How about J.S. Bach and Handel? Bach probably the greatest composer of all time (at least the Western musical tradition, of which Bach was arguably the singular founding father, establishing harmonic and contrapuntal principles and a musical language and aesthetic that every significant musician in classical and jazz has taken major inspiration from and built upon. Handel, while a notch or two below Bach, was among the most accomplished of "classical" (understood broadly) composers, and #2 in baroque.
3
Milton woke up and, utterly remembering every Paradise Lost line from at least the prodigious output of the previous morning, took up right where he left off without yet leaving his bed. Even in sleep - or quite possibly particularly in the blindness of sleep - he was producing.
4
You might be interested in the recent film launched at the SF frameline LGBT film festival by Rodney Evans - Vision Portraits - profiles of four blind artists including writer Ryan Knighton and NY photographer John Dugdale
I'd like to add to Mr. Bruni's list the marvelous American writer Kent Haruf who was not blind, but who regularly went out to his writing studio, pulled a wool hat over his eyes, and typed his books on a typewriter. Eccentric? Not really. He, too, understood that tapping into the inner world was easier without the distraction of sight. Indeed, his last book, the lyrical and emotional "Our Souls at Night" (later made into a not nearly as good movie starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda) was writing blinded and while he was dying of cancer. So pull down the shades, close your eyes, imagine these are the last words you will ever commit to the page and write.
5
Excellent article! I'm by no means blind, but I do write blind, or at least with my eyes closed using a wireless keyboard connected to my iPhone through Bluetooth. I can "see" better that way, and I can visualize my story better. Even the other four senses (sound, touch, taste, smell) come through clearer. When I get deep into this mind's eye mode, the narration just flows so easily. Plus, typing keeps me at the edge of sleep but will stop me from dropping through. I have often wondered about blind people and if they might be more creative. This article helped answer that question. Anyone interested in my "blind" writing technique can visit my free website ( http://Story-Alchemy.com Chapter 8 has a good explanation ). I'm looking forward to reading Mr. Burcat's book.
I can still "hear" the peels of excitement decades later.
"Let's make a snowman, Daddy!" And so we did.
We rolled and rolled a tiny snowball into an enormous base.
Suddenly, I realized all the "good" snow was gone....so we rolled snow from far away.
It was all I could do to huff and puff that middle up on top of the base.
To catch my breath, I was inhaling and exhaling rapidly and deeply.
"Did YOU see that, Karli?", I asked my daughter.
"What?"
"My breath! Watch me again and you can SEE it!"
We laughed out loud at the visible trails of our breath.
"We can see our breath now but not in Summer. Do you know what THAT means?"
"What Daddy!"
"In the coldest times...
the invisible becomes visible!"
Her smile was enormous at this discovery and abilty to see invisible breath.
Decades later, her now-10 year-deaf Dad has been diagnosed, like one of my sisters...to be "breathing in" some onset macular degeneration.
Cold times in the Winter of my years.
But,...I find myself, after a third helping of this Bruni masterpiece, humming a song from the movie "The Graduate":
Hello darkness my old friend
I've come to talk with you again...
Having the invisible become visible is priceless.
May you "see" it all of your days Frank!
14
As your Number 1 Canadian reader/groupie, Frank ( with a side of “Love, Simon” teachables… )
Just want to say, that you never disappoint. Nor let us down.
That is why NYT readers will always need your Pen, Wit, Erudition, more new Dog stories, and above all… “Insights” !
But if and/or whenever necessary, just borrow from Dylan Thomas: and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”
Then reach out, and lean on us: there will be no lack of outstretched arms - and many a hand offered.
And you will “see" that it is impossible to give away kindness - since people keep returning it.
5
Bruni what's up ? This is a great article which contains inspiring material! To what do we owe this departure from your usual progressive antics. What a nice change.
Impossible to comment on your situation except to wish you well. It’s a chance to illuminate the journey for your readers, as explorer and guide.
4
Mr Bruni ... as a John Milton fan ( " Is Milton Better Than Shakespeare " by Nigel Smith is recommended, of course they're both great ) let me thank and congratulate you for this wonderful column ... and to also express sadness for your optical affliction and to applaud your courageous perserverance.
3
It is mornings like these that I am thankful to be a Canadian.
I am blind in one eye and working with my opthamologist t0o save the sight in my other eye.
There is none so blind as he who will not see.
Here in Canada a census is not a political weapon it is data our economists use to help us plan for a future based on facts rather than political opportunity. Our fertility rate will not maintain our population just as in the USA. We have already legislated a path for 350,000 new Canadians a year, the vast majority of whom will become citizens within five years.
It was Milton who was one of our great thinkers who gave us Deism where it is we humans not the God of Abraham who will determine the future. America stopped being America when a mythical being was placed into the pledge of allegiance.
Milton's Satan and Jesus are as mortal as all of us and America was supposed to be about the Heaven in which we all served. Superstition and gut feelings are what is turning America into the Hell where the Kakistocracy rules.
My eyes may not work as they were meant to work but vision and seeing are not the same thing.
7
Frank Bruni's essay is excellent and well researched. However, the underlying theme is that blind people who perform even relatively ordinary tasks are inspirational. As one who hasn't seen in decades, I'm uneasy being perceived as inspirational unless I actually do something special. People who have adapted to a disability hate to be pitied, and we intuitively understand that, for us, being seen as inspirational originates in pity. People with disabilities desire above all to be viewed as normal, and technology is helping realize that ideal.
I've written essays arguing for fiction with prominent blind characters written by blind authors. The authors named by Bruni wrote fiction, or in Milton’s case narrative poems, but they never depicted fictional blind characters. Fiction enables authors to bring out the everyday, human sides of their characters. It can save blind characters from being portrayed as two-dimensional sources of inspiration or, in the past, as evil or incapable.
It’s a complex subject. Wanting to be normal is akin to a famous actor or politician who enjoys the limelight craving moments of privacy. People with disabilities appreciate their fifteen minutes in the sun. but most of all, we want the credit we are given to be commensurate with the standards of accomplishment, character and the other factors by which all humanity is measured.
10
As a teacher I taught a student who was legally blind drawing and illustration. He only had limited peripheral visions. That experience taught me how to view the world in new perspectives. I coached a deaf basketball player and learned to speak with my hands. Both of these people and others have taught me the lessons of adaptability and determination. I am using them now as I age out with a neuromuscular disease that will literally take my legs out from under me. You can't stop walking just because you can't.
3
Just reading this stunning essay and amazing comments on a board, makes you believe in goodness of humanity.
Bruni's piece brought the best in people.
Empathy and kindness, most important ingredients for the soul.
