Special Collections
Blindness and Visual Impairment Special Collection
Description: A collection featuring biographies, memoirs, fiction and non-fiction by and about members of the blind community. #disability
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To Race the Wind
by Harold KrentsThe autobiography of Harold Krents, a young blind man who was a well-known lawyer in the early 1970's. Harold was the inspiration for the film and play, Butterflies Are Free.
Crashing Through
by Robert KursonIn his critically acclaimed bestsellerShadow Divers, Robert Kurson explored the depths of history, friendship, and compulsion. Now Kurson returns with another thrilling adventure–the stunning true story of one man’s heroic odyssey from blindness into sight. Mike May spent his life crashing through. Blinded at age three, he defied expectations by breaking world records in downhill speed skiing, joining the CIA, and becoming a successful inventor, entrepreneur, and family man. He had never yearned for...
How Do you Kiss a Blind Girl?
by Sally Roesch WagnerSally Wagner grew up in Prairie Village, Kan., and received a B.A. in English from Grinnell College. She taught high school English in Lakewood, Colorado, and re ceived an M.A. in journalism from the University of Colorado. She turned from teaching to journalism, but within months came the first signs of what led to blindness three years later.
With Andy, her golden retriever dog guide from the Seeing Eye, she took a public relations post, returned to reporting and collected the anecdotes which drew her back to Prairie Village to write this book. Wagner, 42, now covers a police beat for the Kansas City Times from her Prairie Village apartment.
No Barriers
by Erik Weihenmayer and Buddy LevyErik Weihenmayer is the first and only blind person to summit Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Descending carefully, he and his team picked their way across deep crevasses and through the deadly Khumbu Icefall; when the mountain was finally behind him, Erik knew he was going to live. His expedition leader slapped him on the back and said something that would affect the course of Erik’s life: “Don’t make Everest the greatest thing you ever do.”
No Barriers is Erik’s response to that challenge. It is the moving story of his journey since descending Mount Everest: from leading expeditions around the world with blind Tibetan teenagers to helping injured soldiers climb their way home from war, from adopting a son from Nepal to facing the most terrifying reach of his life: to solo kayak the thunderous whitewater of the Grand Canyon.Along the course of Erik’s journey, he meets other trailblazers—adventurers, scientists, artists, and activists—who, despite trauma, hardship, and loss, have broken through barriers of their own. These pioneers show Erik surprising ways forward that surpass logic and defy traditional thinking.
Like the rapids of the Grand Canyon, created by inexorable forces far beneath the surface, No Barriers is a dive into the heart and mind at the core of the turbulent human experience. It is an exploration of the light that burns in all of us, the obstacles that threaten to extinguish that light, and the treacherous ascent towards growth and rebirth.
Two Ends of a Leash
by Grace D. NapierTwo Ends of a Leash: Unshackled is the life story of author Grace D. Napier.
Born blind, Grace came from a humble home in New Jersey. She began school when there were no special education programs for children who were blind. The teachers and principal regarded Grace as not only blind, but also mentally retarded. Because they misunderstood her disability, they ignored her, letting her sit idle at her desk every day. Nevertheless, Grace had a hunger to learn.
When her parents heard about a special education program in the next city, Grace met Miss Katharine Taylor, her new special education teacher. Grace's life was forever changed, thanks to the influence of this gifted teacher. Now eighty-five, Grace resides in Colorado after a long career of teaching children and graduate students at three universities.
Grace began using Seeing Eye dog guides when she was seventeen years old. She is now working with her ninth dog, Esma (shown on the front cover). Read her fascinating and inspiring story.
Breaking Barriers
by Peter AltschulFor some unknown reason, Peter Altschul was born totally blind. He grew up in a working-class town where, with the help of his persistent mother, he broke through barrier after barrier, determined to live a full life.
After attending a private school that initially turned him away--simply because he was blind--Peter details how he discovered his gift for music, eventually playing percussion in the orchestra, marching band, and jazz ensemble at Princeton University.
