind. Noting the discrepancy, several of Clint’s friends challenged Ripley to sponsor the world’s first blind golfers’ championship.

Ripley accepted. Then on August 20, 1938, at Ridgeview Country Club in Duluth, Mr. Russell defeated Dr. Oxenham, 5 and 4.”

During World War II Russell contacted the Veterans Administration and suggested golf as a recreational activity for blinded veterans, an idea they accepted and pursued. In 1946 Russell won the first United States Blind Golfers’ Championship, played at the Inglewood Golf Club in Inglewood, California. Beaten by Charlie Boswell in the 1947 Championship, Russell won again in 1948 in San Antonio, Texas.

ROBERT W . RUSSELL Born December 30, 1924, in Binghamton, New York Russell became blind at the age of five when a splinter from a broken mallet pierced his left eye. After a few weeks the eye was removed, but his right eye became infected. By age six he was totally blind.

At age seven he went to New York City to attend the New York Institute for the Blind, graduating from high school in 1941. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1945 and a master’s degree in 1946

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from Yale University. He also did graduate work for three years at Oxford University in England. From 1952 to 1955 Russell was an instructor of English and humanities at Shimer College in Illinois.

He was a professor of English at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, from 1955 to 1990, the last twenty-two years of which he was Chairman of the Department. Russell wrote an autobiographical book, To Catch an Angel (1962), about his life up to age thirty. He wrote a novel, An Act of Loving (1967), and another autobiographical book, The Island (1973) about his life after age thirty and his experiences at his vacation home on Heug Island on the St. Lawrence River.

In his book To Catch an Angel, Russell wrote, “We are all forced to act on insufficient knowledge. We are forced irrevocably to commit ourselves financially, emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually without being able to foresee the consequences. . . . Perhaps this is why people are especially interested in a blind person—because in his uncertain gait they unconsciously recognize a symbol of their own uncertain progress toward the unseeable.”

FRANCISCO DE SALINAS Born March 1, 1513, in Burgos, Spain Died January 13, 1590, in Salamanca, Spain Salinas became blind at age ten. He learned to play the organ and studied humanities at the University of Salamanca. In 1538 he went to Italy, where he was organist in three churches during his twenty-three years in Italy. In 1561 he returned to Spain and was professor of music at the University of Salamanca from 1567 to 1587. He wrote a treatise, “De Musica Libri Septem,” in 1577, that was notable for its examples of Spanish folk music. Salinas’s other compositions have been lost. Spanish poet Fray Luis de Leon was an admirer of Salinas and wrote a famous ode, “Oda a Salinas,” in his honor.

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PETER J. SALMON Born July 20, 1895, in Hudson, Massachusetts Died January 23, 1981, in Long Island, New York Salmon was partially sighted from childhood as a result of albinism.

He graduated from Perkins School for the Blind in 1914. From 1914 to 1916 he studied education at Perkins to teach the deaf-blind.

Salmon worked at the Industrial Home for the Blind from 1917 to 1945 as business manager and from 1945 to 1966 as its Executive Director. He helped found National Industries for the Blind in 1938 and the National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults in 1968. Salmon wrote Out of the Shadows (1970), the final report of the Anne Sullivan Macy Service for Deaf-Blind Persons, a regional demonstration and research project, 1962-1969.

GARY SARGEANT Born in 1939 in Abergele, North Wales A renowned British artist, Sargeant is considered one of the best painters of his era. From childhood his right eye didn’t function properly and at age thirty-five his remaining sight began to deteriorate. By age fifty-six he was almost totally blind.

Sargeant began to draw at age four and has said, “I was born a painter with the innate ability to draw and understand visual concepts.”

From 1968 to 1984 Sargeant was a lecturer in television and graphic design, and then was University Designer at Hull University. After losing virtually all his sight, Sargeant continued to paint, exhibiting his works in Britain and Europe.

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NICHOLAS SAUNDERSON Born in 1682 in Thurlson, England Died April 19, 1739, in Cambridge, England Saunderson became blind at the age of one from smallpox, not only losing his sight but his eyeballs as well. He was educated by his parents, a local school, and a private academy, learning Greek, Latin, and French.

A tutor in mathematics at Cambridge University, he soon came to the attention of Sir Isaac Newton. When the Lucasian mathematics professorship at Cambridge came open, Newton wanted Saunderson appointed. However there was opposition due to his lack of academic qualifications and from enemies he had made with his sharp tongue. Newton persuaded Queen Anne to confer a master’s degree on Saunderson, and he received the appointment.

Saunderson was a dynamic and popular lecturer. His classes were overflowing, as he lectured on properties of lenses, projections of the sphere, solar refraction, visual perspective, and other topics. He taught at Cambridge for more than thirty years. Saunderson became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1719.

Saunderson, brutally frank in conversations and arguments, didn’t miss many opportunities to make his opinion known. He could be profane and was an outspoken agnostic, causing much concern among his friends.

He developed scurvy and died at the age of fifty-seven. Just before dying he said, “O God of Clarke and Newton, take pity on me.” A mathematics textbook was assembled by his family from his manuscripts and published posthumously as Elements of Algebra (1740).

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GEORGES SCAPINI Born October 4, 1893, in Paris, France Died March 25, 1976, in Cannes, France J. Georges Scapini was blinded in World War I at the age of twentyone. He became a lawyer and was president of the Association of War Blind in France. He served in the Chamber of Deputies and the French Parliament from 1928 to 1940. From 1940 to 1944 Scapini was in the French Vichy government as Chief of the Diplomatic Service for Prisoners of War. In 1944 he was arrested by the Germans after refusing to serve in the French government in Sigmaringen, Germany. In 1945 Scapini was arrested by French authorities for consorting with the enemy, and held for ten months. In 1952 he was tried in France as a Nazi collaborator but was acquitted.

Scapini wrote an autobiography, A Challenge to Darkness (1929), about his life up to age thirty-four, and later wrote Mission Without Glory (1960).

THOMAS D. SCHALL Born June 4, 1878, in Reed City, Michigan Died December 22, 1935, in Washington, D.C. Once called the angriest man in public life, Schall as a United States Senator was an outspoken critic of President Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal programs.

When Schall was three years old his father died, and he moved with his mother to Campbell, Minnesota. Two years later, in dire financial straits, his mother allowed his adoption by a well-to-do family.

At age nine he ran away from his adoptive family and joined the circus, working as a roustabout for a few months. He continued to support himself selling newspapers and shining shoes. At age sixteen

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he went to high school in Minnesota and prepared for college.

He supported himself in college, graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1902 and St. Paul University with a law degree in 1904. Schall practiced law in Minneapolis. At age twenty-nine he became totally blind, when he used an electric cigar lighter that malfunctioned and destroyed his optic nerve. He continued his law practice and became interested in politics.

Schall was a Progressive Party candidate for the United States House of Representatives in 1912 but lost the election. In 1914 he ran again as a Progressive and won a seat in Congress. He was reelected four times, serving until 1924. In 1918 and for the rest of his political career he ran as a Republican. In 1918 he went to France as a member of Congress, visiting the front lines in World War I. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1924 and again in 1930.

A harsh critic of President Franklin Roosevelt, Schall called the New Deal the “double deal,” the National Recovery Act the “National Ruin Act,” and the Roosevelt administration “the Roosevelt dictatorship.” He referred to Roosevelt as the “megalomaniac President.”

On December 19, 1935, he was critically injured when he was struck by an automobile while crossing a street with an aide near Cottage City, Maryland. He died from his injuries three days later in a Washington, D.C., hospital.

Shortly before his death, Schall composed a prayer he said should be posted in voting booths everywhere. It read, “From bold experiments, from planned emergencies, from alphabetical bureaus, from debt and deficits, from confiscatory taxes, from star chamber tariffs, from doles and subsidies, from broken promises and repudiated covenants, from White House hokum and hullabaloo—Good Lord, deliver us.”

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ARNOLT SCHLICK Born c. 1455 in Heidelberg, Germany Died c. 1525 in Heidelberg, Germany A German organist and composer, it is unclear if Schlick became blind at birth, in childhood, or as a young adult. He played at the installation of Archduke Maximilian in Frankfurt in 1486. Schlick performed in many parts of Germany and toured the Netherlands in 1490 and 1491. He was in demand as an organ consultant, tester, and performer, and was a composer as well. His compositions include works for lute and organ, and songs for four voices. Schlick was well known for his book Spiegel der Orgelmacher und Organisten (1511), the first German book on building and playing organs. A court organist at Heidelberg, Schlick said he “played in front of emperors, kings, electors, princes, and other spiritual and temporal lords.� Only some of his compositions for organ have survived.

AL SCHMID Born October 20, 1920, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Died December 1, 1982, in St. Petersburg, Florida Albert A. Schmid was working in a Philadelphia steel plant when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Two days later Schmid joined the United States Marines. After training he became a sergeant and was sent to the South Pacific. He was part of the Marine assault on Guadalcanal in August 1942. Two days after the landing, the Japanese counterattacked. Manning a machine gun nest, Schmid killed more than two hundred enemies before he was

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wounded by an exploding grenade. He said to a buddy, “They got me in the eyes. Just tell me which way he’s coming from and I’ll get him.” Schmid continued to fire with directions from his fellow Marine until they were relieved by other squad members.

Schmid was sent to a naval hospital in San Diego, California, and had several operations to remove shell fragments from his face and eyes. Although he lost one eye, the other retained a tiny amount of vision. On February 18, 1943, Schmid was awarded the Navy Cross “for extraordinary heroism and outstanding courage.” Many magazine articles were written about his heroism. Roger Butterfield wrote a book, Al Schmid—Marine (1944), and Warner Brothers made a movie about Schmid based on Butterfield’s book. The popular movie, Pride of the Marines (1945) starring John Garfield and Eleanor Parker, focused on Schmid’s recovery and adjustment to blindness.

In 1943 and 1944 Schmid made numerous charity and war bond appearances. After an unsuccessful political bid, he moved in 1957 to St. Petersburg, Florida.

MATHIAS SCHOU Born in 1747 in Grevenmacher, Luxembourg Died October 18, 1824, in Luxemburg, Luxembourg A wandering minstrel known as Theis the Blind, Mathias Schou earned a good living singing and playing the fiddle. He was known for promoting the Luxembourg dialect in his popular songs and also sang in the French and German languages. In 1974 Luxembourg issued a stamp with a painting of Theis with his fiddle and bow.

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DIANE SCHUUR Born December 10, 1953, in Tacoma, Washington Considered one of the best jazz vocalists of her time, Schuur has been compared to Dinah Washington, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughn.

Schuur became blind shortly after birth from retinopathy of prematurity. She grew up in Auburn, Washington, and by age ten was singing in local clubs. She attended the Washington State School for the Blind, graduating in 1973. She began singing in jazz clubs in the northwest United States. In 1979 she sang at the Monterey Jazz Festival, impressing Stan Getz who was in the audience. He became her mentor and helped her get singing jobs. Schuur recorded her first album in 1983 and in 1987 recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra. Nicknamed Deedles and Schuur Thing, Schuur has recorded thirteen albums, toured all over the world, and performed on television.

GEORGE SCOTT Born March 18, 1929, in Notasulga, Alabama Died March 9, 2005, in Durham, North Carolina An original member of the Blind Boys of Alabama singing group, Scott sang baritone with the group for more than fifty years.

Blind from birth, Scott was educated at the Alabama Institute for the Blind. He later said about the school, “It was like a prison, but they did teach us how to read music in Braille and how to sing.� Along with Clarence Fountain and Jimmy Carter, he formed the Happy Land Jubilee Singers in 1939. After Scott graduated in 1944,

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Scott, Fountain, Carter, and two others started a group called the Five Blind Boys of Alabama. Scott sang and played guitar accompaniment, touring with the group until 2004, when poor health prevented him from being on the road.

CLARENCE SELBY Born in 1872 in England Died July 8, 1939, in Chicago, Illinois At the age of three, Selby emigrated with his family from England to the United States, settling in New York State. Selby lost his sight and hearing at age seven due to disease. Sister Dosetheus, a Catholic nun and teacher of the deaf with Le Couteuix in Buffalo, New York, worked with Selby for ten years. He learned the manual alphabet and received a limited education.

Selby wrote a book of verses, My Ideal World, and an autobiography, Flashes of Light From an Imprisoned Soul. He also wrote about his trip to the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, in the book Echoes From the Rainbow City (1902).

FATIMA SHAH Born February 11, 1914, in Bhera, India Died October 12, 2002, in Pakistan Shah was a Western-trained physician and a social worker. She became blind in her right eye in her late thirties and developed a cataract in her left eye. Botched cataract surgery at age forty-four resulted in near total blindness within two years. She founded the Pakistan Association of the Blind in 1960 and was its president from 1960 to 1984. Shah was one of the founding members of the International Federation of the Blind, which later became the World Blind Union. She also organized the Disabled People’s Federation

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of Pakistan. Shah wrote Disability; Self-Help and Social Change and Sunshine and Shadows: The Autobiography of Dr. Fatima Shah (1999).

OLIVER SHAW Born March 13, 1776, in Middleboro, Massachusetts Died December 31, 1848, in Providence, Rhode Island Shaw had two brothers and five sisters. His brother Orlando died in 1782 at age seven when he fell on a sharp object that pierced his abdomen. His brother Cyrus died in 1794 at age seventeen from yellow fever.