8
For one whose ideation of self is consciousness and not materiality, imagination sees more than sensory knowledge.
3
As my vision has failed, I realize how difficult it is for those with sight to understand what you are experiencing. I watched this with my Father as his vision slowly went away from macular degeneration. He learned to cope so well and silently that even my Mother gave him little slack. When my own sight suddenly failed from glaucoma, he and I suddenly had a new bond of understanding.
Indeed, you learn to cope, to remember where you place things, to be consistent in your steps, reach, placement and feel. It’s not so much that your other senses improve as you now use them much more completely. Yet, blindness is lonely. You miss the beauty and ease of the past vision. I miss not recognizing friends and acquaintances. They must think I don’t care about them. I hate that things get moved. I depend on things being where I left them.
I am now barely a able to make out this text, even though I am typing slowly with enlarged print. Each day brings a new challenge to face silently as my vision continues to falter. Each day brings the failure of my ability to practice my profession and support my family. Indeed turning to a new career is challenging, yet, the choice is to move on or accept defeat. Moving on is the easiest choice to make and like those mentioned, I shall.
10
According to the Introduction to Milton: Poetical Works, edited by Douglas Bush (Oxford University Press, 1969), John Milton had "naturally weak eyes (inherited from his mother, not his father, who read without spectacles in his old age)". The cause of the blindness that affected Milton from the age of 43 onwards is not known; suggested causes have included glaucoma, or bilateral retinal detachment. It has also been speculated that Milton's assiduous reading and writing might have been a contributory factor, although one can doubt that this was a significant reason for his loss of vision. It might not be unjustified to postulate that Milton might have had a mitochondrial disorder that causes blindness in middle age (given the maternal transmission of mitochondrial DNA mutations). Perhaps it would be informative - if mitochondrial DNA from Milton were obtainable - to test this hypothesis in a suitably equipped laboratory.
Everyone should know Milton's Sonnet 19:
When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one Talent which is death to hide
Lodged with me useless, though my Soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?”
I fondly ask. But patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need
Either man’s work or his own gifts; who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state
Is Kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o’er Land and Ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.”
5
Bach and Handel were virtually blind as older men - and they produced masterpieces.
Beethoven was deaf and produced music such as the world has never seen since.
Renoir had such severe arthritis he had brushes attached to his arms, and Monet was almost sightless at the end.
These people, along with those in this article and many more with seemingly unsurmountable handicaps, show what astounding things a fully functional human mind can accomplish.
5
If the point of this piece is to underline that the blind can produce work of startling originality and transcendent quality, it hardly has any business in making a hackneyed point, with which no educated Times reader would disagree. In a sense, though, whether a writer is deprived of sight, or not, has no bearing on the quality of his work, or the lack thereof. Milton was blind, and employed his daughters as amanuenses, but treated them badly, so I have read, and with contempt. The latter matters no more, or less, than his sightless condition. Perhaps, this piece should have concluded with a list of blind writers, to further inform the Times reading community of the the accomplishments of handicapped individuals.Very enlightening.
1
Deliver credit where it is due: Milton's daughters helped him a great deal, as he dictated lines to them every evening as he had formed them each day.
1
And of course, we have something of the same with Beethoven and deafness.., his most remarkable leaps of sonic imagination come in the late opus numbers. To think that such works as the final piano sonatas and String Quartets were really heard only in his imagination.... is amazing and quite moving.
3
My best friend in college was totally blind from childhood. He knew that most people thought of him primarily as a blind man, and he tried to correct that impression by being outgoing and often jovial. So long as people with a disability are labeled and identified as such, all other attributes, however meritorious, often fade into the background. It can be difficult to view the person rather than the disability, but that is the challenge for all of us.
5
Now imagine the effect of blindness on composers, especially composers of “classical music.” A surprising number of great composers were either blind at birth, or became blind in old age. Bach and Handel became completely blind in their last years. Bach composed his supreme contrapuntal work, the hour long Art of Fugue, while totally blind. One of his pupils served as his amanuensis, while he dictated the notes in German solfege. Frederick Delius and Joaquin Rodrigo were blind from birth. Both were prolific composers, working with amanuensises with whom they had personal relationships. The organists Marcel Dupre and Louis Vierne were blind. They improvised compositions on the organ, and their compositions were transcribed by others.
There have been many instrumental musicians and singers who have become blind and still managed to perform, especially in popular music and jazz. But the composition of major complex works, including some for multiple instruments or orchestra, requires musical abilities, powers of concentration, and an aural imagination that puts these composers in a class of their own.
2
@Irving Franklin Delius's visual impairment was the result of neurosyphilis (from which he died) and was not evident before he was at least middle-aged.
There is uncertainty about the dating of Bach's Art of Fugue, in particular about whether it was written at around the end of his life (when he certainly was visually impaired). That a holograph manuscript of this work exists would tend to militate against its being written when the composer was blind.
1
Dear frank, I was incredibly moved by this article and your struggles which I understand very well. Since birth I have had juvenile glaucoma, the same condition that rendered Andrea Boccelli blind. In the 50's no one thought to check the cause of my slowly progressing vision loss so it was not until my draft physical made me 4F that I understood its cause. Strange that my unexpected vision loss kept me from the war in Vietnam, but led to my social work career.
I have found that very few people want to hear my story from beginning to this point. And even now though I am legally blind few know it as I have become an expert at covering it up. They are astounded when I tell them of my journeys to the Himalayas, Africa, China and Southeast Asia and wonder that I would do such a thing with barely a guide. Perhaps besides giving a strong inner life, such a disability drives one to not take for granted a world that is vivid in all our senses. By the way as you probably know Monet painted most o his greatest works while almost totally blind. I have my camera, but I am no Monet.
In any case thanks for sharing your journey. It sheds light on an aspect of you that gives depth to the rest of your sharing.
7
While I feel for Mr Bruni whom I admire his writings, many people that lose their eyesight do not have the strength to excel. My mother was a case in point. She lost her vision to diabetes prior to turning 70 years old. She suffered greatly of depression in the last few years of her life for losing her eyesight and having other medical complications. She wasn’t into writing novels, poems, or news articles. All she wanted was see her grandchildren.
2
I had a classmate in college who was blind. He later went to Harvard Law School and then wrote a novel. What an inspiration to us all. Here's to you, Adrian!
5
I totally agree with Regina. Reading and writing is a transaction that happens in the brain. I love reading anything that you write.
1
Beautiful, Frank. Thinking of you.
3
So sorry to learn of your optic nerve damage. However your insights have always been illuminating. Thank you for that.