But it was only after Peter graduated from college that it became evident he would need a guide dog. Heidi, a Weimaraner with a large repertoire of barks, howls, and grunts, would assist Peter for the next eight years through the halls of New England Conservatory, where he eventually obtained a master's degree in music composition.
Peter relays how he blazed a unique professional trail while simultaneously overcoming obstacles; managed his uneasy relationship with music; and embraced his unexpected entrance into an unfamiliar and romantic world.
He also provides an unforgettable glimpse into the wonderful ways his five guide dogs supported him on his journey from urban bachelorhood to the light of love.
Breaking Barriers shares a compelling account of one man's journey through life as he and each of his specially trained dogs learned to trust each other, ultimately melding into a smooth working team that tackled the world-together.
Eclipse
by Hugues De Montalembert and David NoakesUp until 1978, the author, a French count by birth, was a painter. He travelled extensively working on documentary films such as I A Dancer about Rudolph Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. He took a deep interest in the culture of the countries he visited: the harlem voodoo in West Africa and Indonesian music in Bali. On May 25th 1978, when returning to his apartment in New York from a Greenwich Village coffee-house, he was met by two intruders who threw caustic solution in his face. At the age of thirty-five he was blinded for life. Hugues de Montalembert is currently based in Rome although he continues to travel between Europe, America and South East Asia. The French edition of ECLIPSE became a bestseller when it was published in 1982 and the author is currently working on his second book.
Facing the Wind
by Julie SalamonRobert and Mary Rowe’s second child, Christopher, was born with severe neurological and visual impairments. For many years, the Rowes’ courageous response to adversity set an example for a group of Brooklyn mothers who met to discuss the challenges of raising children with birth defects. Then Bob Rowe’s pressures — professional and personal — took their toll, and he fell into depression and, ultimately delusion. And one day he took a baseball bat and killed his three children and his wife. InFacing the Wind,Julie Salamon not only tells the Rowes’ tragic story but also explores the lives of others drawn into it: the mothers, a social worker with problems of her own, an ocularist — that is, a man who makes prosthetic eyes — a young woman who enters the novitiate out of shame over her childhood sexual activities, and a judge of unusual wisdom. Facing the Windis a work of redemptive compassion and understanding. It addresses the questions of how human beings cope with the burdens that chance inflicts upon them and what constitutes moral and legal guilt and innocence.
Adventures in Darkness
by Tom SullivanIn Adventures in Darkness, Tom Sullivan takes readers through the adventures of his monumental eleventh year. Blind since birth, Tom lived in a challenging world of isolation and special treatment. But he was driven to break out and live as sighted people do. This book is a hair-raising, heart-warming experience that culminates in Tom's reliance upon God to realize his dreams of a "normal" life.
Cry Purple
by Christine McdonaldThis is the story of the author's journey from almost two decades of prostitution, crack addiction and prison to her present life of blindness, motherhood and happiness.
Shades of Darkness
by George E. BrummellThe last image I ever saw--the instant before my eyes were seared by a landmine explosion in the jungles of Vietnam--is always with me. Many times during the past forty years, I have thought of myself as unlucky. But a soldier I met recently left me wondering. The meeting happened on a visit with a friend and fellow Vietnam veteran to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, D.C., where some of America's wounded warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan were being treated.
Now I See You
by Nicole C. KearAt nineteen years old, Nicole C. Kear's biggest concern is choosing a major--until she walks into a doctor's office in midtown Manhattan and gets a life-changing diagnosis. She is going blind, courtesy of an eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa, and has only a decade or so before Lights Out. Instead of making preparations as the doctor suggests, Kear decides to carpe diem and make the most of the vision she has left. She joins circus school, tears through boyfriends, travels the world, and through all these hi-jinks, she keeps her vision loss a secret.
When Kear becomes a mother, just a few years shy of her vision's expiration date, she amends her carpe diem strategy, giving up recklessness in order to relish every moment with her kids. Her secret, though, is harder to surrender - and as her vision deteriorates, harder to keep hidden. As her world grows blurred, one thing becomes clear: no matter how hard she fights, she won't win the battle against blindness. But if she comes clean with her secret, and comes to terms with the loss, she can still win her happy ending.