As a boy Shaw accidentally stuck a knife in his eye, losing the sight in his right eye. When he was twenty-one and not yet fully recovered from yellow fever, he took sun observations while on a sea voyage with his navigator father and became totally blind. After becoming blind Shaw said, “If ever I prayed to God in my life, I prayed that He would take me by death from these threefold sorrows. Orlando is dead, and Cyrus is dead. Why have I lived so long? Must I be a burden to my father—the heaviness of my mother—and to my sisters a constant grief?”

Shaw went to Newport, Rhode Island, for two years, taking organ and piano lessons from John Berkenhead. He then went to Boston, Massachusetts, and studied with Gottlieb Graupner. He attended the Bristol Academy in Taunton, Massachusetts. From 1805 to 1807 Shaw taught piano and organ in Dedham, Massachusetts, and continued to teach piano and voice throughout his music career.

Moving to Providence, Rhode Island, in 1807, he was the organist at the First Congregational Church from 1809 to 1832.

Shaw published The Gentleman’s Favorite Selections of Instrumental Music (1805), one of the earliest American collections of chamber

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music scores, and helped found the Boston Handel and Haydn Society in 1915.

He composed sacred songs, such as “Arrayed in Clouds of Golden Light” and “The Missionary Angel.” He also wrote “Mary’s Tears,” “Nothing True but Heaven,” Sweet Little Ann,” “The Inspiration,” and “The Death of Perry.” He published two manuals: A Plain Introduction to the Art of Playing Pianoforte (1811) and O. Shaw’s Instructions for the Pianoforte (1831).

GEORGE SHEARING Born August 13, 1919, in London, England Died February 14, 2011, in New York, New York A renowned jazz pianist and superb music arranger, Shearing performed for more than sixty years. He also composed one of the best-known jazz classics, “Lullaby of Birdland.” Shearing did not want to be known as a jazz pianist or a blind pianist, but as a pianist who plays jazz and happens to be blind.

Shearing was blind from birth from a rare retinal disease. He was educated at the Shillington Street School for the Blind and the Linden Lodge School for the Blind in London, England. He began studying the piano at age three, and as a teenager became interested in jazz, listening to records by Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Fats Waller. Shearing began playing professionally in a pub at age sixteen. He toured with a band in England and an orchestra, before making his first recording in 1938. He played on BBC radio, and by 1940 was called England’s best boogie-woogie pianist. Feeling he had done all he could do in England, Shearing immigrated to the United States in 1947, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1955.

After two years in America, Shearing established himself as a performer in the States and began his long popular run. He appeared in the movie The Big Beat (1958). Over the years he recorded

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over ninety albums and wrote over three hundred compositions.

Besides “Lullaby of Birdland,” he wrote “September in the Rain,” “I’ll Remember April,” “Body and Soul,” and “The Continental.”

Shearing said, “I’ve probably perhaps written three hundred compositions and I would say two hundred and ninety-five have gone from relative obscurity to total oblivion.”

Shearing was known for his quick wit. Once asked by a television talk show host if he had been blind all his life, he said, “Not yet.” An extremely busy performer and hard worker, he was fond of saying, “Why should a man work when he has the health and strength to lie in bed?” He once convinced several musician friends he could tell the denomination of paper money by the smell of the bills. With his wife secretly signaling him, he was perfect in his money identification, not telling his friends the truth for many years. Shearing also wrote an autobiography with Alyn Shipton called Lullaby of Birdland (2004).

DEMPSEY B. SHERROD Born in 1828 in Mississippi Died March 22, 1879, in Washington, D.C. Sherrod was probably blind from an early age. By his mid-twenties he was an agent for the Mississippi Institution for the Blind, traveling in Mississippi to recruit students for the Institution. In 1856 he began raising funds to establish a national publishing organization to produce books in raised letters for the blind. Sherrod was part con-man, part innovative thinker, and undoubtedly extremely persuasive. In 1857 he convinced the Mississippi Legislature to charter and fund a publishing house for the blind to be located in Louisville, Kentucky. Sherrod named the institution the American Printing House for the Blind. In 1858 he obtained a charter for the Printing House from the Kentucky Legislature and solicited funds from legislatures in Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee.

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Sherrod’s innovative thinking showed up again in 1860 in a report he made to the trustees of the Printing House. Sherrod said, “The question as to the best form of type for raised printing is one involving some diversity of opinion. Several forms or styles have been tried by different publishers. . . . It is thought by some that a new alphabet could be introduced, combining many and important improvements over any now in use. . . . Perhaps the best method to reach this, would be the appointment of a judicious Standing Committee, to be known as the ‘Type Committee’ to whom all changes in type may be referred, for their approval and adoption.” This suggestion of a “type committee” came to be and continued to function into the twenty-first century.

In 1864 Sherrod persuaded the Mississippi Legislature to pass “An Act for the Relief of Dempsey Sherrod.” It gave Sherrod and his sister free room and board at the Mississippi Institution for the Blind while he was studying there and anytime in the future. The Mississippi Legislature repealed this act in 1870. In his many travels, Sherrod often paid for hotels and railroad fares by presenting certificates endorsed by well-known people.

The project to actually produce books at the American Printing House for the Blind was delayed because of the American Civil War, but books were finally made in 1866. About that time Sherrod was traveling again, lobbying to establish an American Printing House for the Blind and American University for the Blind to be located in Washington, D.C. The staff at the American Printing House in Kentucky were upset that Sherrod intended to move their organization to Washington D.C. Sherrod also angered superintendents of schools for the blind when he used their endorsements without permission in printed materials for his new venture, endorsements that had been obtained ten years earlier. When Sherrod became persona non grata in work for the blind, his effort in the United States Congress to fund an American Printing House for the Blind and University for the Blind in Washington D.C. was soundly defeated.

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AMBROSE M. SHOTWELL Born May 30, 1853, in Elba, New York Died November 27, 1930, in Saginaw, Michigan Shotwell lost his sight as a child and attended public schools until age fifteen, when he entered the New York State School for the Blind at Batavia. He graduated from the New York State School for the Blind in 1873 as class valedictorian. He taught at the Wisconsin School for the Blind from 1875 to 1876 and then attended Michigan Normal College of Ypsilanti, graduating in 1878.

Shotwell helped establish the Michigan School for the Blind in 1880 and taught at the Arkansas School for the Blind from 1880 to 1883. From 1893 to 1904 he was school printer at Michigan School for the Blind. From 1904 to 1927 he was librarian and Assistant Superintendent of the Michigan Employment Institution for the Blind in Saginaw, Michigan. Shotwell was one of the founders of the American Blind People’s Higher Education and Improvement Association in 1895.

BALUJI SHRIVASTAV Born January 23, 1951, in Usmanpur, India One of the great sitar players of India, Shrivastav became blind when he was eight months old. He attended the Ajmer Blind School, studied music, and graduated from Lucknow University. Shrivastav earned a master’s degree from Alahabad University.

Besides being a master of the sitar, Shrivastav plays several other instruments and is a classical singer. A professor of music, he has toured worldwide and recorded several albums. He has also composed music for the theater, television, and movies.

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OLGA SKOROKHODOVA Born in 1914 in Russia Died in 1982 in Russia Skorokhodova had a severe illness as a young child that caused her to be blind and deaf. She attended the Kharkov Residential School and was taught by I. N. Sokolynsky, founder of teaching techniques for the deaf-blind in the Soviet Union. Skorokhodova became an avid reader and had a friendship with Russian writer P. M. Gorky.

Skorokhodova wrote articles for newspapers and magazines, and wrote three books: How I Perceive the Environment (1947), How I Perceive and Imagine the Environment (1954), and How I Perceive, Imagine and Interpret the Environment (1972). She was a research worker at the Institute of Special Education, Academy of Pedagogical Sciences.

JOEL W. SMITH Born September 17, 1837, in East Hampton, Connecticut Died May 9, 1924, in Middleton, Connecticut Smith was in charge of a store and the local post office when he became blind at the age of twenty-four in a July Fourth fireworks explosion. He enrolled at Perkins School for the Blind in Boston where he learned piano tuning. In 1866 he became an instructor in the tuning department at Perkins. From 1872 to 1875 he established a piano tuning department at the Royal Normal College in London, England. Returning to Perkins, Smith was director of the piano tuning department from 1875 to 1894. He negotiated with Boston area schools to have Perkins students tune and repair all school pianos. He was the inventor of American Braille, and from 1891 to 1894 he published The Mentor, the first periodical for the blind in the United States.

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Later in life Smith had bouts of depression and at age eighty-six committed suicide. According to friends, he ended his life because of a morbid fear of becoming a burden to others.

ROBERT J. SMITHDAS Born June 7, 1925, in Brentwood, Pennsylvania When journalist Barbara Walters was asked to choose her most memorable interview of more than thirty years, she said, “It is not a president or a king or a movie star. It is a man I interviewed more than twenty-five years ago. He was a teacher and a poet and the most inspirational person I have ever met. His name is Robert Smithdas.”

Smithdas lost his sight and hearing at the age of five from cerebral spinal meningitis. He graduated cum laude from St. Johns University in 1950 and earned a master’s degree from New York University in 1950. Smithdas worked at the Industrial Home for the Blind’s community relations department from 1950 to 1960 and was their Associate Director of Services for the deaf-blind from 1960 to 1969. He was an associate director of the Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youth and Adults from 1969 to 2008.

Smithdas is the author of an autobiography, Life at My Fingertips (1958), and two collections of poems, City of the Heart (1960) and Shared Beauty (1983). In his autobiography Smithdas said, “Loneliness was continually present in my life after I became deaf and blind. Even now, in adulthood, I find it with me despite all my adjustments to social living. Loneliness is a hunger for increasing human companionship, a need to be part of the activity I know is constantly going on about me. And I feel that it is as necessary to human nature as sun and rain is to growing things. To share my moments of joy with someone else, to have others sympathize with my failures, appreciate my accomplishments, understand my moods and value my intelligence—these are the essential conditions that are needed for happiness.”

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AL SPERBER Born February 14, 1916, in Boston, Massachusetts Died in July 1985 in Pompano Beach, Florida Sperber was a jazz musician and a sales promoter before losing his sight at age forty-two from detached retinas. He received rehabilitation training at the Industrial Home for the Blind in Brooklyn, New York, and started a telephone sales business called Phone Promotions, Inc. From 1972 to 1978 Sperber hosted a radio show for and about the blind called Out of Sight on WHN radio in New York City. The program was nationally syndicated in 1977 and 1978. Sperber was involved in many fund-raising projects for blindness charities. He wrote a book, Out of Sight (1976), subtitled Ten Stories of Victory Over Blindness. In the book David Scott Blackwell, Charley Boswell, Inez D’Agostino, Tom D’Agostino, Buddy Edel, Eunice Fiorito, Gilbert Ramirez, Maureen Sconlon, Lucille Spyro-Smith, and Al Sperber related their experiences becoming blind, their adjustment to blindness, and their achievements.

JOHN STANLEY Born January 17, 1712, in London, England Died May 19, 1786, in London, England Stanley was accidentally blinded at age two when he fell on a stone hearth carrying a china bowl. The bowl broke and its pieces cut his eyes. He began studying music at age seven, at age eleven was elected organist at All Hallows Church in London, and at age fourteen was chosen to be the organist at St. Andrews Church.

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Stanley graduated from Oxford University at age seventeen. From age twenty-two until his death at seventy-four he was organist of the Society of the Inner Temple Church in London.

In 1838 Stanley married Sarah Arland. Sarah’s sister Ann, who was a fine pianist, was his amanuensis, playing him a selection once and he would memorize it perfectly. In 1742 he published six concertos. Stanley was reportedly a good shuffleboard player and billiards player. He also played cards, using cards with very small perforations. Apparently Stanley was an organist’s organist. The Dictionary of National Biography (1917) noted, “At the Temple it was not uncommon to see forty or fifty other organists, with Handel himself, assembled to hear [Stanley play] the last voluntary.”

OTIS H. STEPHENS Born September 20, 1936, in East Point, Georgia Blind from birth, Stephens earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia in 1957, a master’s degree from the same university in 1958, and a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University in 1963. From 1962 to 1967 he was a professor of political science at Georgia Southern University, and has been a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee since 1967. Stephens became Resident Scholar of Constitutional Law at the University of Tennessee’s College of Law in the year 2000.

Stephens has written articles on constitutional law and wrote the book The Supreme Court and Confessions of Guilt (1973). With John M. Scheb II he coauthored The Supreme Court and the Allocation of Constitutional Power (1980), American Constitutional Law: Essays and Cases (1988), and American Constitutional Law (1999).

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JIM STOVALL Born August 3, 1958, in Tulsa, Oklahoma A motivational speaker, writer, and cofounder of the Narrative Television Network (NTN), Stovall worked as a stockbroker before losing his sight to macular degeneration at age twenty-nine. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Oral Roberts University in 1981 and was president of Stovall Enterprises from 1981 to 1988.

Stovall has written several books, including You Don’t Have to be Blind to See (1996), Success Secrets of Super Achievers (1997), The Way I See the World (1999), The Ultimate Gift (2000), and Wisdom of the Ages (2001).

TOM SULLIVAN Born March 27, 1947, in Boston, Massachusetts Multi-talented Tom Sullivan has had success as an athlete, piano player, songwriter, television reporter, actor, producer, movie consultant, writer, and motivational speaker.