4
Very sorry to hear about author's problem with his eyesight, but suggest that through good works,philanthropy, adopting a disabled pet,partially blind as well perhaps, the "bon Dieu "may look favorably upon him and restore his lost sight. And then of course there are the medical advances made daily, and who would have thought that researchers would find a cure for AIDS, apparently on the horizon, or enabled HIV positive folk to live long lives now, whereas in the 1980's it seemed like a sure death sentence. They say that when u do a bad thing, it will come back to bite you. But the opposite may also be true:If u do a good thing, God will reward you. Remember Blaise Pascal's wager: Live a life of good works as if GOD existed, and even in the end it turns out He does not , you will have had the satisfaction of having done well for others.Virtue is its own reward. "Reflechissez:" Who could have predicted the coming to power in Iran of the Ayatollah during the years when the Shah appeared to have a grip on what later became the Islamic Republic?
Frank, you've long succeeded in writing about what matters from the heart. That's the ultimate seeing....
4
Frank, I always check out your columns, because I think you’re the finest writer on the Times staff, even though I often am at odds with your political views. Still, I still have posted in my kitchen your column in praise of the great Roman dish, pasta a la gricia, which my Italian wife often serves. No matter how dim your eyesight might become, Frank, it will have no effect on your exquisite sensibility about food. Though hopefully you have already experienced the worst of the neural stroke. You have legions of readers who are concerned for you.
5
Doesn't writing begin with thinking, not with one's eyes? Why could not a blind person dictate their story, their book to a transcriber with the same result as a seeing person? What am I missing here? Call me dense.
1
I have long believed that Milton's Paradise Lost was the most important literary work in the English language. I believed this before I lost the vision in my right eye and I had poor vision in both eyes.
Milton's great epic poem Paradise Lost and his Areopagitica were America's foundation along with the "liberal Puritanism" that gave America the Deism that made the People the architects of the society not some mythical being.
Milton continued to work on Paradise Lost but all the versions failed to make his audience happy and forced Milton to write Paradise Regained a failed attempt at writing an good Epic poem with a fairy tale ending.
I loved the Bruni op-ed. It understands my lost vision but reminded me that it was Milton who understood what America should be. Sad that America should devolve because too many demanded Paradise Regained.
It is better to serve in Heaven than rule in Hell .
3
A wonderful blind writer, who should also be mentioned, is Ved Mehta. For him and for readers of his many pieces in The New Yorker, blindness was never an obstacle to illumination.
5
I have a beautiful daughter who is legally blind - Stargardt’s Disease - graduated with honors - marketing and advertising. Told us that her vision loss was too much for that career so she chose a different one- law. She will finish in 12 months most probably with Summa Cum Laude grades- (voice and written recognition software are miraculous) getting married in 6 months. Nothing is out of limits -
Very good column Mr. Bruni - read your comments every time plus the ones at CNN - keep up the good work.
5
It may be an inapt comparison that is unfair to Mr. Burcat, but Ernest Hemingway. Charles Bukowski, Carson McCullers, Hunter S. Thompson, James Joyce. Truman Capote, Edgar Allan Poe and Dorothy Parker all battled alcoholism, proving that writers with
something to say can find a way.
4
The late Sir Terry Pratchett published 5 bestsellers with the aid of a typist after he was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer disease, a completely different pathology from Senile Dementia of the Alzheimer Type. It affects hand function, therefore inability to type and visual capacity with increasing blindness but, clearly not cognition, imagination and courage in adversity
3
You helped me to connect some thoughts for a poem about my sister's recent and untimely death due to alcoholism, Frank, and I thank you. I find that I have moments of 20/20 vision when writing, especially when taking inspiration from people like you. I find moments of clarity to be moments of grace - the unbidden spiritual nature of things. They seem to occur if I stay on fertile ground, their sweetness the stuff that keeps me going at it. Your article was fertile ground for me this morning...
"...But The Reaper didn't know my Mother
She wouldn't have allowed it
She likely walked right up to him
Her Irish up
Grabbed his sickle
And used it to chase him away
With her own brand of scary shit
No, not for her daughter
Whom she would surely have found deaf- the stubbornness covering her ears
and mute - the truth too frightening to speak
and blind - refusing to see the impending
Not such an end for her daughter would there be..."
Deep thanks -
5
Frank, you will always be able to see.
6
Ironic in a terrible way but I couldn't find an audio book for “Drink to Every Beast” online. Perhaps Burcat should self-publish one.
1
“ Blind “ or not, it really doesn’t matter with your writing. Because you see with your Heart.
6
And then there was the wise Tiresias the blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes.
3
I am distressed to read that Bruni is potentially losing his eyesight. I normally read all his columns, but I somehow missed his first one on this subject. It is hard to hear, but I'm happy that at least his voice will be alive and well for years and years to come.
One point he made was quite interesting - about writing with his eyes closed. I can't imagine doing that, especially since I rely so much on spell checkers to find the multitude of my typos. But I can imagine what it's like to play music (some would call it that) with my eyes closed.
I have played the guitar for essentially my entire life. I began in a childhood rock band, and evolved toward folk and classical styles in later years. I most often play with my eyes closed. To me, it provides a wonderful environment to become one, so to speak, with the aura of the music. I can't quite translate that to writing, but I know when I write, I often get lost in a dimension of thought that is more than just the physical experience of seeing words appear on paper. I'm there in the scene, living among the characters, enjoying their spirit and emotions and discussions, without worrying about the physical boundaries of the real. It's as if, when I'm fully engrossed in reading a book, if someone were to speak to me, I'm startled out of my reverie, unaware of the person's approach, and wanting to go back into the cloister of my book.
I look forward to the continued enlightenment of Bruni's writings, and I wish him the best.
4
Thank you for this wise column, Mr. Bruni. IMHO, you have always had "insight."
5
As the result of a stroke at 74 my mobility is “limited.” Thank you for your two columns.
1
Good luck to you.
1
This column comes to prove that blindness is the refusal to see.
1
Thank you Frank. We take so much for granted.
5
Thank you for your colums and thank you for reminding us, all the time, that there is more than meet the eye. Keep on writing!
1
While reading this it reminded me of the author and former Nytimes editor Katherine Bouton and her experience with severe hearing loss and how difficult it was to continue her job there. “The Sound of Silence” https://nyti.ms/XFf8SQ I hope Mr Bruni’s experience is better than what she went through. I think most people fear vision loss more than hearing loss for understandable reasons. For one thing vision loss can cause loss of independence in ways that hearing loss does not. But hearing loss can cause a loss of connection with other people that is very isolating. I’ve experienced a significant loss of hearing (hereditary sensorineural) and a partial loss of vision (through retinal detachment). Both are challenging but I was surprised to find that there is no insurance help for hearing loss as there is for vision loss. Both are part of health and both should be covered by health insurance. I wish the author well and hope that no further loss of vision occurs. We often take our health for granted until it is lost.