Told with humor and irreverence, Now I See You is an uplifting story about refusing to cower at life's curve balls, about the power of love to triumph over fear. But, at its core, it's a story about acceptance: facing the truths that just won't go away, and facing yourself, broken parts and all.
Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind
by Lindy BergmanOut of Sight, Not Out of Mind presents a personal account of living successfully with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), combined with powerful new information on effective service delivery. Ninety-three-year old Lindy Bergman illustrates the ways in which life with low vision can be lived with independence, dignity, and personal satisfaction. Also included are highly informative chapters, written by the world-renowned experts from The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who are Blind or Visually Impaired, encompassing the latest information about the causes and treatment of AMD; a concise, informative overviews of the effects of aging on vision, the emotional and psychological components of vision loss and the integration of the individual's psychological recovery into low vision service delivery; and a cutting-edge model of rehabilitation that meets the challenges of service provision today. Foreword by Jonathan Safran Foer, award-winning author of Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
C'mon Papa
by Ryan KnightonRyan Knighton's humorous and perceptive tales of fatherhood take us inside an unusual new family, one bound by its father's particular darkness and light.
C'mon Papa is Ryan Knighton's heartbreaking and hilarious voyage through the first year of fatherhood. Becoming a father is a stressful, daunting rite of passage to be sure, but for a blind father, the fears are unimaginably heightened. Ryan will have to find novel ways to adapt to nearly every aspect of parenting: the most basic skills are nearly impossible to contemplate, let alone master. And how will Ryan get to know this pre-verbal bundle of coos and burps when he can't see her smile, or look into her eyes for hints of the person to come? But this is no pity party, and Ryan has no time for sentimentality.
Tackling these hurdles with grace and humour, Ryan is determined to do his part -- and this is where the fun starts. From holding his daughter as she wails into the night to their first nerve-wracking walk to the cafe, no activity between father and daughter is without its pitfalls. In his struggle to "see" Tess, Ryan reimagines the relationship between father and child during that first chaotic year.
The World as I Have Found It
by Mary L. Day ArmsA graduate of the Maryland Institution for the Blind, Mary L. Day published a memoir in 1859 entitled Incidents in the Life of a Blind Girl. In this book, a sequel to her first, she recounts how she traveled throughout the country earning a living through the sale of her memoir. She also writes about meeting her future husband, visiting places of interest, and having numerous adventures on the road. The book closes with several essays on blindness and the education of the blind and with a collection of poems by blind authors.
My Home Away from Home
by Robert T. BrancoFrom the ages of 12 to 19, the author attended a school for the blind. He tells about life in the "cottages," academics, sports, field trips, vocational training, and more. He had good and bad teachers, followed wise rules and absurd ones, met good friends and bullies, and welcomed administrative changes. Perkins educated him very well; this book will surely educate and entertain many others.
Kenneth Jernigan
by Kenneth JerniganCompiled writings of Dr. Kenneth Jernigan with editorial introduction and notes
Come, Let Me Guide You
by Susan KriegerCome, Let Me Guide You explores the intimate communication between author Susan Krieger and her guide dog Teela over the ten-year span of their working life together.
This is a book about being led by a dog to new places in the world and new places in the self, a book about facing life's challenges outwardly and within, and about reading those clues--those deeply felt signals--that can help guide the way. It is also, more broadly, about the importance of intimate connection in human-animal relationships, academic work, and personal life. In her previous book, Traveling Blind: Adventures in Vision with a Guide Dog by My Side, Krieger focused on her first two years with Teela, her lively Golden Retriever-Yellow Labrador.
Come, Let Me Guide You continues the narrative, beginning at the moment the author must confront Teela's retirement and then reflecting on the entire span of their relationship. These emotionally moving stories offer the reader personal entrée into a life of increasing pleasure and insight as Krieger describes how her relationship with her guide dog has had far-reaching effects, not only on her abilities to navigate the world while blind, but also on her writing and teaching, her ability to face loss, and her sense of self. Come, Let Me Guide You is an invaluable contribution to the literature on human-animal communication and on the guide-dog-human experience, as well as to disability and feminist ethnographic studies. It shows how a relationship with a guide dog is unique among bonds, for it rests upon highly regulated connections yet touches deep emotional chords.