Thomas Joseph Sullivan Jr. became blind shortly after birth from retinopathy of prematurity. He attended Perkins School for the Blind and excelled on the wrestling team, winning two championships. As a teenager he played piano in New England resorts and graduated from Harvard University in 1969. He had a recording contract, appeared on The Tonight Show, and played in Las Vegas in the mid-1970s. In 1975 Sullivan wrote an autobiography, If You Could See What I Hear. In 1976 he sang the national anthem at the Super Bowl. From 1979 to 1981 he was a special correspondent for the television show Good Morning America.

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In the 1980s Sullivan acted on many television shows, including Mork & Mindy, WKRP in Cincinnati, Designing Women, Knight Rider, and the soap opera Search for Tomorrow. He appeared in the movies Airport ’77 (1977) and Black Sunday (1977), and was a cowriter and coproducer of the television movie Blind Witness (1989). He was a consultant to actor Ben Affleck in the movie Daredevil (2003).

Sullivan has been a motivational speaker for several years and has made more than one thousand presentations. Besides his autobiography Sullivan has written several other books, including You Are Special (1980), Common Sense (1982), Special Parent, Special Child (1995), That Nelson (1995), and Seeing Lessons: 14 Life Secrets I’ve Learned Along the Way (2003).

SURDAS Born c. 1478 near Delhi, India Died in 1563 An important person in the history of India, Surdas was a musician and poet who became a saint. Blind from infancy, Surdas was neglected and teased as a child. He learned to sing and studied Hindu holy books, dubbing himself “the traveling monk.” He was a prolific composer and is best known for Sur Sagar (Ocean of Melody), that is said to have nearly 100,000 songs.

JOE TAGGART Born c. 1900 in the southeastern United States Date of death unknown A gospel singer, Taggart sang the blues at house parties and was an itinerant performer in the 1920s and 1930s. He used several names,

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including Blind Joe Taggart, Blind Joe Amos, Blind Jeremiah Taylor, Blind Tim Russell, and Blind Joe Donnel.

Little is known about Taggart besides his recordings and the account of blues musician Josh White. White, a guide for Taggart in Greenville, South Carolina, said, “The meanest man I ever ran across was Blind John Henry Arnold. After him came Joe Taggart.

Taggart had cataracts and could see a little.”

In November 1926 Taggart became the first of the “guitar evangelists” in the United States to make records. Some of his songs were “The Storm Is Passing Over,” “I Will Not Be Removed,” “Take Your Burden to the Lord,” “I Wish my Mother Was on That Train,” “Keep on the Firing Line,” “Just Beyond Jordon,” and “Been Listening All the Day.” He recorded until 1934.

DAVID S. TATEL Born March 16, 1942, in Washington, D.C. Tatel graduated from the University of Michigan in 1963 and the University of Chicago Law School in 1966, and practiced law in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Tatel became blind in his early thirties from a degenerative eye disease. From 1977 to 1979 he was Director of the Office for Civil Rights in the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. He returned to Hogan & Hartson, a law firm in Washington, in 1979 and managed the firm’s group that provided legal counsel to various educational institutions.

In 1994 President Bill Clinton nominated Tatel to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Clinton said, “David Tatel has an extraordinary record of dedication and achievement in the legal profession. He has set an example for lawyers both in the private sector and in public service with his lifelong commitment to protecting and preserving the rights of all

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Americans.” Tatel was confirmed and has served in this position for more than fourteen years.

ART TATUM Born October 13, 1909, in Toledo, Ohio Died November 5, 1956, in Los Angeles, California Many superlatives have been used to describe Art Tatum’s abilities as a jazz pianist: “too marvelous for words,” “a wizard of the keyboard,” “genius,” and “the greatest.” Tatum’s talent was admired by a wide variety of musicians, including Count Basie, Chuck Berry, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, Vladmir Horowitz, Oscar Peterson, and Arthur Rubinstein. It is said the young Charlie Parker got a job as a dishwasher in a club where Tatum worked so he could listen to Tatum play every night. Wags of his time said of him, “You can’t ‘imitatum’ and you can’t ‘over-ratum.’”

Tatum was almost totally blind from cataracts at birth. As a child he had several operations to remove the cataracts, but after the surgeries had only a little vision in his right eye. He attended the Ohio School for the Blind and the Toledo School of Music. At age sixteen he began playing professionally with a combo around the Toledo area.

In 1929 he began a two-year residency as staff pianist at a Toledo radio station. He so impressed the National Broadcasting Company they put his show on NBC’s Blue Network.

In 1932 he moved to New York City and accompanied Adelaide Hall, recording for the first time. From 1936 to 1943 he played in jazz clubs in New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles, and London. During the years 1939 to 1941 Tatum recorded such songs as “Elegie,” “Sweet Lorraine,” and “Get Happy.” He appeared in the movie The Fabulous Dorseys (1947). In recording sessions

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from 1953 to 1955, he recorded more than 129 solos, the heart of his repertory.

In 1953 he learned his kidneys were failing but continued to tour and record until less than a month before his death. Art Tatum died of uremia November 5, 1956, at the age of forty-six.

Ray Charles said, “For my generation, Tatum was the main cat on piano. He was our hero, and I still haven’t heard anyone who could do so much with two hands. Must say that even later, when I got fairly good at the piano, I knew I couldn’t even carry Art Tatum’s shit bucket. The man was alone and no one could touch him.”

RALPH TEETOR Born August 17, 1890, in Hagerstown, Indiana Died February 15, 1982, in Hagerstown, Indiana An engineer and lifelong automobile enthusiast, Teetor invented the Speedostat, the forerunner of cruise control for automobiles.

At age five Teetor was playing with a knife and accidentally stabbed one of his eyes. It became inflamed and within a year he was totally blind from sympathetic ophthalmia. At age twelve he and his cousin built a one-cylinder car. Teetor earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1912.

Teetor was in charge of engineering at the Teetor-Harley Motor Company from 1912 to 1918, and worked on high speed turbine motors for torpedo boats in 1918 and 1919. From 1919 to 1957 Teetor worked for the Perfect Circle Corporation, first as chief engineer, then vice-president, and from 1946 to 1957 as president.

In 1945 Teetor received his first patent on a speed control device for automobiles that went by various names such as the Controlmatic, Speed-O-Stat, Touchmatic, and finally Cruise Control.

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KATERI TEKAKWITHA Born in 1656 in western New York State Died April 17, 1680, near Montreal, Canada Known as the Lily of the Mohawks, more than fifty biographies have been written about Kateri Tekakwitha’s life, and she has become a candidate for sainthood. In 1660 when Tekakwitha was three years old, a smallpox outbreak killed her father, mother, and brother, and left her with pockmarks on her face and very little vision. Pushed by the uncle who had raised her to get married, she refused, deciding instead to follow the Christian religion. She was baptized on Easter Sunday 1676. Her tribe stoned her for refusing to work on Sunday, so she went to live with a group of Christian Mohawks on the St. Lawrence River in Canada. There she practiced asceticism, self-flagellation, and penances, looked after her elders, visited the sick, and taught young people religious obligations.

In 1884 Tekakwitha became a candidate for canonization by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1943 she was declared venerable by Pope Pius XII, and in 1980 she was beatified by Pope John Paul II. She is now known as Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

ALEX TEMPLETON Born July 4, 1909, in Cardiff, Wales Died March 28, 1963, in Greenwich, Connecticut Templeton was blind at birth. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, England. At age twelve he began doing musical novelty routines on the radio for the British Broadcasting Company and performed in Britain from 1922 to 1934. He immigrated to the United States in 1935 and played in a jazz band. He became a United States citizen in 1941. Templeton performed on the radio,

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where his musical parodies of the classics were especially popular, with such titles as “Beethoven Visits Tin Pan Alley,” “Mr. Bach Goes to Town,” “Debussy in Dubuque,” “Grieg’s in the Groove,” “Haydn Takes to Ridin’,” “Mozart Matriculates,” “Mendelssohn Mows ‘em Down,” and “William Do Tell.” He also wrote serious pieces such as “Concertino Lirico” (1942) and “Gothic Concerto” (1954). Templeton died in 1963 from bone cancer at age fifty-two.

SABRIYE TENBERKEN Born in September 1970 near Bonn, Germany Tenberken’s parents learned when Sabriye was two years old that she would lose her vision due to retinal disease. Her parents took her to many museums and traveled extensively to show her as many images as possible. By age thirteen she was totally blind. After she became blind her class visited a museum exhibit of Tibetan folk art.

She became fascinated with Tibet. Tenberken set out to learn everything she could about the country and continued this pursuit at the University of Bonn. She developed a Braille code for the Tibetan language, and in May 1998 opened a boarding school for visually impaired children in Lhasa, Tibet.

Tenberken wrote My Path Leads to Tibet (2000), a book about setting up the school. Along with Paul Kronenberg she founded Braille Without Borders, an organization whose purpose is to set up schools for the blind in Asian and African nations where Braille is not used.

JACOBUS TEN-BROEK Born July 6, 1911, near McDonaldville, Canada Died March 27, 1968, in Berkeley, California Ten-Broek lost the use of his left eye when he was hit in the eye by an arrow shot by a playmate. He lost most of his vision in his right

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eye from sympathetic ophthalmia. A few years later while attending the California School for the Blind, he was hit in the right eye by a baseball, becoming totally blind. While attending the school Ten-Broek became interested in debating and public speaking.

Ten-Broek taught at Harvard University and the University of Chicago. From 1942 to 1956 he taught in the speech department at the University of California at Berkeley and was Chairman of the speech department from 1956 to 1961. He was a dynamic lecturer and was held in high esteem by his students. Ten-Broek was a founder of the National Federation of the Blind in 1940 and was its president from 1940 to 1961 and again from 1966 to 1968.

He helped found the International Federation of the Blind, which became the World Blind Union.

Ten-Broek wrote articles for various law journals, wrote a book, The Antislavery Origins of the Fourteenth Amendment (1951), and was coauthor with Edward Norton Barnhart and Floyd W. Matson of Prejudice, War and the Constitution: Causes and Consequences of the Evacuation of the Japanese Americans in World War II (1954). He also coauthored with Floyd Matson Hope Deferred: Public Welfare and the Blind (1959).

SONNY TERRY Born October 24, 1911, in Greensboro, Georgia Died March 11, 1986, in Mineloa, New York Born Saunders Terrell, he lost most of the vision in his left eye in an accident at age five.

He was beating a stick against a chair and a piece of the stick broke off, striking him in the eye. At age eighteen in another accident, a boy threw a small piece of iron that put out

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his right eye. He grew up in Rockingham, North Carolina, and later moved to Durham, North Carolina. He began playing the harmonica at age eight, and played on the streets of Durham using the name Sonny Terry. While playing on the streets he became acquainted with two other blind performers, Blind Boy Fuller and Blind Gary Davis.

From 1937 to 1940 Terry accompanied Fuller on many recordings made in New York, Chicago, and Memphis. In 1940 Terry made his first recording on his own, and in 1942 teamed up with guitarist Brownie McGhee. They became a well-known blues duo for more than forty years, touring the United States and Europe. Terry played on Broadway in Finian’s Rainbow and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He played music in the movie The Jerk (1979) and provided some of the music for the soundtrack of the movie The Color Purple (1985).

Terry was a superb harmonica player, and one music critic said, “He bent single notes till they cried for mercy.”

AUGUSTIN THIERRY Born May 10, 1795, in Blois, France Died May 22, 1856, in Paris, France Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry began losing his eyesight in his late twenties and by age thirty-one was totally blind. He was a journalist from 1817 to 1821, and then devoted himself to writing history and historical criticism. Thierry’s best-known work was History of the Conquest of England by the Normans (1825). He also wrote Ten Years of Historical Studies (1827), Tales of Merovingien Times (1840), Formation and Progress of the Third Estate (1853), and Complete Works (1856-60).

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WALTER THORNTON Born in 1914 in Worsthorne, England Thornton was blinded in a buzz bomb attack on London when he was twenty-nine years old. He received rehabilitation training at St. Dunstan’s. Thornton worked for a candy manufacturer, running an employee development department. He wrote three books: To the New Recruit (1947), 30 Years of Junior Consultation (1950), and Cure for Blindness (1968). Thornton said, “In seeking the cure for blindness the secret is the will to win.”

JAMES THURBER Born December 8, 1894, in Columbus, Ohio Died November 2, 1961, in New York, New York A major American writer and cartoonist, Thurber wrote and drew cartoons for The New Yorker magazine from 1927 until 1961, and is best known for his story “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” The story describes the heroic daydreams of a common little man who sees himself doing courageous deeds. “A Walter Mitty type” has been used to describe countless men, and Thurber thought every man he had ever met had some Walter Mitty in him.

At age six Thurber was accidentally shot with an arrow in the left eye by one of his brothers, losing the use of his left eye and much of the vision in his right eye. At age forty-five the remaining vision in his right eye began to deteriorate, and at age fifty-six he became totally blind. Thurber wanted to join the Army in World War I, but they wouldn’t take him because of his poor eyesight. He attended Ohio State University and worked as a reporter in Ohio in the early 1920s.

In 1926 he moved to New York City and in 1927 began working for

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The New Yorker. He became famous for his humorous short stories and cartoons.

Thurber published numerous books, including The Seal in the Bedroom (1932), a book of cartoons, My Life and Hard Times (1930), Fables for Our Times (1940), Men, Women and Dogs (1943), another book of cartoons, The Thirteen Clocks (1950), Further Fables for Our Time (1956), and The Years With Ross (1959). He also wrote a successful play with his friend Elliott Nugent, The Male Animal (1940).