3
Fannie Crosby, the prolific hymnist, was blind. Blind people develop their other senses. My mother told me "I want my room to be painted the shade of the lilacs in your Nana' s yard.". She remembered that color over twenty years after she lost her sight.
3
I was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease with the wicked name giant cell arteritis. A side-effect of this pernicious sickness is blindness. To kill-off GCA, I took high doses of the steroid prednisone.
The possibility of losing my eyesight, a natural ability I had taken for granted, produced white fear. When my eyes watered and blurred, I panicked. I was crazy. I visited four ophthalmologists.
Sick, I use biography, poetry and movies as if they were medicines. I knew Oliver Sacks, the neurologist famous for the Robin Williams’s movie, “Awakenings,” had lost an eye to cancer.
Sacks said the sick adapt to their sicknesses—"deaf people tend to get musical hallucinations and blind or partly blind people get visual ones, and people who've lost their sense of smell get smell hallucinations, and people who have had an amputation get phantom limbs.”
Henri Matisse had an intestinal cancer. He survived but he couldn’t paint as he had before. He was wheelchair bound. Matisse adapted. He learned to work with scissors and colored paper, beginning his famous cut-out period. Matisse called it “painting with scissors.”
Matisse: "Only what I created after the illness constitutes my real self: free, liberated.”
Prednisone dampened the effects of my GCA. I can still see. Out of the hours of fear of going blind, I learned, like Matisse, like Sack’s patients and Frank Bruni, to hope and to create work-arounds.
6
How could you not mention the blind Persian poet Rudaki, born near Samarkand, in what is now Uzbekistan, in 858 AD? He penned these immortal lines: “Were there no wine all hearts would be a desert waste, forlorn and black / But were our last life-breath extinct, the sight of wine would bring it back.”
Although an avid reader of your column, I was unaware of your vision issues until now. It makes sense to me that your vision is limited and at risk: your writing comes from within yourself, your serious insight exceeds your sighted descriptions of material matters. As a reader of your work, I have no concern for the loss of sight that appears to loom--you will excel without it. I wish you the best of luck, but I'm not sure that means, for you, escaping the loss of sight.
2
There are many different kinds of blindness. And while the physical one is the most commonly thought of emotional and mental blindness are far more damaging in their inhumane devastation.
I believe that humble humane empathy is the greatest human virtue. Imagining yourself from the context and perspective of the ' other". Pity and sympathy put a safe distance between you and another persons humanity.
4
This reminds me of Beethoven, who turned out masterpieces of sound when he was deaf.
4
Such a beautiful response from the readers each with their story but I felt when reading Mr Bruni- WHAT? The written word does not need a keyboard to find it's way to a page.
These writers are not at all blind in any real sense, they have only lost the use of their eyes. There are people who have the use of their eyes who are, nevertheless, very blind. This is the real and intractable problem.
3
You may enjoy re-reading Sophocles' " Oedipus the King ", in which the blind seer Tiresias is the most knowledgeable and insightful character, and through whom we learn that intellectual and moral blindness are worse than the physical kind.
4
Since you mentioned Helen Keller, here's a quote from her that sums up your point nicely. "I have walked with people whose eyes are full of light but who see nothing in sea or sky, nothing in city streets, nothing in books. It were far better to sail forever in the night of blindness with sense, and feeling, and mind, than to be content with the mere act of seeing. The only lightless dark is the night of darkness in ignorance and insensibility." Makes me wonder who the really blind people are?
55
to all of the comments that find Mr. Bruni's column "inspiring" - the reality of going blind is unimaginably difficult and awful. It's nice that some folks had both the resources, mindset, and time to spend creatively, but the reality for many is one of economic and social marginalization that results in depression, isolation, poverty, endless anxiety, and frustration that renders the idea of quietly contemplating your inner muse to get that novel finished ridiculous.
34
@D Yes, it is difficult, maddening at times and depressing. All the cliches about disability sometimes just want to make you scream. Working your way through it is often a puzzle and frustrating. But some things are just true. You go on sometimes winning and sometimes failing and in the end that is all any of us can do.
20
@D I've long been inspired by Milton, first by the poem known as "On His Blindness," then by the Companion Poems, then by "Paradise Lost." Luckily my eyes are good, but if my vision were suddenly gone, I know I too would be sorely tempted to self-pity and despair.
Yet Milton's verse and example would call me to courage. The first step is asking for help. I'm not sure how Milton persuaded his daughter to be his amanuensis, but however painful, I would remember "that one talent which is death to hide," and would force myself to ask and ask until someone agreed to help me.
3
@Keith Fahey easy for one to say, who has not experienced this firsthand. I'm not blind but I do have a disability, and it's amazing the number of people who feel inclined to inform me of what they would do and how they would feel in my situation. All, it seems, would handle it much better, consider it a "gift," a "lesson," etc.
All I can tell you is that you can't possibly know until it happens to you.
18
For those with low vision (legally blind), spend the time getting acquainted with Apple's terrific accessibility settings found in all iOS devices. The nonprofit Bookshare.org allows low vision users to get 1000 e-books for a yearly subscription fee of $50 (free to students/vets/children) and has over 1 million titles. This is the most underutilized resource in all of low vision. Books can be easily accessed using my iPad App, Spotlight Text (shameless plug, but it is free in the App Store) and other accessibility Apps. Similarly, Amazon's Echo products can be a lifeline for a blind individual that can help them with tasks such as telling time, reading news headlines, setting hard to see thermostats, and reading audible books. Even for older adults, that are not technologically savvy, these products can be life changing.
50
@retinadoc I hope that you do not mind that I copied your comment and emailed it to a friend whose father is losing his eyesight. He is a retired doctor, and Frank, he is also a writer. Thank you both for your valuable advice and insights.
15
@retinadoc Great tips, but a few more. A company called Zoom Text has a wonderful, easy to use, very important in my case program that really opens up the use of your computer. Also The Library for the Blind and Disabled, a free service with many thousands of titles, is probably the best thing given to us by our government. It is run by each state but funded through the Feds.
6
@retinadoc As a kerataconus patient, I have not only my Apple laptop, but also a Kindle and an Ipad. Being able to control the size of the letters and the brightness of the screen has made reading "normal."
I also always have within reach a few magnifying glasses, including a terrific rectangular one that ages ago came with a giant "baby elephant" encyclopedia of every word in the English language and that fits in my purse or pocket.