For Krieger, those chords have resulted in these memorable stories, often humorous and playful, always instructive, and generative of broader insight.
Through Different Eyes
by Tom PeyAt age 38, a childhood accident came back to haunt Tom Pey and took his sight. Follow his struggle with depression, job loss and alcoholism. Follow his success as he finds a deeper meaning in life.
Out of the Whirlpool
by Sue Wiygul MartinSue Wiygul Martin has written a deeply honest and moving account of the rebuilding of her life after a desperate, impetuous act in her youth ended in traumatic blindness. Since that day, she has greeted the world with her trademark determination and humor, accepting the challenges placed before her as she adjusted to being blind.
She takes the reader through the process of blind rehabilitation in such a way that you feel you, too, are going through the process of learning new skills and making the emotional adjustment right along with her. You come to understand what it takes to rebuild a life after a traumatic episode that upends your world of dreams and expectations.
Now, after more than thirty years of an extraordinary recovery and reconciliation with the past, Martin is ready to share the simple truth of her journey. Advance readers have called her book a “Must read” for anyone in the field of blind rehab or anyone going through the adjustment to new blindness or other traumatic events in their lives. Martin’s truth is a universal truth, one which is so easy to lose sight of—we are all the same, yet so beautifully different. So, fasten your seat belts. Sue Martin would like to take you on a wild ride through this life of hers. Get ready for some joy, sorrow, beauty, a few cosmic slaps of enlightenment, and a thousand other thoughts and feelings along the way. Filled with adventure, with joy, and triumph, with adversity and adjustment to change, Out of the Whirlpool is a story about living life to the fullest. While she may have faced extraordinary challenges, in the end, she will tell you her story is everyone’s story.
If You Could See What I Hear
by Tom Sullivan and Derek L. GillThis memoir traces the life of Tom Sullivan from premature birth to age 26. Born blind from too much oxygen in his preemie incubator, he is alternately overprotected and set loose. His parents both encourage and hinder him. Mr Sullivan graduates from Perkins School for the Blind with many records, including most number of suspensions. He eventually graduates from Harvard, and pursues a life with music. He marries and has two children.
Never Be Discouraged
by Alice CrespoAlice Crespo was born in New York City, raised in Brooklyn, and grew up totally blind. She had to learn many things, and she realized that, with God's help, there was nothing that she couldn't do. The sky was the limit. Alice is now sixty years of age, and she wants to share her experiences and her life lessons with you. Here is her story. Contains image descriptions.
The Stolen Light
by Ved MehtaThe author recounts his experiences as a blind college student, and tells how he came to write his first book.
Against the Pollution of the I
by Jacques LusseyranJacques Lusseyran’s experience was both unique and exceptional but his insights are universally applicable and inspiring. Imagine being not only blinded as a child but surviving the Nazis’ Buchenwald concentration camp. And yet Lusseyran writes of how blindness enabled him to discover aspects of the world he would not otherwise have known. His writing vividly depicts senses beyond our "normal” five. In "What One Sees Without Eyes” he describes the divine "inner light” available to all. But, crucially, he finds this light to be under attack. Just as Lusseyran transcended his almost unspeakable experience, his writings give wise, triumphant voice to the human ability to "see” beyond sight and act with unexpected heroism. We can all, he asserts, learn to experience disabilities as gifts and see beyond what we see.
And There Was Light
by Jacques LusseyranWhen Jacques Lusseyran was an eight-year-old Parisian schoolboy, he was blinded in an accident. He finished his schooling determined to participate in the world around him. In 1941, when he was seventeen, that world was Nazi-occupied France. Lusseyran formed a resistance group with fifty-two boys and used his heightened senses to recruit the best. Eventually, Lusseyran was arrested and sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp in a transport of two thousand resistance fighters. He was one of only thirty from the transport to survive. His gripping story is one of the most powerful and insightful descriptions of living and thriving with blindness, or indeed any challenge, ever published.