Thurber called himself “a wild-eyed son-of-a-bitch with a glass in his hand.” Writer E.B. White said, “Most writers would be glad to settle for any one of ten of Thurber’s accomplishments. He has written the funniest memoirs, fables, reports, satires, fantasies, complaints, fairy tales and sketches of the last twenty years, has gone into drama and the cinema and on top of that has littered the world with thousands of drawings.”

LENNIE TRISTANO Born March 19, 1919, in Chicago, Illinois Died November 18, 1978, in New York, New York One of the most important jazz pianists of his time, Tristano had even more influence as a teacher.

Leonard Joseph Tristano had visual impairment from shortly after birth and was totally blind by age nine. Tristano began playing the piano at age four and received formal training at a school for the blind in Illinois, which he attended from age nine to nineteen. He graduated from the American Conservatory in Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in music. While studying at the Conservatory, Tristano earned a reputation as an excellent session musician and teacher. He taught in Chicago until he moved to New York City in 1946. There he worked with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, and other leading

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musicians in the jazz community. He continued to teach and in 1951 opened the Lennie Tristano School of Music, which quickly became an important jazz school. He ran the school until 1956 and then went back to teaching privately.

Tristano recorded more than a dozen albums, touring in Europe in 1965 and the United States in 1968. Tristano died in 1978 at the age of fifty-nine from a heart attack. Although he was not as well known as some of his jazz contemporaries, many think Tristano and his influence have been underrated.

DEAN TUTTLE Born March 14, 1936, in the Belgian Congo An educator and author, Tuttle learned when he was nine years old he had retinitis pigmentosa and would eventually lose his sight.

In his twenties he began experiencing night blindness and a loss of peripheral vision, and he slowly lost most of his sight. Born in the Belgian Congo where his parents were missionaries, he attended school there through high school. He came to the United States and attended college, becoming a United States citizen in 1958.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from Wheaton College in 1958, a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1960, another master’s degree from San Francisco State College in 1962, and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1971.

Tuttle was a math teacher in New Jersey in 1960 and 1961, and a resource teacher in San Juan, California, from 1962 to 1966. He was principal of the California School for the Blind from 1966 to 1969, and was a professor of education of the visually handicapped at Northern Colorado University from 1971 to 1991. He is the author of the book Self Esteem and Adjusting with Blindness (1984).

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JACOB TWERSKY Born November 19, 1920, in Lublin, Poland At the age of four Twersky had scarlet fever with complications and began losing his sight, becoming totally blind at age twelve. Twersky immigrated with his family to the United States at the age of eight.

He earned a bachelor’s degree from City College in 1943, a master’s degree from Columbia University in 1944, and a Ph.D. from New York University in 1947. While attending City College Twersky was on the wrestling team and went to the collegiate finals in 1942.

From 1946 to 1948 Twersky was a Veterans Administration counselor and from 1948 to 1956 was an instructor in history at City College of New York. He was an educational therapist from 1956 to 1966 and a professor of history at Bronx Community College.

Twersky wrote a novel, The Face of the Deep (1953), an autobiography, The Sound of the Walls (1959), and another novel, A Marked House (1968).

JACOB VAN EYCK Born c. 1589 in Heusden, Holland Died March 26, 1657, in Utrecht, Holland Van Eyck was born blind and became a well-known carillonneur, a bell expert, and a noted recorder player and composer. He became interested in the city bells in Heusden and by age thirty had a reputation for bell installation and for playing the bells. In 1628 he moved to Utrecht and was the carillonneur of the Utrecht Dom Cathedral from 1625 to 1657.

Van Eyck developed a national reputation in Holland, and many carillonneurs traveled to Utrecht to learn from him. He also traveled to

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several Dutch towns to make installations and repairs. He was sometimes known as the Orpheus of Utrecht. Van Eyck composed more than two hundred pieces for the recorder, about two-thirds of which were published in a book titled The Flute’s Garden of Delights (1749).

OSTAP VERESAI Born in 1803 in Pryluka County, Ukraine Died in April, 1890, in Pryluka County, Ukraine A famous Ukrainian minstrel, Veresai became blind at age fourteen.

He had a tenor voice and played the kobza (a lute-like instrument).

He was a gifted musician and poet, but those close to him found him pushy, self-centered, and conceited about what he considered his superior talent. By his late fifties Veresai was the most renowned performer of Ukrainian epic and historic songs.

GEERAT VERMEIJ Born September 28, 1946, in Sappemeer, Netherlands Born with glaucoma, Vermeij had numerous eye operations his first four years of life that were intended to save his sight. The operations were unsuccessful, and at the age of four both of his eyes were removed surgically. Vermeij attended a school for the blind in the Netherlands before immigrating to the United States at age nine.

He attended public schools in New Jersey, and in the fourth grade became interested in seashells. Vermeij earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1968, a master’s degree from Yale University in 1970, and a Ph.D. from Yale in 1971.

Vermeij was an instructor and professor of zoology at the University of Maryland from 1971 to 1988, and since 1989 a professor of ecology and paleontology at the University of California, Davis.

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He wrote Evolution and Escalation: Ecological History of Life (1993) and A National History of Shells (1993). He also wrote an autobiography about his life up to age forty-eight, Privileged Hands: A Scientific Life (1996).

ASIK VEYSEL Born in 1894 in Sivas, Turkey Died in 1973 in Sivas, Turkey Veysel Satiroylu became blind at age seven from smallpox. His parents bought him a saz (a long-necked lute) that he practiced on continually. He sang in coffee houses and worked as a folk-song teacher. In 1952 he acted in a movie, The Dark World—The Life of Asik Veysel.

Veysel wrote an autobiography, The Life and Poems of Asik Veysel (1963). His memoir, May My Friends Remember Me (1973), was published posthumously. Part of one poem reads, “Life stays not in its cage, it flies away/ The world is caravansary, it perches, then flies away/ The moon rotates, years go by/ Let friends remember me/ Day turns to evening, then to night/ See what things befall one/ Veysel goes, his name remains/ Let friends remember me.”

LOUIS VIDAL Born December 6, 1831, in Nimes, France Died in 1892 in France Louis Vidal-Natavel had an eye disease as a child that caused reduced vision. Later he became totally blind. Vidal studied sculpture with Antoine Louis Barye and began exhibiting his work in 1855. From 1859 to 1882 he exhibited his work at the Paris Salon, and in 1888 he became professor

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of sculpture at the Ecole Braille in Paris. Many of Vidal’s sculptures were animals cast in bronze that became highly sought after into the twenty-first century. He signed many of his pieces Vidal the Blind.

LOUIS VIERNE Born October 8, 1870, in Poitiers, France Died June 2, 1937, Paris, France Vierne excelled as an organist, composer, and teacher, and had a lasting impact on compositions for the organ. Although he was nearly totally blind from birth from congenital cataracts, he gained some sight through an operation at age six. Vierne was able to read with a magnifying glass until age forty-five, when he became totally blind from glaucoma. He moved with his family to Paris at age ten, studying at the National Institute for Young Blind from age ten to nineteen. He studied music at the Institute and at the Paris Conservatory from 1890 to 1893.

Vierne taught organ at the Paris Conservatory from 1894 to 1911 and at Schola Music School from 1911. Over the years some of his students included Marcel Dupre, Nadia Boulanger, Maurice Durufle, Jean Langlais, and Gaston Litaize.

In 1900 at age thirty, Vierne became organist at the Cathedral of Notre Dame, a position he held for thirty-seven years until his death.

He composed music for organ, voice, and piano, and for orchestra and chorus. His compositions included six symphonies for organ.

Vierne toured extensively in Europe and in the United States and Canada in 1927. He died while giving an organ performance at Notre Dame at age sixty-six. Concerning his organ playing and compositions, Vierne said, “I’ve had one aim: to rouse emotions.”

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JAMES WADDEL Born July 1739 in Newry, Ireland Died September 17, 1805, in Gordonsville, Virginia Waddel immigrated to the United States with his parents as an infant, the family settling in southwestern Pennsylvania. He moved to Virginia and studied for the ministry. He became licensed to preach in 1761 and preached at several churches in northern Virginia. In 1787 he became blind due to cataracts but continued preaching, becoming known as the blind preacher. He earned a reputation as one of the finest orators of his time. James Madison was a student of Waddel’s, and later said, “He has spoiled me for all other preaching.”

HELMUT WALCHA Born October 27, 1907, in Leipzig, Germany Died August 11, 1991, in Frankfurt, Germany Walcha had weak sight as an after-effect of a smallpox vaccination at the age of one. Chronic keratitis threatened his already weak sight, an operation was unsuccessful, and Walcha became blind at age sixteen.

With an early interest in music, he studied at the Leipzig Institute of Music from ages fifteen to twenty. He specialized in playing the organ but also could play the harpsichord. He began performing in public at age seventeen.

Walcha was a professor at the Frankfurt Conservatory from 1933 to 1972, where he attracted students from around the world. He was one of the great interpreters of Johann Sebastian Bach, recording all of Bach’s organ compositions twice. He retired at age seventy due to poor health. Of his blindness, Walcha said, “The disease which cut me off permanently from the visible world also opened up and smoothed for me the way to inner perception.”

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WILLIE WALKER Born in 1896 in South Carolina Died in 1933 in Greenville, South Carolina An extraordinary guitar player, Willie Walker spent most of his life as an itinerant musician in the southeastern United States. Walker’s excellent guitar playing was admired by blues artists Pink Anderson, Gary Davis, and Josh White.

Walker was blind from birth, probably from congenital syphilis. He began performing in his teens in the Greenville, South Carolina, area. In 1930 Walker did a recording session in Atlanta, Georgia.

From this recording session two songs were released by Columbia Records, “Dupree Blues” and “South Carolina Rag.” These two songs are the only recordings of Walker that have survived.

Walker died at age thirty-seven from congenital syphilis.

DOC WATSON Born March 3, 1923, in Watauga County, North Carolina Known as a talented singer and for his exceptional skill on the acoustic guitar, Watson is a legend in folk music.

Arthel Lane Watson was born with a defect in the blood vessels to his eyes. He developed an eye infection, and with the blood vessel defect became blind before his first birthday. Watson learned to play the harmonica at age five and the banjo at six. About growing up Watson said, “The best thing my dad ever did for me was to put me at one end of a crosscut saw. He put me to work and made me feel useful.” At age ten Watson enrolled at the North Carolina State School for the Blind and there became acquainted with the guitar.

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After finishing school Watson worked as a piano tuner, and in the early 1940s he performed locally on the guitar. He became lead guitarist in a country and western band in 1953. A promoter was trying to come up with a nickname to replace the difficult to pronounce Arthel, when someone suggested Doc, as in Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes’s sidekick.

Watson’s son Merle took up the guitar in 1964, and the two performed around the country for twenty years until Merle’s death in 1985 in a tractor accident at age thirty-six. Watson performed music for the movie Places in the Heart (1984).

Watson is revered by his fans for his huge talent and his humble ways. A devoted fan, recalling the first time he heard Watson play and being overwhelmed by his talent, said, “I was also intimidated, promising myself that upon my return home in the evening, I would chop my pitiful Sears guitar into little pieces and spread it out like shavings in Pop’s chicken house. Who was I kidding? Compared to the music made by the unseeing minstrel from North Carolina, I was too embarrassed to even tell anyone I owned a guitar, much less pretend to play it.”

LOUIS L. WATTS Born November 28, 1888, in Albermarle County, Virginia Died April 30, 1974, in Richmond, Virginia Watts was a construction superintendent for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad in 1913 when several sticks of dynamite exploded prematurely. Near death for several days Watts recovered, but at age twenty-five he was totally blind. At age twenty-six he entered the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind and graduated three years later.

Watts taught at the Virginia School the Blind for three years. He helped found the Virginia Association of Workers for the Blind

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in 1919 and was involved in the establishment of the American Foundation for the Blind in 1921. Watts was a member of the Virginia Legislature from 1926 to 1934, and was Executive Secretary of the Virginia Commission for the Blind from 1922 to 1956.

DONALD H. WEDEWER Born July 5, 1925, in Dyersville, Iowa Wedewer graduated from high school in 1943 and entered the U. S. Army. In 1944 he was wounded in battle. While recovering from his wounds in a hospital, the hospital was bombed and he lost most of his sight and both legs. He had a small amount of vision for several years before becoming totally blind. Wedewer nearly died and spent several months in hospitals before returning to the United States and Valley Forge Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. He received training at Valley Forge and at Avon Old Farms Convalescence Hospital in Avon, Connecticut.

Wedewer attended the University of Missouri, graduating in 1950, and earned a master’s degree there in 1952. He moved to Coral Gables, Florida, and worked for Sears Roebuck from 1952 to 1960 in customer service. Wedewer was involved with the Blinded Veteran Association on a national level and helped establish the Florida Chapter of the BVA. In 1961 Wedewer began working for the Florida State Bureau of Blind Services as a counselor. In 1969 he became a placement specialist for the Bureau and from 1970 to 1974 was a district administrator for the Bureau in Miami. While in Miami he established a training program for persons who were blind to be employed by the Social Security Administration as customer service representatives.

This program was later expanded to a nationwide program.

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In 1974 Wedewer was promoted to state director for Blind Services in Florida. He was state director until 1989, and during his tenure he persuaded the State Legislature to upgrade the Bureau to the Division of Blind Services, was responsible for many new private agencies for the blind being started in Florida, helped start a state set-aside program to employ workers with disabilities, and was a key figure in federal legislation to increase funding for programs for older persons who were blind.