7
I'm a legally blind freelance magazine writer and amateur photographer. I'd just like people who are losing their vision to know that there are now accessibility devices (screen readers and magnifiers, book readers, etc.) that should allow you to do virtually everything you did before going blind except drive a car. Start by making an appointment with a low vision clinic in your area.
35
Thank you, Frank. Fifteen years ago, I suffered a central retinal vein occlusion leaving me totally blind in one eye. Once the original shock of my diagnosis wore off, I determined to live as fully as possible, and I have done so. I am forever grateful for the beauty around me and blessed that I live in a place (Boston) which offers the very best of medical care. I love your writing and thank you for bringing those of us who are visually impaired "into the light".
95
We had a neighbor, a retired CEO, who became blind through diabetes and as he aged, lost his hearing. He always said he'd rather be blind than deaf. That I don't know.
But having lost my hearing in one ear, I live in fear of losing sound in the other. The same brain surgery that decimated my one ear also weakened my eye on that side. As I age, it gets weaker. I'm a visual learner and a fiber artist; for me, the loss of my sight would be devastating. I've learned to live and enjoy living in a quieter world.
28
I lost hearing in both ears from children measles. Modern hearing aids work wonders. But it’s still hard.
7
This is a marvelous essay. All the writers you mention deserve such credit and admiration for doing something that most of us who have all our senses will never do. Borges has an entire collection of poems, published in parallel text, Spanish on one page, English on the facing page, entitled "In Praise of Darkness." Darkness being both a metaphor for his blindness and his old age, it was published in 1974.
But who can forget that Beethoven was almost completely deaf when he wrote the Ninth Symphony? An orchestration of a symphony is like writing about 100 books at once which are all in perfect harmony.
107
In most cases, what does not make us perish, almost certainly makes us stronger. - or just have a new appreciation for life itself.
We, now, as a society have almost every tool imaginable to us to explore, to educate ourselves and to reach out to our fellow human beings in a way that underpins who and what we are - full of that life.
Yet for too many (especially on social media) there is the urge to push down another so that they may rise up just a fraction for a split second.
Close your eyes so that you may see.
71
Stunning essay. It is a trauma to lose one's sense of sight, and one must indeed go through what Dr. Kubler-Ross wrote of in her iconic book "On Death and Dying." With the loss of vision, comes a death of sorts. But Frank points out so eloquently that when one part of our fragile body succumbs to disease or injury, and if we allow it, our mind transcends what seems to be a limitation. Instead, masterpieces can be born. One becomes far from limited, indeed s/he may even soar to the heavens.
My favorite artist is Matisse. During his later years, his sight began slipping away. Yet, like so many writers and painters, among his finest works were produced while legally blind. In fact, his creativity evolved.
Frank Bruni, you are a fine writer. You are up there with the best. Not one of us knows what the future holds in store. But I can assure you that you, too, will soar. And you are and will become even more so an example for hundreds of us who aspire to create.
194
Thank you Frank and the many other writers and artists who inspired us despite (or because of) their visual impairment. I recently lost most of the vision in the right eye, and my left one is at risk. I am relatively young so chances are I will be blind at some point in my life. I am not afraid though. I need to prepare, mentally and physically. I realize that I can still do many, many things despite my visual impairment: I can listen to music, I can talk, I can reflect and possibly, in the future, perhaps, write. I realize I do not need my sight to love my two beautiful daughters. I will love them nonetheless. So Frank, you’ll be fine. We’ll be fine. Only different.
27
@Angeleno You have two daughters? Good fortune, indeed. Recall Milton's example...........
3
Lovely piece. My mother is legally blind and has suffered multiple strokes, but her mind is sharp. She "reads" constantly; she's always asking "have you read that book yet?"
She got a service dog after she was 80. He has changed her life for the better. She takes creative writing classes at the local community college and shares her essays with me most weeks. Last year she had a piece about her journey published last year in her college's alumni magazine.
Her strength in the face of difficulty is remarkable. I hope I can have that kind of resilience if I face similar challenges.
37
I so love Frank Bruni, always have. I remember the moment I read his column last year in which he revealed his condition. I was walking my dog, and one of those people buried in their phones. Literally I stopped in my tracks, and read the column in its entirety, then reread it when I arrived home, I sent Frank's column to almost everyone I knew - the strength and beauty struck me hard.
A few months later, I met a client who had the same condition and was struggling. A wealthy, highly intelligent man very frustrated over his impending blindness. I sent him Frank Bruni' column. This man responded to me, thanking me for giving him hope & clarity and that he would never forget this kindness.
For that, I thank Frank Bruni. He has & continues to touch many lives. May he write forever. He is truly having an impact on many lives. Thank you, thank you.
69
My now-late father lost his vision to macular degeneration before he had penned his memoir. My mother was determined that his life story would not go unrecorded. So, every day for months, he would dictate sentences, paragraphs, chapters, and my mother wrote them down. He had a gift for organizing and structuring text as he spoke. Ultimately, my mother typed the autobiography, had it printed and bound, then gave copies to everyone in our family.
He was so pleased and proud! And it meant the world to dad when relatives asked him more about specific incidents in his life. The memoirs allowed him to be the sum of his full, storied life, which was particularly significant to my father when he was retired and less active. As an extra gift, picking up his words is like picking up a conversation with him, now that he’s gone.
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@NM -- esteemed daughter,
your dad's gifts and writing skills live on through you every time you post a comment to the Times. I always look for your texts and he'd be so proud of the way you express your opinions. I've never seen one unkind or nasty post from you when you have a difference of opinion with a reader. And when you've been attacked you always take the high road. You are courteous and respectful. Thank you for sharing your dad's story.
14
@NM NM, was your dad a writer or a diplomat? He seems to have been a fine man of standing. I have been so curious of your/his background. And I agree with what silver vibes writes.
7
Hi Kathy Lollock and silver vibes,
Thank you both SO much for your responses - they really pulled my heartstrings! Dad knew how much I enjoy writing comments and I always read them aloud to him (he’s been gone not quite two years). It is very important to me that I address the columnists and other readers respectfully. That is very much how I was raised.
To try condensing my father’s background: he was born in Egypt, quite poor but quite smart. His native country was then a British colony, so he learned English alongside Arabic. He went to the London School of Economics, the first in his family to attend college. When he immigrated to the States, he was first a professor of statistics at Princeton, then a demographer for the UN. His mind stayed sharp until the end, long after his eyes failed.
You both made my day! Thanks so very much.
12
"He said that blindness sharpened his memory, caused him to dwell longer on physical descriptions and 'made me much more patient, more kind, more understanding.'”
