Hanni and I have visited 4 schools in the past couple of weeks. Five, if you count a side trip to my alma mater, York High School in Elmhurst IL. But I’ll get to that later. First, the elementary schools. Reavis Elementary in Chicago, Jefferson Elementary in Milwaukee, Kipling and Wilmot Elementary Schools in Deerfield, […]

One of the seniors in the memoir–writing class I teach will appear on the Super Bowl this Sunday! No, not in the game. In a commercial! With the 1985 Chicago Bears! From the WGN Radio website: During the first quarter of the Feb. 7 game, an updated version of the classic “Super Bowl Shuffle” will […]

I was a bad cook when I could see. That didn’t change when I lost my sight. I still can’t cook, but now, I have an excuse. Or at least I did have an excuse, until that story about Laura Martinez came out in the Chicago Tribune last month. Martinez is 25 years old and […]

After reading that article about Braille in last week’s New York Times, a senior producer at Chicago Public radio asked if I’d be interested in writing an essay about Braille. I sent one their way, and while I was at it, I sent along another essay as well. The second one was about that fifth […]

Blindness doesn’t bring a whole lot of advantages. So I relish the ones I have. I walk arm in arm with people all the time. My dog goes with me everywhere. And when friends drive me somewhere? we park in handicapped parking! Best of all, I can’t judge people by the way they look. Fat, […]