ERIK WEIHENMAYER Born September 23, 1968, in Princeton, New Jersey Weihenmayer became blind at age thirteen as a result of juvenile retinoschisis, a disease of the retina. He attended Weston High School in Connecticut and was on the wrestling team there, going to Nationals his senior year. Weihenmayer began rock climbing at age sixteen, later climbing Mount Adams and Mount Rainier in Washington State. Although he was an accomplished skier, skydiver, and scuba diver, mountain climbing became his primary avocation.

Weihenmayer graduated from Boston College and worked as a high school English teacher and coach. In 1993 he earned a master’s degree from Lesley College. In 1995 he began his quest to climb the Seven Summits (the highest peaks on each of the seven continents).

He climbed Mount McKinley (Denali) in North America, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Aconcagua in South America, Mount Vinson Massif in Antarctica, Mount Everest in Asia, Mount Elbrus in Europe, and Mount Kosciusko in Australia.

Weihenmayer wrote an autobiographical book, Touch the Top of the World (2002), subtitled A Blind Man’s Journey to Climb Farther than the Eye Can See.

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PETER WHITE Born June 18, 1947, in Winchester, England Born blind, White attended the Bristol Royal School of Industry for the Blind, a residential school, from age five to age eleven. From ages eleven to seventeen he attended Worcester College, a boarding school for boys who were blind. He attended Southampton University through the University of Kent at Canterbury but did not graduate. In 1971 White worked for a new British Broadcasting Corporation project, Radio Solent, doing interviews. For three years he did a radio show of English village portraits, called Talk About.

As White described it, “I would try to extract revelations from people who believed, quite rightly, that there was absolutely nothing extraordinary about their villages or their lives.”

White began working on the In Touch radio program for people who were blind in 1973, which would become extremely popular. Besides his work with In Touch, he produced programs for television and was the BBC’s Disability Affairs Correspondent. Peter White became a very well-known personality in Great Britain.

White also wrote See It My Way (1999), a lively and humorous autobiography of his life up to age forty. Writing about guide dogs for the blind in his autobiography, he said wryly, “Any discussion about travel cannot ignore the extraordinarily sentimental and silly attitude of Britons toward guide dogs. I suppose the reason it makes me so mad is the assumption that the intelligent and decisionmaking partner in the combination of dog and blind owner must be the dog. Despite evidence about the massive stupidity of dogs, people are still prepared to believe that they’re brighter than blind people. . . . I can’t tell you how often I have answered the question: ‘Why don’t you get a dog?’ The answer is simple: because you have to train with them in residential conditions far too reminiscent of blind schools for my liking; because they can’t read rail indicator boards or

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restaurant menus; because you look like a fool carrying them up and down escalators on the London Underground; because unlike white sticks they deposit shit all over the place; and because they would divert attention from me.”

ERNEST A. WHITFIELD Born September 15, 1887, in London, England Died April 21, 1963, in London, England Whitfield was educated in London and Vienna, Austria. He began losing his sight in his early twenties and by age twenty-six was totally blind. From an early age Whitfield had been a promising violinist, and in 1913 he began a musical career. Whitfield learned Braille at St. Dunstan’s, led a theater orchestra, and toured as a violinist.

Due to poor health, in 1923 Whitfield reduced his musical performances and studied economics and political science. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1926 and a Ph.D. in 1928. During World War II he worked on behalf of the blind in the United States and Canada.

From 1946 to 1950 he was a Governor of the British Broadcasting Corporation, and from 1951 to 1955 he was President of England’s National Federation of the Blind.

ANNA WILLIAMS Born in 1706 in Rosemarket, England Died September 6, 1783, in London, England Williams was well educated and fluent in several languages. She had greatly reduced vision at age thirty-four from cataracts. She had an operation at age forty-six to improve her vision, but the operation

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was not successful and she became totally blind. Williams published a translation from the French of Le Bleterie’s Life of the Emperor Julian (1746). She also published Miscellanies in Prose and Verse (1766) that included some of her works and the works of her friends.

Williams was a long-time friend of Dr. Samuel Johnson, the English critic and lexicographer.

RAY ROBINSON WILLIAMS Born March 5, 1899, near Easley, South Carolina Died October 22, 1987, in Greenville, South Carolina Williams lost the use of his left eye at age four when a wood splinter hit his eye. At age nine Williams hit his face on a chair post and the glasses he was wearing cut his right eye. Within a few days he was totally blind. Shortly after becoming blind Williams told his family, “I’ll never stand on a street corner with a tin.”

Williams attended the South Carolina State School for the Blind and became interested in pursuing a legal career. He earned a bachelor’s degree, a master’s degree, and a law degree from the University of South Carolina.

In 1936, Williams entered politics and was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives. He was reelected in 1938. He was elected to the South Carolina Senate in 1940 and was reelected twice, serving from 1941 to 1953. In a newspaper article about Ray Williams, James H. McKinney, Jr. wrote, “He [Williams] sat quietly most of the time, rarely rising to speak, and when he did speak, he spoke quietly. But when he spoke the whole Senate grew quiet to listen to his soft voice.”

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RUSSELL C. WILLIAMS Born February 19, 1918, in Auburn, Indiana Died October 12, 2000, in Bethesda, Maryland Blinded in World War II, Williams devoted his life to work for the blind. Some of his work, such as the long cane technique, formed the basis for formalized training of the blind in the United States.

Williams graduated from Central Normal College and taught for a year before joining the United States Army in 1942. He was blinded from wounds received in combat in France in 1944. After receiving rehabilitation training at Valley Forge General Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, and Old Farms Convalescent Hospital in Avon, Connecticut, he was an instructor in the rehabilitation program for the blind at Valley Forge from 1945 to 1947. From 1947 to 1959 Williams was director of the Blind Rehabilitation Center in Hines, Illinois. From 1959 to 1975 he was Chief of Blind Rehabilitation in the Veterans Administration in Washington, D.C.

JAMES WILSON Born May 24, 1777, in Richmond, Virginia Died in 1845 Wilson’s father, a native of Scotland living in Virginia, sided with the Royalists during the American Revolution. When the Revolution was successful, Wilson’s father decided to return to England. His father, his mother, and four-year-old James sailed from New York headed for Liverpool, England. Twelve days into the sea voyage his father, who had been ill before the journey, fell ill again and died. His mother went into premature labor and died in childbirth. Soon after, James came down with smallpox and became blind. After the difficult crossing, the ship’s captain put into Belfast Harbor in Ireland instead of Liverpool. A church group took in the young orphaned Wilson.

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As a teenager Wilson carried letters to merchants in Belfast and the surrounding areas, and later had a job delivering newspapers within a five-mile area. He became an itinerant hardware dealer, using a long staff as a mobility aid. Wilson worked on educating himself, asking others to read to him, and at age twenty-one received training at the newly-opened Asylum for the Blind in Belfast. He married in 1802, and he and his wife had eleven children, four of whom lived to adulthood. Wilson then worked in an upholstery business, and in 1803 he joined a Reading Society in Belfast. He furthered his education with the classics read to him by friends, and composed poetry and songs.

Wilson also studied English history and became known as a walking encyclopedia. Wilson collected biographical information on persons who were blind, noting there were persons who were blind from every country and all eras who distinguished themselves. He published the first edition of Biography of the Blind in 1820. He published three more editions. The fourth, published in 1838, contained the stories of more than fifty persons who were blind and their achievements.

JOHN F. WILSON Born January 20, 1919, in Scarborough, England Died November 24, 1999, in Brighton, England Wilson was blinded when a Bunsen burner exploded in his face in a school chemistry lab accident at the age of twelve. He attended Worcester College for the Blind and earned a law degree from St. Catherine’s College, Oxford. Wilson did placement work at the Royal Institute for the Blind from 1941 to 1946 and founded the National Federation of the Blind in Britain in 1947.

In 1946 on a fact finding mission to assess the needs of the blind in the British Empire, Wilson found a tremendous need for education and rehabilitation services. Wilson established the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind (later known as Sightsaving International) in 1950, which started educational and rehabilitation

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programs in other countries. He also was director of the Society from 1950 to 1983.

In the 1950s Wilson organized a worldwide campaign against the blinding disease onchocerciasis, commonly known as “river blindness.” In the 1960s he organized teams of surgeons in India to perform more than 200,000 cataract operations per year. Wilson was knighted by Queen Elizabeth in 1975, and Sir John Wilson was highly influential in prompting the World Health Organization to establish an International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness in 1976. He was president of this organization until 1982. From 1983 until his death, Wilson worked on behalf of all disabilities.

Wilson wrote an autobiographical book, Traveling Blind (1963).

JOHN WINDSOR Born in 1920 in Edmonton, Canada Raised in Calgary, Canada, John Windsor attended the Royal Military College of Canada. He joined an armored regiment and shipped out to fight in World War II. In May 1944, while fighting in Italy, Windsor was blinded when his tank was hit. He was sent to England for training at St. Dunstan’s Training Center for War Blind before returning to Canada.

Windsor settled in Vancouver, Canada, and worked in a mattress factory. He did clerical work before starting a writing career. He wrote an autobiography, Blind Date (1962), and nonfiction books The Mouth of the Lion (1967) about World War II in Italy and The Girl from Tibet (1971). Windsor earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Victoria in 1972 and a master’s degree from the same university in 1974. He also wrote Night Drop at Ede (1982) about Len Mulholland, an intelligence officer with the Dutch Resistance in World War II.

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STEVIE WONDER Born May 13, 1950 in Saginaw, Michigan One of the most widely-known performers in the world, Stevie Wonder has had a long and illustrious career. Steveland Judkins Morris became blind shortly after birth due to retinopathy of prematurity. Raised in Detroit, Michigan, he began playing the harmonica at age five and piano and drums soon after. By age ten he had written his first song and signed a recording contract with Berry Gordy, Jr., who named him Little Stevie Wonder. His first album was Little Stevie Wonder: 12 Year Old Genius (1963). Through his teens he wrote songs, performed, recorded, and attended the Michigan School for the Blind, graduating in 1968. Some of his hit records at the time were “Fingertips, Part Two,” “Uptight,” “For Once in My Life,” “I Was Made to Love Her,” and “You Are the Sunshine of My Life.” Wonder appeared in two movies, Bikini Beach (1964) and Muscle Beach Party (1964). When he grew older he dropped the Little from his name, and continued to write and perform extremely popular music as Stevie Wonder.

A serious car accident in 1973 left him in a coma for three days and interrupted his career. However, his next album in 1976, Songs in the Key of Life, was a huge success. By age forty-five he had won seventeen Grammy Awards. Wonder writes much of his own music, and some of his songs address social issues. He has recorded more than twenty albums.

DAVID D. WOOD Born March 2, 1838, near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Died March 27, 1910, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wood lost his sight in one eye before his first birthday from an inflammation and the sight in the other eye in an accident at age three.

He graduated from the Pennsylvania Institute for the Instruction

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of the Blind in Philadelphia in 1856. From 1856 to 1862 he was the organist for several small churches. In 1862 he returned to the Pennsylvania Institute as a music teacher. The same year he became Director of Music at the Institute and continued in this position for forty-three years until his death. Wood was also organist at St. Stephen Episcopal Church in Philadelphia from 1864 to 1910.

Wood was the author of A Dictionary of Musical Terms for the Use of the Blind (1869) and a founding member of the American Guild of American Organists. From 1884 to 1909 he played the organ at evening services at the Baptist Temple, and for thirty years he was an organ instructor at the Philadelphia Musical Academy.

He also composed anthems and music for piano that were published posthumously.

MARJORIE MCGUFFIN WOOD Born October 30, 1903, in Rainier, Oregon Died November 18, 1988, in Vancouver, Canada Deaf and blind from the age of seven, Wood worked on behalf of deaf-blind persons in Canada. She founded the Braille magazine Dots and Taps in 1952 and started the Canadian League for DeafBlind in 1953. Wood was a national consultant on the welfare of the deaf-blind for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind from 1957 to 1971. She wrote an autobiography, Trudging Up Life’s Three-Sensed Highway (1978).

TIMOTHY WOODBRIDGE Born November 23, 1784, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts Died December 7, 1862, in Spencertown, New York Known as the blind minister, Woodbridge was an active minister in New York and Massachusetts from 1816 to 1853.

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Woodbridge entered Williams College at the age of fifteen, and at age sixteen lost his sight. He graduated from Williams College in 1893 and studied law but decided to pursue the ministry. He graduated from Andover Theological Seminary in 1811. From 1816 to 1842 he was minister of the Presbyterian Church in Green River, New York, from 1842 to 1851 he was the Presbyterian minister in Spencertown, New York, and from 1852 to 1853 he was minister of a Congregational Church in Alford, Massachusetts. He returned to Spencertown, New York, in 1853 and did charity work. Woodbridge wrote The Autobiography of a Blind Minister, Including Sketches of the Men and Events of His Time (1856).

KENGYO YAMADA Born in 1757 in Edo, Japan Died in 1817 in Japan The son of a musician, Yamada became blind in his youth. He was taught to play the koto, a large Japanese stringed instrument. He studied with Shokoku Matsuda and learned the Ikuta School of koto music. Later Yamada founded his own version of koto music, and his Yamada School flourished. In the twenty-first century most koto players belong to either the Ikuta or Yamada School. Yamada was also known for having a fine singing voice, and he produced many compositions.

HUA YANJUN Born in 1893 in Jiangsu Province, China Died December 1950 in Jiangsu Province, China A famous Chinese folk musician who was blind, Yanjun was orphaned at an early age and was adopted by the Taoist master,

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Hua Qingh, who taught him music. Yanjun became totally blind at age thirty-five when he did not get treatment for an eye infection.