I chuckled when I read this because my mother had severe macular degeneration which she coped with with great determination. But she became much more feisty, impatient, and demanding, and we marveled how she managed on her own behalf with relish.
She first contacted an organization for the blind that set her up with devices (a talking clock, a reading device where she could continue reading her beloved Washington Post while drinking umpteen cups of coffee). A reader came to help her pay her bills etc., and she helped the reader with advice about how to handle two boyfriends who were pursuing the reader!
She scared us when she recounted how she went shopping at the mall by taking a bus by herself in a big city and relied on strangers to help her navigate. "I'm fine," she snapped. When it went mostly dark with only a blur, she moved near us to an assisted living facility.
One day she told me she met a very handsome man who moved into the facility. I said, "Mom how can you tell he is handsome?" Oh," she said, "you can always tell a handsome man."
A secretary, a housewife, and a widow, as her eyesight faded, Mom grew in her independence, spirit, and self-esteem.
As this wonderful column conveys: When you lose something that is very key to your existence, does that close doors or could it open doors?
6
As a visual learner, I cannot imagine losing my eyesight. Amazing stories. Thank you, Frank. I will read the book by Mr. Burcat, as a former resident of that area of Pennsylvania. I am sure I will know what he is writing about.
To “believe that whatever happens ... is an instrument ... given for an end” has given me a new perspective on the loss of my partner who was a good man who died too soon. Thank you for this.
8
This essay made me cry. And to be grateful to be able to see, albeit not as well as I once could. It also inspired me to not ever give up, no matter what happens. I applaud Frank Bruni's and Mr. Burcat's courage and inspiration.
13
That which is truly essential is invisible to the eye.
And for those who once were sighted - memories really do light the corners of our minds.
5
Thank you, Frank Bruno, for this on a fine Sunday morning. I'm a writer with a disability of sorts--a broken brain--and I'm encouraged by these stories of blind authors to keep going. while they cannot physically see, I do not think like everyone else, and I, too, want to show the world what I see and feel in my mind. If thses guys can do it, I can do it, too.
14
Excellent column, Frank. I am reminded of Milton's poem, "On His Blindness," and its most appropriate ending:
"They also serve who only stand and wait."
8
Frank - you have written before about your mother's Irish heritage. So I just wanted to let you know that Ireland's most significant composer Is Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738). His instrument was the harp (the symbol of Ireland) and he was blind. While not a writer such as yourself and those like Milton and Joyce that you list, his achievement and contribution to Irish culture was immense.
14
@J.
That's truly thrilling and encouraging.
Just as this opinion piece is.
I always think that being almost 69 years old I am past my productive years. I know that is not completely true but between the physical discomfort of permanent injuries the insults of age (including fading eyesight) and the general lack of energy and focus I find myself upset with me.
I had always wanted to write I started to before retiring but when reviewing what I wrote it seems trite and pretentious.
So I stopped, maybe I will try again.
9
Mr. Bruni, a marvelously enlightening column. Teaching us that the blind can open our minds, see through their eyes, see their visions, give us new perspectives, a better perception of our world than eyesight alone provides.
Thank you, wishing you all the best!
6
Thank you for your inspirational and illuminating comments. You have always connected with me and your search for meaning as always resonated with me.
7
Frank, thank you so much for sharing this with us - and for sharing your own experience when your NAION was diagnosed. I'm sure I speak for all of your readers when I ask: How are you doing?
3
Love this column, and this particular one. A teacher, I'm grateful for the insight you've just given me. We will have a class discussion in which I recite (from memory) Milton's famous sonnet, and all my students wear blindfolds while we discuss it. What a wonderful inspiration. Thank you.
9
Wonderful column. Wonderful writing. I've enjoyed your writing for years. In the real world every single one of us bears a handicap, admitted or not.
I'm honored that you write about this for me to read. Keep writing.
14
Limitations are sometimes a hidden blessing, albeit a blessing within a curse. But is not the unsighted person more keen, more sensitive, to touch, that is, to "feeling" the environment, and to sound, and to contemplation uninterrupted by colored distractions. That he or she might be able to convey their deeper insights in these areas into the written word is a benefit for the rest of us.
5
Brave and generous of you, Frank, to share these articles which testify to your humanity: initial fear; seeking help and solace; finding inner strength and comfort; and then, moving on with your life. All of us face obstacles, to be sure, some of which are surprises for which we are not ready. Telling us how you found your way...irony intended...by seeking out experts, those with similar issues, and others who would inspire you to use this challenge as an opportunity will impact so many. For that, we can all be very grateful.
11
There's a strong tradition of critics and memoirists from within disability culture writing thoughtfully about the relationship between blindness and creativity. Too often, this relationship is understood as creativity "in spite of" blindness, when it should be understood as creativity through and with blindness. What does it mean to understand blindness as that which expands our notion of human diversity and perception? What does it mean to understand the ways in which ableist presumptions and stigma get in the way of blind artists, rather than blindness itself? I highly recommend those who want to explore this more nuanced view check out the writing of Stephen Kuusisto and Georgina Kleege, as well as the work of artists like Carmen Papalia.
3
What a privilege to be invited into Frank Bruni's working through fear of blindness. As I read this Opinion piece, I have the rare experience, of becoming aware of just how an intimate a piece it is. As well, the piece is a tribute to all mentioned whose passion for writing overcame barriers to that passion. Thank you Frank Bruni.
17
This essay is inspiring. It reveals that true vision is inward and can be just as meaningful without sight.
The mind with its memories and intellect can become its own eyes.
10
It's a rare person who doesn't become frustrated and apprehensive when they become aware of their physical capabilities diminishing. This beautifully written essay should be an inspiration to all.
22
Thank you Frank Bruni for bringing Joel Burcat to my attention. I will ask my lovely little library to order his book.
I hope your readers will not overlook the stunning work of Ved Mehta. Mehta’s life story and his writing, as New Yorker readers can attest, are wonderful.
Blindness clearly fosters another sort of vision.
8
Thank you for this article, Frank Bruni, beautiful as always. As you know Italy and may be able to speak and understand (some) Italian, I would like to add one more name to your list of blind authors. Andrea Camilleri, the writer from Sicily, famous for his Inspector Montalbano, has recently turned blind. After having lost the sight, he wrote the theater piece Conversazione su Tiresia (in the Greek mythology Tiresias was a blind prophet) and played it himself in the magnificent ancient amphitheater in Siracusa last summer. You find information about the book and the streaming version of the play online.
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Thank you so much for this-and for the comments it engendered. I learned a lot. I had a friend who died recently from a fatal illness. A few days after she was first diagnosed, we were chatting about giants, for some reason. She said she wanted to learn more about that idea. Then she said “ because if you stop learning, you are dying inside and that is way worse than dying in real life.”
She lived for a year after that and the day before she died, she asked for a mirror so she could see the painting above her bed in hospice. I think she would have been as happy though if I had described the painting to her-as I described the world outside of her hospice room.
Thank you again for this insightful column and the insights that came from it in the comments. Reflecting upon and talking about loss really helps us all as we have losses. Thank you.
25
Today's column is an eloquent tribute to the visual ocean that's plied by writers' and readers' vessels alike.
Ships may pass in the night. Some, like mine, may be less seaworthy than they ought to be. In reading fiction, I'm poor at visualizing the characters and worse still at keeping the images stable. I naively picture the homes of the wealthy as biggish Victorian wood-frames, only to learn from TV adaptations that I should have imagined something more like the Louvre.
But let a writer take us through the fog of physical representation, and all readers can appreciate the clarity and color you refer to. Words then reproduce aspects of reality in heightened form. Characters assume the shape of their thoughts. Voices carry across the water.
If there's such a thing as indescribable beauty, there's also beauty that comes into its own through description. The best beauty of all may be the kind that consists in our being there, on the other side of the fog, free to range as far as we like among vistas for the mind's eye and still get home in time for supper.
Thank you, as always.
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@Longestaffe
Your comment is eloquent, too, so I thank you, as well.
3
Beethoven lost his hearing progressively from 1798 to 1811. Among the many works he composed after becoming prfoundly deaf are two of the great symphonies in the classical repertoire, the Seventh and Ninth. It is written that after conducting the premier of his ninth symphony he had to be turned around to see the audience applauding. He heard neither the audience nor the orchestra. Can you imagine composing complex symphonies while deaf? Beethoven did -- imagine them, that is, as he wrote them.
33
Also the sublime late string quartets.
12
Frank Bruni, this is a beautiful piece. I hope you know that your bid for connection has succeeded beyond measure and that your search for meaning has guided countless readers in their own quests.
76
I find more kin and comfort in reflection than analysis, observation or action. It weaves a chaotic but supple web between the buildings and vehicles of commerce and intercourse and the soil and roots of awareness and emotion. To people who can share theirs, I am grateful. I would never wish loss upon anyone, of life or vision, but it seems loss is what we all share, and sharing with others makes ours more bearable.
12
Thank you for your deeply thoughtful reflection.
2
If feeling is seeing where you can only see or understand when you are able to have feelings about something then I, also, am slowly going blind. Even more debilitating and degenerative than actual blindness. Squinting at your illumination, Mr. Bruni.
6
Bravo Frank Bruni for shining light on what might seem a dark and lonely place. Blindness does not only affect writers but other creative artists too. Titian, Rembrandt and Matisse all had near or total blindness in their later years yet continued to work. Their painting styles changed but were at least as magnificent as before. Bach and Frederick Delius were blind in later life (what we now think of as middle age) but their music was as splendid as before. Handel lost most of his vision and did benefit concerts in London to help the blind. He wrote one of the most sublime evocations of vision loss in his oratorio “Samson.” It is called “Total Eclipse,” and is sung after the hero has been blinded. It charts (musically even more than in words) his initial anguish but then his resolve to overcome this even if he cannot see. Overcome Samson does (though he does not regain his eyesight), with Handel having a soprano sing “Let the Bright Seraphim...” and musical radiance enters the souls of all who are open to it. This is the extraordinary thing: words of even the greatest writers can only take us so far in terms of knowledge and insight and then it is up to music to take us further. Oliver Sacks, whom you cite, knew that too and explained it beautifully in his book “Musicophilia.”
18
Another beautiful essay by Mr. Bruni. In addition to the writers cited here, others have given up using pen, paper, and computer screens and wrote using their voices. One great example was Henry James, who, though not blind, had to give up writing because of pain in his hands. Instead, he dictated to a secretary. He spoke the magisterial sentences in The Golden Bowl and The Ambassadors. He specified punctuation and spelled potentially obscure words. His disability, if it can be called that, produced two masterpieces. The light always find a a way to shine.
23
Mr. Bruni,
I wish you the best whatever happens. You have written some of the most poetic columns In have read in the Times, and many that I did not agree with, but nevertheless relished reading. Your talent with the pen matches the superb clarity of your inner vision, and I do not think either will go away even if, heaven forbid, your physical eyesight is impaired.
That said, there are many of us whose eyes function but still cannot see what is in front of our nose.
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@whaddoino Yes, indeed, Frank has "written some of the most poetic columns..." And I have saved most of them. The one in particular which I relish is his Aristotle's Wrongful Death. This is but one example of how Bruni's readers can learn from him. A mentor, you are, Frank!
4
In this article, Frank Bruni states that blindness is a disability in writing but it shouldn't stop anyone from writing a great book. The article illuminates how the writer, John Milton, who lost his vision in his right eye, uses every other ability to make a great work of art. Bruni believes that blindness isn't much of a disability in writing and says that instead of sight, the author uses all the other abilities. Bruni states that "For that you use your brain, where images are stored, organized, edited and turned into words, as much as your eyes. You use your spirit." He's stating that using his determination, imagination, brain power, all of the strengths of other senses any blind person can be a successful author. Bruni believes its not a disability but a challenge in writing a great book.
I recognize and agree with the idea that blindness doesn't affect an authors ability to write a great and inspirational book. Through this article, we learn how the writer, John Milton, is coping, learning, anticipating, preparing and sharing with us the ways to be more alive. I agree that disability is nothing more than a challenge to overcome and blindness isn't a good thing, but it gives the author a different perspective that isn't seen in other writers. Society views blindness as a disability but in hindsight, its nothing more than a challenge. People like Milton are just as capable of writing a good book as the average person and they shouldn't be limited by their "disability".
11
Beautiful.
Mindful.
"He Saw A Hummingbird" narrates the journey of Russell Ogg, who opened his first solo photography exhibit after becoming legally blind...
22
I completely agree with the opinion stated in the article by Frank Bruni. In the article, Bruni talks about his personal experience with blindness, how he has still found ways to prevail in the world, and how other partially or fully blind writers have been equally as successful. As someone with no disabilities, the struggles that a blind person goes through in day to day life rarely cross my mind. This article makes you consider the social stigma's surrounding the blind community, and how too many they are considered incapable and inadequate for many simple tasks. Bruni speaks on an author who has finished a book while being partially blind, Joel Burcat. Although it did not make any best selling lists his work is remarkable regardless and puts him in an elite group. The article also speaks about the benefits after experiencing his loss of vision and how it has made him a more kind, patient, and empathetic person. Bruni talks on how writing allows someone vision impaired to "see" in a different way again, "It can allow all of us, even the blind, to see with another person’s eyes." But Bundi points out that when one part of our body succumbs to disease or injury, and if we allow it, our mind transcends what seems to be a limitation. Writing is a great thing as when we read their works, they are not just a blind person, they are an author. Blindness can be seen as a disability or an inspiration and to these writers, it is their motivation and muse for their literature.