After this he became known as Blind Abing. He sang and played the erhu (a two-stringed fiddle) and the pipa (a four-stringed lute).

Yanjun wrote one of the best-known Chinese songs of the twentieth century, “Moon Reflected in the Second Spring.�

CARA DUNNE YATES Born March 17, 1970, in Chicago, Illinois Died October 20, 2004, in Sutton, Massachusetts Cara Dunne had retinoblastoma at the age of one year and was totally blind by age five. She learned to ride a bike at age five and skied at age seven. At the age of eleven she became a member of the United States Disabled Alpine Ski Team. She competed in giant slalom and downhill racing events all over the world. Dunne attended public schools in Chicago and graduated from Harvard University in 1992.

She then earned a law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles. Cara earned a silver medal in alpine skiing in 1984 and a bronze medal in 1988 in alpine skiing at the Paralympics Games.

In 1992 she had cancer in a cheekbone and her right cheekbone and part of her throat were removed. She married Spenser Yates in 1998, and they had two children.

Yates competed in the 2000 Paralympics as a tandem bike racer and shortly after was diagnosed with liver cancer. She died in 2004 at age thirty-four from cancer.

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KENGYO YATSUHASHI Born in 1614 in Fukushina Prefecture, Japan Died in 1685 in Japan Known as the father of modern koto music, Yatsuhashi was also famous as a shamisen player. Jodan Yatsuhashi became blind as a child. He learned to play the shamisen, a Japanese lute. In 1636 he established the Yatsuhashi School that helped make koto music more popular. He became known as Kengyo, a name taken by prominent koto players of the time. He produced many compositions for koto music, and some are still played into the twenty-first century.

ELENA LOSHUERTOS ZELAYETA Born October 3, 1898, in Mexico City, Mexico Died March 31, 1974, in San Mateo, California Elena Loshuertos came to the United States from Mexico at age eleven when her parents moved to San Francisco, California. At age twenty-seven she married Lorenzo Zelayeta. Lorenzo turned out to be a philanderer, and they had a troubled marriage for eight years.

When Lorenzo finally settled down, he and Elena ran a restaurant together and had two children. Elena became blind at age thirtyseven from detached retinas but continued to run the restaurant and raise her family. Lorenzo was killed in an automobile accident in 1945.

Elena became a United States citizen in 1946, and in 1950 she started a business, Elena’s Food Specialties. She wrote cookbooks, including Elena’s Famous Mexican & Spanish Recipes (1950), Elena’s Fiesta Recipes (1961), Elena’s Secrets of Mexican Cooking (1958), and

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Elena’s Favorite Foods California Style (1972). She also wrote an autobiography, Elena (1960). At the end of her autobiography, she wrote, “I have said, ‘Oh God, I would give anything to see again.’

But today if God said, ‘I’ll give you back your sight in exchange for your friends,’ I would say, ‘No, keep my sight, I could not give up my friends.’”

JOHN ZISKA Born c. 1376 in Trocnov, Bohemia Died October 11, 1424, in Pribyslav, Bohemia A Bohemian military leader, Ziska was blind for only three years before his death in 1424; however, many publications list him as a notable blind person. In his book Biography of the Blind (1838), James Wilson wrote about Ziska, “His real name was John de Trocznow; but in the course of his military service he lost his left eye, from which circumstance he was called Zisca, that word, in the Bohemian language, signifying one-eyed.”

Ziska lost his right eye at the siege of Raby in 1421. Totally blind, he remained in command of the Taborite Army and won many victories. He died of the plague during the siege of Pribyslav. Ziska is one of the great military innovators, pioneering the use of wagons in warfare, and mounting guns on wagons, creating field artillery.

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Chronological Index B.C. Homer (700 B.C.-640 B.C.), 156 Democritus (460 B.C.-370 B.C.), 104 Claudius, Appius (350 B.C.-290 B.C.), 82 A.D. 1-1399 Didymus (313-398), 104–105 Ma’arri, Abdul ala al (973-1051), 188–189 Bela II (1108-1141), 33 Landini, Francesco (1325-1397), 180 Ziska, John (1376-1424), 304 1400s Paumann, Konrad (1410-1473), 227 Henry (1440-1492), 147 Margaret of Ravenna (1442-1505), 196 Schlick, Arnolt (1455-1525), 259 Surdas (1478-1563), 273 1500s Cabezon, Antonio de (1500-1566), 65–66 Salinas, Francisco de (1513-1590), 254 Fuenllana, Miguel de (1525-1579), 124 Groto, Luigi (1541-1585), 136 Fagnani, Prospero (1587-1678), 112 van Eyck, Jacob (1589-1657), 284–285 1600s Pagan, Blaise Francois (1604-1665), 223-224 Milton, John (1608-1674), 210–211

Yatsuhashi, Kengyo (1614-1685), 303 Rumphius, Georgius (1628-1702), 250–251 Lucas, Richard (1648-1715), 186 Bunyan, Mary (1650-1663), 63 Clement XII (1652-1740), 82 Tekakwitha, Kateri (1656-1580), 277 Carolan, Torlogh (1670-1738), 70 Saunderson, Nicholas (1682-1739), 256 Hempson, Denis (1695-1807), 146 Deffand, Marie du (1696-1780), 99–100 1700–1749 Williams, Anna (1706-1783), 294–295 Euler, Leonhard (1707-1783), 111–112 Parry, John (1710-1782), 226 Stanley, John (1712-1786), 270–271 Metcalf, John (1717-1810), 204-206 Blacklock, Thomas (1721-1791), 40–41 Fielding, John (1721-1780), 114–116 O’Neill, Arthur (1734-1816), 221 Pfeffel, Konrad (1736-1809), 230–231 Waddel, James (1739-1805), 288 Hanawa, Hokiichi (1746-1821), 141 Schou, Mathias (1747-1824), 260 1750–1799 Huber, Francois (1750-1831), 156–157 Baczko, Ludwig von (1756-1823), 29 Rushton, Edward (1756-1814), 252 Gough, John (1757-1825), 131

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Yamada, Kengyo (1757-1817), 301 Paradis, Marie Theresa von (17591824), 224–225 Moens, Petronella (1762-1843), 212–213 Berkenhead, John L. (1765-?), 34–35 Dulon, Friedrich Ludwig (17691826), 107–108 Kirchgassner, Marianne (1769-1808), 173 Shaw, Oliver (1776-1848), 263–264 Wilson, James (1777-1845), 296–297 Raftery, Antoine (1784-1835), 237–238 Woodbridge, Timothy (1784-1862), 300–01 Holman, James (1786-1857), 154–156 Rodenbach, Alexander (1786-1869), 246 Foucault, Pierre (1794-1871), 117–118 Moran, Michael (1794-1846), 215 Thierry, Augustin (1795-1856), 280 Prescott, William H. (1796-1859), 234–235 1800–1809 Castilho, Antonio Feliciano (18001875), 74–75 Levy, William Hanks (1800-1874), 184 Plateau, Joseph (1801-1883), 231 Foucault, Therese-Adele (1803-1831), 118 Veresai, Ostap (1803-1890), 285 Courtney, Abram V. (1805-?), 86–87 Brace, Julia (1807-1884), 53–54

Braille, Louis (1809-1852), 54–55 1810–1819 Browne, Frances (1816-1879), 60 Churchman, William H. (18181882), 80–81 DeKroyft, Helen Aldrich (18181915), 101–102 Moon, William (1818-1894), 214–215 Bowen, Benjamin B. (1819-?), 51–52 1820–1829 Crosby, Fanny (1820-1915), 88–91 Champlin, James (1821-?), 77 Holmes, Alice A. (1821-1914), 153–154 Bacon, Samuel (1823-1909), 28–29 Milburn, William H. (1823-1903), 207–209 Parkman, Francis (1823-1893), 225 Armitage, Thomas Rhodes (18241890), 21–22 Artman, William (1825-1912), 23 Gilbert, Elizabeth (1826-1885), 129 Hall, Lansing V. (1828-1891), 40 Sherrod, Dempsey B. (1828-1879), 265–266 Bridgman, Laura (1829-1889), 57 Heady, Morrison (1829-1915), 144–145 1830–1839 Vidal, Louis (1831-1892), 286-87 Campbell, Francis J. (1832-1914), 66–67 Mundy, Johnson (1832-1897), 216–217 Fawcett, Henry (1833-1884), 113 Gale, James (1833-1887), 126

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Degas, Edgar (1834-1917), 100 Fuller, Harvey (1834-1925), 124–126 Arms, Mary L. (1836-?), 22–23 Smith, Joel W. (1837-1924), 268–269 Wood, David D. (1838-1910), 299–300 Javal, Emil (1839-1907), 163 1840–1849 Herreshoff, John (1841-1915), 148–49 Campbell, Walter L. (1842-1905), 68–69 Couden, Henry N. (1842-1922), 96 Matheson, George (1842-1906), 197–198 Hendrickson, Henry (1843-1920), 146–147 Buckley, Christopher Augustine (1845-1922), 62 Pulitzer, Joseph (1847-1911), 236–237 Bethune, Thomas Greene (18491908), 35–37 1850–1859 Marston, Philip (1850-1887), 197 Babcock, Robert (1851-1930), 28 Shotwell, Ambrose M. (1853-1930), 267 de la Sizeranne, Maurice (18571924), 103 1860–1869 Hadley, William A. (1860-1941), 138–139 Delius, Fredrick (1862-1934), 103 Boone, John William (1864-1927), 46–47 Nolan, Edward J. (1864-1939), 220–221

Adams, Almeda C. (1865-1949), 12 Hollins, Alfred (1865-1942), 154 Ingalls, Mary (1865-1928), 160 Frost, E.B. (1866-1935), 123–124 Macy, Anne Sullivan (1866-1936), 193 Pearson, Arthur (1866-1921), 228–229 Dalen, Gustaf (1869-1937), 95–96 Hawkes, Clarence (1869-1951), 143–144 1870–1879 Gore, Thomas P. (1870-1949), 129–130 Griffith, Roberta A. (1870-1941), 134–135 Vierne, Louis (1870-1937), 287 Curtis, John B. (1871-1951), 92 Latimer, Henry Randolph (18711944), 181 Selby, Clarence (1872-1939), 262 Aston, Tilly (1873-1947), 24–25 Handy, W.C. (1873-1958), 141–142 Kaata, Ragnhild (1873-1947), 169 Perry, Newell (1873-1961), 229–230 Bretz, Alice (1875-1953), 56 Schall, Thomas D. (1878-1935), 257–258 1880–1889 Dubov, Leopold (1880-1955), 107 Keller, Helen (1880-1968), 170–171 Reed, Alfred (1880-1956), 240 Dooley, Simmie (1881-1961), 105–106 Reynolds, Joe (1882-1968), 242 Irwin, Robert B. (1883-1951), 161–162

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Nast, Albert A. (1883-?), 218 Grasse, Edwin (1884-1954), 132 Miyagi, Michio (1884-1956), 212 Garrett, Elizabeth (1885-1947), 127 Jenkins, Andrew (1885-1957), 165–166 Dunn, Matthew (1886-1942), 108–109 Atkinson, J. Robert (1887-1964), 25–27 Brown, Eleanor G. (1887-1964), 58–59 Farthing, Paul (1887-1976), 112 Whitfield, Ernest A. (1887-1963), 294 Caulfield, Genevieve (1888-1972), 75–76 Watts, Louis L. (1888-1974), 290–291 Husayn, Taha (1889-1973), 158–59 1890–1899 Dahl, Borghild (1890-1984), 94–95 Teetor, Ralph (1890-1982), 276 Bateman, Florence Golson (18911987), 32–33 Rodenberg, Louis W. (1891-1966), 247 McCollin, Frances (1892-1960), 198–199 Baker, Edwin A. (1893-1968), 30–31 Carter, Bo (1893-1964), 70 Cutsforth, Thomas D. (1893-1962), 93–94 Jefferson, Lemon (1893-1929), 163–165 Scapini, Georges (1893-1976), 257 Yanjun, Hua (1893-1950), 301–302 Cathey, Samuel (1894-1970), 75

Dranes, Arizona (1894-1963), 106–107 Huxley, Aldous L. (1894-1963), 159–160 Marchal, André (1894-1980), 196 Puckett, Riley (1894-1946), 235–236 Thurber, James (1894-1961), 281–282 Veysel, Asik (1894-1973), 286 Blake, Arthur (1895-1933), 42–43 Clunk, Joseph F. (1895-1975), 84 Mackenzie, Clutha (1895-1966), 191–192 Russell, Clint (1895-1961), 252–253 Salmon, Peter J. (1895-1981), 255 Aaronsohn, Michael (1896-1976), 10–11 Davis, Gary D. (1896-1972), 96–98 Walker, Willie (1896-1933), 289 Fraser, Ian (1897-1974), 121–122 Johnson, Willie (1897-1945), 167–168 Alsup, Lon E. (1898-1969), 18–19 Bjarhnof, Karl (1898-1980), 39 Iwahashi, Takeo (1898-1954), 162 Maas, Melvin J. (1898-1964), 189–190 Zelayeta, Elena Loshuertos (18981974), 303–304 Borges, Jorge Luis (1899-1986), 48–50 Estes, John A. (1899-1977), 110 Nawahi, Bennie (1899-1985), 218–219 Williams, Ray Robinson (18991987), 295