14
I’ve often thought about how it WILL BE when I lose my sight...I’m not afraid and have made a lot of preparations for the eventuality. Courage and fearlessness...resourcefulness and cheerfulness...a duty and yes, a need to be meaningful... thank you for forging a path that I can see....oh oh, no pun intended...
36
I thank Mr. Bruni for this piece about writers with the persistent courage to forge beyond the physical limitations imposed upon them through no fault of their own. In their way, they build bridges to worlds that the fully abled can never fully know and inspire us to resist the degradation of those who build dams and walls against the full human potential of people who struggle against the barriers.
25
@Frank Bruni. And for you, Mr. Bruni, I wish you a lifetime of good health in your left eye, even if it might mean the diminution of your otherwise creative output. I suspect that you'd make the same choice if it were yours to make.
2
Thank you for reminding us, frank, that we see best with the eyes of the mind. I wish you all the best.
62
I have glaucoma which is treatable but nevertheless strikes at a fear from childhood - going blind. I have no idea of where that idea came from but I did love to read and the thought of not being able to enter the written world was deeply disturbing. Even now when trying to envision myself where you are now Frank is really scary to me. I really hope your other eye stays the course.
19
@Jim Foster: I have also had a great fear since childhood of going blind. This year I was told I have macular degeneration. It is not yet causing me any problems (the big, fat floater that stays smack in the center of my left eye is more of a current problem as is the double vision I've lived with since I was 16). It really depressed/scared me at first, now I've put it in the back of my mind (isn't that what we must do to our own personal terrors if we are to continue?). My ex-husband also has it and now I'm quite concerned about my one child who has a double whammy of genetics lying in wait for her.
I'm not positive I can be cheerful about losing my sight. But Frank's column and these comments will be remembered.
Thank you to all. I didn't know, Frank, that you were dealing with this. I'm sorry to hear it. But I know you will be alright. I hope I can find my own way emotionally if my disease progresses. In the meantime, I take in everything through my eyes that I can, every bird, every star, every flower, every full moon, the beautiful face of my daughter.
8
This is a beautiful Opinion. It illuminates how the writer whom has lost vision in his right eye has found mentors as he carries on. Marshaling determination, imitation, imagination, brain power, the strengths of other senses, patience and the kindness of others applies not only to coping with blindness but to all of our endeavors. That is the beauty of this piece. We learn how this writer is coping, learning, anticipating, preparing and sharing with us the ways to be more alive.
29
Thank you for sharing this illuminating piece, Mr. Bruni. You have transformed a perceived weakness into an unmistakable achievement with remarkable clarity of insight.
51
I’m dealing with gradual hearing loss and the difficulty with social interaction this causes. My sister-in-law had acute visual loss in both eyes due to the same optic nerve condition you have. Your op-ed is an inspiration to both of us!
63
Lynn Manning, the brilliant poet and playwright, was a native of Los Angeles, a visual artist who was blinded at age of 21 in a bar fight. He saw his blindness as a rebirth and went on to write many plays that garnered worldwide success. He was a true artist, a profound writer who recognized his blindness as a gift. He is among the great ones and his works thrive now. A socially conscious presence that gave his all- to his art. He lived fully in the moment and never perceived his blindness as an impediment. He was an incredible example of living in the moment while dedicating his life to making art.
26
If you promise to keep writing 'em, Frank, I promise to keep on reading 'em.
No matter to what extent our vision deteriorates. (Mine, I think, is not quite as reduced as yours currently, but it certainly isn't what it was pre-progressive lenses and incipient cataracts.)
The word does not have to be seen to be appreciated.
44
Bless you. You are an inspiration to all that follow you. A true renaissance man.
67
"Homer is often portrayed as blind, though it’s hard to know what to make of that: Scholars haven’t determined whether Homer was one poet or a group of them." I heard that a scholar has determined that actually, in truth, Homer was NOT the author of either the Iliad OR the Odyssey, both of which, he discovered, were actually written by another blind Greek of the same name.
5
@Richard Conn Henry I don't mean to be glib as I recount the old conundrum that states that it isn't really Grant that's buried in Grant's Tomb, but another of the same name ...
5
@Mark
There's a series of "bloopers" that Richard Lederer collected from real answers given by middle and high school students, one of which was that nice bit about Homer.
Some other gems:
The definition of a myth: a female moth
Why was it said the sun never set on the British empire? Because the sun sets in the west, and the British empire was in the east.
Sir Francis Drake circumcised the globe with a 100 foot clipper.
George Frederich Handel was 1/2 German, 1/2 Italian and 1/2 British. he was a very large man.
Romeo and Juliet are an example of a heroic couplet.
Unleavened bread is bread made without any ingredients.
I think the book is "Anguished English." Lots more of these...
1
@Richard Conn Henry
By the way, I recognized your name - I love your writings on physics and consciousness.
I recently made an argument against Biocentrism (book by Robert Lanza) and seeing your positive comment realize I will have to rethink my view (i'm a psychologist with virtually no training in physics, so I'm particularly open to being wrong in this area!):
Here's the comment from Professor Henry:
https://beyondbiocentrism.com/book-quote-by-richard-conn-henry/
“The heart of [biocentrism], collectively, is correct. On page 15 they say “the animal observer creates reality and not the other way around.” That is the essence of the entire book, and that is factually correct. It is an elementary conclusion from quantum mechanics. So what Lanza says in this book is not new. Then why does Robert have to say it at all? It is because we, the physicists, do NOT say it—or if we do say it, we only whisper it, and in private—furiously blushing as we mouth the words. True, yes; politically correct, hell no! Bless Robert Lanza for creating this book, and bless Bob Berman for not dissuading friend Robert from going ahead with it. Not that I think Robert Lanza could be dissuaded–this dude doesn’t dissuade! Lanza’s remarkable personal story is woven into the book, and is uplifting. You should enjoy this book, and it should help you on your personal journey to understanding."
www.remember-to-breathe.org
2
Neurologist Oliver Sacks, who Frank Bruni quotes at the end, has also written about the plasticity of the brain- noting its parts can be reallocated to other sensory functions. People with disabilities can compensate for them quite remarkably.
25
I love your writing, spirit, open-minded conviction and generosity. Thank you for writing this. You will always be great, whether you can see or not.
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