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1900–1909 Taggart, Joe (1900-?), 273–74 Betteridge, Alice (1901-1966), 37–38 Clifton, Bernice (1901-1985), 83 Fries, Emil B. (1901-1997), 122–123 Kenkulian, Hrant (1901-1978), 171–172 McTell, Willie (1901-1959), 200–201 Rodrigo, Joaquin (1901-1999), 247–248 Wood, Marjorie McGuffin (19031988), 299–300 Carver, Sonora (1904-2003), 72–73 Chevigny, Hector, 79–80 Ostrovsky, Nikolai A. (1904-1936), 221–223 Robinson, Leonard (1904-1980), 245–246 Ansell, Mike (1905-1994), 19–20 Campbell, James (1906-?), 67–68 Darby, Teddy (1906-?), 96 Fraser, Robert (1906-?), 122 Gray, Arvella (1906-1980), 133 Knight, Esmond (1906-1987), 176–177 Resnick, Rose (1906-2006), 240–241 Allen, Fulton (1907-1941), 14–16 Langlais, Jean (1907-1991), 180–181 Powers, William E. (1907-1989), 233–234 Walcha, Helmut (1907-1991), 288 Frank, Morris S. (1908-1980), 120–121 Pontryagin, Lev Semyonovich (19081988), 231 Graves, Roosevelt (1909-1962), 132–133

Litaize, Gaston (1909-1991), 184 Lowery, Fred (1909-1984), 185–86 Munn, Mary (1909-1991), 217 Tatum, Art (1909-1956), 275–276 Templeton, Alex (1909-1963), 277–278 1910–1919 Blackhall, David Scott (1910-1981), 39–40 DeGroot, Roy Andries (1910-1983), 100–101 Kumpe, Roy (1910-1987), 178–179 Magill, Arthur N. (1910-1986), 194 Barry, Henry (1911-1983), 32 Rodriguez, Arsenio (1911-1970), 248 Ten-Broek, Jacobus (1911-1968), 278–279 Terry, Sonny (1911-1986), 279–280 Buell, Charles (1912-1992), 62–63 Adair, Virginia (1913-2004), 11 Clark, Eleanor (1913-1996), 81 Davis, John Henry (1913-1985), 98 Benham, Thomas A. (1914-), 34 Shah, Fatima (1914-2002), 262–263 Skorokhodova, Olga (1914-1982), 268 Thornton, Walter (1914-), 281 Brown, Pearly (1915-1986), 59 Hibbler, Al (1915-2001), 149–150 Higgs, Blake Alphonso (1915-1985), 150 McDaniel, Durward (1915-1994), 199 Neer, Frances Lief (1915-2007), 219 Barnett, M. Robert (1916-1996), 31–32 Boswell, Charley A. (1916-1995), 50 Clemo, Jack (1916-1994), 82–83

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Foulk, Leonard (1916-1977), 119 Hardin, Louis (1916-1999), 142–143 Lawhorn, Geraldine (1916-), 182 Sperber, Al (1916-1985), 270 Boulter, Eric T. (1917-1989), 51 Burson, Samuel Bradley (1917-1998), 64 Cassell, Pete W. (1917-1954), 73–74 Payne, Leon (1917-1969), 227–228 Revis, Ken (1917-2002), 241 Allman, Robert G. (1918-1994), 16–17 Cole, Criss (1918-1985), 84–85 Lazaro, Joe (1918-), 182 Lucas, William (1918-1982), 187 MacFarland, Douglas C. (19181977), 191 Nemeth, Abraham (1918-), 219–220 Williams, Russell C. (1918-2000), 296 Montanus, Ralph (1919-1986), 213 Rives, Louis Jr. (1919-1986), 244 Shearing, George (1919-2011), 264–265 Tristano, Lennie (1919-1978), 282–283 Wilson, John F. (1919-1999), 297–298 1920–1929 Brewer, James (1920-1988), 56 Cushen, Arthur T. (1920-1997), 93 Hamilton, Neil (1920-), 140–141 Putnam, Peter B. (1920-1998), 237 Rains, Euclid (1920-2000), 238–239 Schmid, Al (1920-1982), 259–260 Twersky, Jacob (1920-), 284 Windsor, John (1920-), 298 Alonso, Alicia (1921-), 17–18

Flynn, Frank Emilio (1921-2001), 117 Griffiths, Bill (1921-), 135–136 Mahoney, Robert D. (1921-), 194–195 Ramirez, Gilbert (1921-2000), 239 Gallagher, William F. (1922-2000), 126–127 Greenwood, Lloyd (1922-1962), 134 Grunwald, Harry (1922-2005), 136–137 Bodron, Ellis Barkett, Jr. (19231997), 45–46 Hall, Kenny (1923-), 139–140 Kinney, Richard (1923-1979), 172–173 Watson, Doc (1923-), 289–290 Lusseyran, Jacques (1924-1971), 187–188 Riley, Bob (1924-1994), 243–244 Russell, Robert W. (1924-), 253–254 Brownlee, Archie (1925-1960), 61–62 Cranmer, Tim (1925-2001), 87–88 Smithdas, Robert J. (1925-), 269 Wedewer, Donald H. (1925-), 291–292 Jernigan, Kenneth L. (1926-1998), 166 Mekkawi, Sayed (1926-1997), 203 Edwards, Graeme (1927-), 109 Genensky, Samuel (1927-2009), 127–128 Blackman, Barbara (1928-), 41–42 Gwaltney, John Langston (19281998), 138 LeJeune, Iry (1928-1955), 183 Morello, Joe (1928-2011), 215–216 Foulke, Emerson (1929-1997), 119

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Fountain, Clarence (1929-), 119–120 Scott, George (1929-2005), 261–262 1930–1939 Charles, Ray (1930-2004), 78–79 Fiorito, Eunice K. (1930-1999), 116 Morin, Bernard A. (1931-), 216 Potok, Andrew (1931-), 232 Butler, Beverly K. (1932-), 64–65 Little, Jean (1932-), 185 Browne, Pat, Jr. (1933-), 61 Casey, Richard C. (1933-), 73 Johnson, Larry P. (1933-), 166–167 Miller, Oral (1933-), 209 Montoliu, Tete (1933-1997), 214 McKenna, Fred (1934-1977), 200 Mehta, Ved (1934-), 202–203 Adelman, Gary (1935-), 12–13 Capers, Valerie (1935-), 69 Hull, John M. (1935-), 157 Kirk, Rahsaan Roland (1935-1977), 174–175 Bollard, Joe (1936-), 46 Carter, Clarence (1936-), 71–72 Eaglin, Snooks (1936-), 109 Stephens, Otis H. (1936-), 271 Tuttle, Dean (1936-), 283 Becht, Adeline (1937-), 33 Ching, Lucy (1937-), 80 Cordellos, Harry (1937-), 85 Gould, R. Budd (1937-1997), 131–132 Hull, Ted (1937-), 158 Mishra, Bharat (1937-), 211–212 Campbell, Phyllis (1938-), 68 Gund, Gordon (1939-), 137 Herie, Euclid (1939-), 147–148 Sargeant, Gary (1939-), 255

1940–1949 Bhalerao, Usha (1940-), 38–39 Irwin, Bill (1940-), 160–161 Medema, Ken (1942-), 201–202 Tatel, David S. (1942-), 274–275 Alexander, Sally Hobart (1943-), 13–14 Covington, George (1943-), 87 Lee, Bryan (1943-), 183 Milsap, Ronnie (1943-), 209–210 Jain, Ravindra (1944-), 162–163 Kang, Young Woo (1944-), 169 Krents, Harold (1944-1987), 177-178 Naranjo, Michael A., (1944-), 217–218 Feliciano, José (1945-), 113-114 Augusto, Carl R. (1946-), 27–28 Hocken, Sheila (1946-), 153 Michalko, Rod (1946-), 206–207 Vermeij, Geerat (1946-), 285–286 Blunkett, David (1947-), 43–44 Collinsworth, Millicent (1947-), 85 Hilton-Barber, Geoff (1947-), 151 Sullivan, Tom (1947-), 272–273 White, Peter (1947-), 293–294 Hilton-Barber, Miles (1948-), 151–152 Kent, Deborah Ann (1948-), 172 Butler, Henry (1949-), 65 Cullers, Kent D. (1949-), 91 Hartman, David W. (1949-), 143 Kloss, Eric (1949-), 175–176 1950–1959 Brace, Mike (1950-), 52–53 Bradley, Robert (1950-), 54 Pena, Paul (1950-2005), 229

312 Perkins School for the Blind

Wonder, Stevie (1950-), 299 Maurer, Marc (1951-), 198 Shrivastav, Baluji (1951-), 269 Brock, Joan (1952-), 58 Poulson, Jane (1952-2001), 232–233 Armagan, Esref (1953-), 20 Schuur, Diane (1953-), 261 Bagayoko, Amadou (1954-), 30 Gibbs, Terri (1954-), 128 Paterson, David A. (1954-), 226-229 Cummings, Morris (1955-), 91–92 Kuusisto, Stephen (1955-), 179 Manning, Lynn (1955-), 195–196 Mendoza, George (1955-), 204 Kleege, Georgina (1956-), 175 Rosa, Dona (1957-), 249 Bocelli, Andrea (1958-), 44–45

Doumbia, Mariam (1958-), 106 Stovall, Jim (1958-), 272 1960–1969 MacFarlane, Craig (1963-), 190 Roberts, Marcus (1963-), 245 Rothchild, Jennifer (1963-), 249–250 Knipfel, Jim (1965-), 177 Healey, Jeff (1966-2008), 145–146 Midon, Raul (1966-), 207 Weihenmayer, Erik (1968-), 229 Runyan, Marla (1969-), 251–252 1970–1979 Tenberken, Sabriye (1970-), 278 Yates, Cara Dunne (1970-2004), 302 DeBlois, Tony (1974-), 98–99 Owens, Ginny (1975-), 223

UNDAUNTED BY BLINDNESS 313

Geographical Index ARGENTINA Borges, Jorge Luis, 48–50 AUSTRALIA Aston, Tilly, 24–25 Betteridge, Alice, 37–38 Blackman, Barbara, 41–42 Edwards, Graeme, 109

CHINA Ching, Lucy, 80 Yanjun, Hua, 301–302 CUBA Alonso, Alicia, 17–18 Flynn, Frank Emilio, 117 Rodriguez, Arsenio, 248

AUSTRIA Paradis, Marie Theresa von, 224–225

DENMARK Bjarnhof, Karl, 39

BAHAMAS Higgs, Blake Alphonso, 150

EGYPT Didymus, 104–105 Husayn, Taha, 158–159 Mekkawi, Sayed, 203

BELGIUM Plateau, Joseph, 231 Rodenbach, Alexander, 246 BOHEMIA Ziska, John, 304 CANADA Baker, Edwin A., 30–31 Hamilton, Neil, 140–141 Healey, Jeff, 145–146 Herie, Euclid, 147–148 Little, Jean, 185 MacFarlane, Craig, 190 Magill, Arthur N., 194 McKenna, Fred, 200 Michalko, Rod, 206–207 Munn, Mary, 217 Poulson, Jane, 232–233 Tekakwitha, Kateri, 277 Windsor, John, 298 Wood, Marjorie McGuffin, 299–300

FRANCE Braille, Louis, 54–55 Deffand, Marie du, 99–100 Degas, Edgar, 100 de la Sizeranne, Maurice, 103 Delius, Fredrick, 103 Foucault, Pierre, 117–118 Foucault, Therese-Adele, 118 Javal, Emil, 163 Langlais, Jean, 180–181 Litaize, Gaston, 184 Lusseyran, Jacques, 187–188 Marchal, André, 196 Morin, Bernard A., 216 Nast, Albert A., 218 Pagan, Blaise Francois, 223–224 Scapini, Georges, 257 Thierry, Augustin, 280 Vidal, Louis, 286–287 Vierne, Louis, 287

314 Perkins School for the Blind

GERMANY Dulon, Friedrich Ludwig, 107–108 Hardin, Louis, 142–143 Kirchgassner, Marianne, 173 Paumann, Konrad, 227 Pfeffel, Konrad, 230–231 Rumphius, Georgius, 250–251 Schlick, Arnolt, 259 Tenberken, Sabriye, 278 Walcha, Helmut, 288 GREECE Democritus, 104 Homer, 156 HOLLAND Moens, Petronella, 212–213 van Eyck, Jacob, 284–285 HUNGARY Bela II, 33

JAPAN Hanawa, Hokiichi, 141 Iwahashi, Takeo, 162 Miyagi, Michio, 212 Yamada, Kengyo, 301 Yatsuhashi, Kengyo, 303 KOREA Kang, Young Woo, 169 LUXEMBOURG Schou, Mathias, 260 MALI Bagayoko, Amadou, 30 Doumbia, Mariam, 106 MEXICO Johnson, Larry P., 166–167 NEW ZEALAND Cushen, Arthur T., 93 Mackenzie, Clutha, 191–192

INDIA Bhalerao, Usha, 38–39 Jain, Ravindra, 162–163 Mehta, Ved, 202–203 Mishra, Bharat, 211–212 Shrivastav, Baluji, 267 Surdas, 273

NORWAY Kaata, Ragnhild, 169

INDONESIA Rumphius, Georgius, 250–251

PORTUGAL Castilho, Antonio Feliciano, 74–75 Rosa, Dona, 249

ITALY Bocelli, Andrea, 44–45 Claudius, Appius, 82 Clement XII, 82 Fagnani, Prospero, 112 Groto, Luigi, 136 Landini, Francesco, 180 Margaret of Ravenna, 196

PAKISTAN Shah, Fatima, 262–263 POLAND Twersky, Jacob, 284

PRUSSIA Baczko, Ludwig von, 29 RUSSIA Euler, Leonhard, 111–112 Ostrovsky, Nikolai A., 221–223 Pontryagin, Lev Semyonovich, 231 Skorokhodova, Olga, 268

UNDAUNTED BY BLINDNESS 315

SPAIN Cabezon, Antonio de, 65–66 Fuenllana, Miguel de, 124 Montoliu, Tete, 214 Rodrigo, Joaquin, 247–248 Salinas, Francisco de, 254 SWEDEN Dalen, Gustaf, 95–96 SWITZERLAND Borges, Jorge Luis, 48–50 Euler, Leonhard, 111–112 Huber, Francois, 156–157 SYRIA Ma’arri, Abdul ala al, 188–189 THAILAND Caulfield, Genevieve, 75–76 TURKEY Armagan, Esref, 20 Kenkulian, Hrant, 171–172 Veysel, Asik, 286 UKRAINE Veresai, Ostap, 285 UNITED KINGDOM Ansell, Mike, 19–20 Armitage, Thomas Rhodes, 21–22 Blackhall, David Scott, 39–40 Blacklock, Thomas, 40–41 Blunkett, David, 43–44 Bollard, Joe, 46 Boulter, Eric T., 51 Brace, Mike, 52–53 Browne, Frances, 60 Bunyan, Mary, 63 Campbell, Francis J., 66–67 Carolan, Torlogh, 70

Clemo, Jack, 82–83 Edwards, Graeme, 109 Fawcett, Henry, 113 Fielding, John, 114–116 Fraser, Ian, 121–122 Gale, James, 126 Gilbert, Elizabeth, 129 Gough, John, 131 Griffiths, Bill, 135–136 Hempson, Denis, 146 Henry, 147 Hilton-Barber, Miles, 151–152 Hocken, Sheila, 153 Hollins, Alfred, 154 Holman, James, 154–156 Hull, John M., 157 Huxley, Aldous L., 159–160 Knight, Esmond, 176–177 Levy, William Hanks, 184 Lucas, Richard, 186 Marston, Philip, 197 Matheson, George, 197–198 Metcalf, John, 204–206 Milton, John, 210–211 Moon, William, 214–215 Moran, Michael, 215 O’Neill, Arthur, 221 Parry, John, 226 Pearson, Arthur, 228–229 Raftery, Antoine, 237–238 Revis, Ken, 241 Rushton, Edward, 252 Sargeant, Gary, 255 Saunderson, Nicholas, 256 Shearing, George, 264–265 Stanley, John, 270–271 Templeton, Alex, 277–278 Thornton, Walter, 281

316 Perkins School for the Blind

White, Peter, 293–294 Whitfield, Ernest A., 294 Williams, Anna, 294–295 Wilson, James, 296–297 Wilson, John F., 297–298 USA Alabama Bateman, Florence Golson, 32–33 Boswell, Charley A., 50 Carter, Clarence, 71–72 Fountain, Clarence, 119–120 Irwin, Bill, 160–161 Rains, Euclid, 238–239 Scott, George, 261–262 Arkansas Collinsworth, Millicent, 85 Kumpe, Roy, 178–179 Riley, Bob, 243–244 Rives, Louis Jr., 244 California Adair, Virginia, 11 Atkinson, J. Robert, 25–27 Buckley, Christopher Augustine, 62 Buell, Charles, 62–63 Charles, Ray, 78–79 Cordellos, Harry, 85 Cutsforth, Thomas D., 93–94 Foulk, Leonard, 119 Genensky, Samuel, 127–128 Hall, Kenny, 139–140 Huxley, Aldous L., 159–160 Mannng, Lynn, 195–196 Nawahi, Bennie, 218–219 Neer, Frances, Lief, 219 Pena, Paul, 229 Perry, Newell, 229–230 Resnick, Rose, 240–241

Rodriguez, Arsenio, 248 Runyan, Marla, 251–252 Ten-Broek, Jacobus, 278–279 Vermeij, Geerat, 285–286 Wonder, Stevie, 299 Zelayeta, Elena Loshuertos, 303–304 Colorado Tuttle, Dean, 283 Weihenmayer, Erik, 292–293 Connecticut Brace, Julia, 53–54 Keller, Helen, 170–171 Smith, Joel W., 268–269 Templeton, Alex, 277–278 Florida Barnett, M. Robert, 31–32 Montanus, Ralph, 213 Roberts, Marcus, 245 Rothchild, Jennifer, 249–250 Schmid, Al, 259–260 Wedewer, Donald H., 291–292 Georgia Blake, Arthur, 42–43 Brown, Pearly, 59 Cassell, Pete W., 73–74 Gibbs, Terri, 128 Jenkins, Andrew, 165–166 McTell, Willie, 200–201 Puckett, Riley, 235–236 Hawaii Nawahi, Bennie, 218–219 Illinois Adelman, Gary, 12–13 Arms, Mary L., 22–23

UNDAUNTED BY BLINDNESS 317

Babcock, Robert, 28 Brewer, James, 56 Burson, Samuel Bradley, 64 Butler, Henry, 64–65 Clifton, Bernice, 83 Curtis, John B., 92 Davis, John Henry, 98 Dranes, Arizona, 106–107 Farthing, Paul, 112 Frost, E.B., 123–124 Gray, Arvella, 133 Hadley, William A., 138–139 Hendrickson, Henry, 146–147 Hibbler, Al, 149–150 Jefferson, Lemon, 163–165 Kinney, Richard, 172–173 Lawhorn, Geraldine, 182 Miller, Oral, 209 Nolan, Edward J., 220–221 Rodenberg, Louis W., 247 Indiana Churchman, William H., 80–81 Teetor, Ralph, 276 Williams, Russell C., 296 Iowa Brock, Joan, 58

Maryland Jernigan, Kenneth L., 166 Latimer, Henry Randolph, 181 Maas, Melvin J., 189–190 Maurer, Marc, 198 Massachusetts Barry, Henry, 32 Bowen, Benjamin B., 51–52 Bridgman, Laura, 57 Clark, Eleanor, 81 Gallagher, William F., 126–127 Hawkes, Clarence, 143–144 Keller, Helen, 170–171 Lazaro, Joe, 182 Parkman, Francis, 225 Prescott, William H., 234–235 Sullivan, Tom, 272–273 Yates, Cara Dunne, 302 Michigan Bradley, Robert, 54 Griffith, Roberta A., 134–135 Hull, Ted, 158 Mahoney, Robert D., 194–195 Medema, Ken, 201–202 Nemeth, Abraham, 219–220 Shotwell, Ambrose M., 267

Kentucky Cranmer, Tim, 87–88 Foulke, Emerson, 118–119 Heady, Morrison, 144–145

Minnesota Dahl, Borghild, 94–95 Lucas, William, 187 Russell, Clint, 252–253 Schall, Thomas D., 257–258

Louisiana Browne, Pat, Jr., 61 Eaglin, Snooks, 109 Lee, Bryan, 183 LeJeune, Iry, 183 Reynolds, Joe, 242

Mississippi Bodron, Ellis Barkett, Jr., 44–46 Brownlee, Archie, 61–62 Carter, Bo, 71 Cummings, Morris, 91–92 Graves, Roosevelt, 132–133

318 Perkins School for the Blind

Missouri Boone, John William, 46–47 Darby, Teddy, 96 Montana Gould, R. Budd, 131–132 Nebraska Bacon, Samuel, 28–29 New Jersey Bethune, Thomas Greene, 35–37 Carver, Sonora, 72–73 Frank, Morris S., 120–121 Holmes, Alice A., 153–154 Putnam, Peter B., 237 Weihenmayer, Erik, 292 New Mexico Garrett, Elizabeth, 127 Mendoza, George, 204 Naranjo, Michael A., 217–218 New York Artman, William, 23 Augusto, Carl R., 27–28 Bretz, Alice, 56 Capers, Valerie, 69 Casey, Richard C., 73 Chevigny, Hector, 79–80 Courtney, Abram V., 86–87 Crosby, Fanny, 88–91 Davis, Gary D., 96–98 DeGroot, Roy Andries, 100–101 DeKroyft, Helen Aldrich, 101–102 Dubov, Leopold, 107 Feliciano, José, 113–114 Fiorito, Eunice K., 116 Grasse, Edwin, 132 Greenwood, Lloyd, 134 Grunwald, Harry, 136–137

Gwaltney, John Langston, 138 Hall, Lansing V., 140 Handy, W.C., 141–142 Hardin, Louis, 142–143 Kent, Deborah Ann, 172 Kleege, Georgina, 175 Krents, Harold, 177–178 Macy, Anne Sullivan, 193 Mehta, Ved, 202–203 Midon, Raul, 207 Morello, Joe, 215–216 Mundy, Johnson, 216–217 Paterson, David A., 226–227 Potok, Andrew, 232 Pulitzer, Joseph, 236–237 Ramirez, Gilbert, 239 Salmon, Peter J., 255 Selby, Clarence, 262 Shearing, George, 264–265 Smithdas, Robert J., 269 Sperber, Al, 270 Tatum, Art, 275–276 Terry, Sonny, 279–280 Thurber, James, 281–282 Tristano, Lennie, 282–283 Twersky, Jacob, 284 Woodbridge, Timothy, 300–301 North Carolina Allen, Fulton, 14–16 Cathey, Samuel, 75 Watson, Doc, 289–290 Ohio Aaronsohn, Michael, 10–11 Adams, Almeda C., 12 Brown, Eleanor G., 58–59 Campbell, Walter L., 68–69 Fuller, Harvey, 124–126 Gund, Gordon, 137

UNDAUNTED BY BLINDNESS 319

Kirk, Rahsaan Roland, 174–175 Kuusisto, Stephen, 179

Owens, Ginny, 223 Stephens, Otis H., 271

Oklahoma Cullers, Kent D., 91 Stovall, Jim, 272

Texas Alsup, Lon E., 18–19 Cole, Criss, 84–85 Covington, George, 87 DeBlois, Tony, 98–99 Johnson, Larry P., 166–167 Johnson, Willie, 167–168 Lowery, Fred, 185–186 Payne, Leon, 227–228

Oregon Becht, Adeline, 33 Pennsylvania Alexander, Sally Hobart, 13–14 Allman, Robert G., 16–17 Benham, Thomas A., 34 Clunk, Joseph F., 84 Dunn, Matthew, 108–109 Fraser, Robert, 122 Hartman, David W., 143 Kloss, Eric, 175–176 McCollin, Frances, 198–199 Russell, Robert W., 253–254 Wood, David D., 299–300 Rhode Island Berkenhead, John L., 34–35 Herreshoff, John, 148–149 Powers, William E., 233–234 Shaw, Oliver, 263–264 South Carolina Dooley, Simmie, 105–106 Taggart, Joe, 273–274 Walker, Willie, 289 Williams, Ray Robinson, 295 South Dakota Ingalls, Mary, 160 Tennessee Campbell, James, 67–68 Champlin, James, 77 Estes, John A., 110 Milsap, Ronnie, 209–210

Virginia Campbell, Phyllis, 68 Couden, Henry N., 96 MacFarland, Douglas C., 191 Waddel, James, 288 Watts, Louis L., 290–291 Washington Fries, Emil B., 122–123 Irwin, Robert B., 161–162 Schuur, Diane, 261 Washington, D.C. Gore, Thomas P., 129–130 McDaniel, Durward, 199 Milburn, William H., 207–209 Robinson, Leonard, 245–246 Sherrod, Dempsey B., 265–266 Tatel, David S., 274–275 Williams, Russell C., 295 West Virginia Reed, Alfred, 240 Wisconsin Butler, Beverly K., 65 Knipfel, Jim, 177 ZIMBABWE Hilton-Barber, Geoff, 151

320 Perkins School for the Blind

Be of good cheer. Do not think of today’s failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow.

You have set yourself a difficult task, but you will succeed if you persevere; and you will find a joy in overcoming obstacles.

—Helen Keller (1880–1968)

h

“An inspirational compilation that will erase the words ‘I can’t’ from your vocabulary.”

—Kevin S. Bright, Executive Producer, “Friends” “Undaunted by Blindness is a long overdue history of individuals who are blind who have made significant contributions to society in spite of their visual challenges . . . nothing short of empowering and inspirational.” ­—Commissioner, Janet L. LaBreck Massachusetts Commission for the Blind “Clifford Olstrom has uncovered some fascinating personal histories— full of surprises and inspiration.”

—Rick Beyer, filmmaker and author of The Greatest Stories Never Told history series “A remarkable book about the lives of extraordinary people. These are profiles in courage—and determination.”

—Stuart E. Weisberg, author of Barney Frank: The Story of America’s Only Left-Handed, Gay, Jewish Congressman “Undaunted by Blindness fully illuminates the extraordinary contributions of scores of individuals for whom blindness was no impediment to greatness.

They are artists and musicians, athletes and military leaders, writers and visionaries who changed the world by seeing things others could not.”

—Joseph P. Kahn, staff writer, The Boston Globe and co-author of The Last Lion: The Fall and Rise of Ted Kennedy

For information and other educational books from Perkins School for the Blind, visit www.Perkins.org/publications

Perkins School for the Blind 175 North Beacon Street Watertown, MA 02472 www.perkins.org