Hanni and I gave a presentation in the BookKids department at BookPeople in Austin yesterday. I started the presentation by explaining that even though my eyes are open I can’t see. “When I was little, I went to school just like you – and then when I lost my sight I had to go to school and learn to do things all over again,” I told the kids.
Only trouble was, There were no kids in the audience — I had no idea that I was talking to a bunch of adults. Duh! It is so embarrassing now to think of how painstakingly (for the people in the audience, I’m sure!) I explained what Braille is. I encouraged the audience to try squeezing toothpaste onto a toothbrush with their eyes closed. I teased them, telling them they could borrow some of the Seeing Eye dog training methods to “train” their parents.
It wasn’t until I’d finished signing and paw-printing copies of “Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound” afterwards that it dawned on me. I’d signed 20 books or so but didn’t talk to a single kid. “There were some kids mingling around,” the BookKids event planner told me. “But the audience was all adults!”
Well, adults and dogs, that is. A couple from Austin brought their Seeing Eye dogs along to the presentation, so Hanni had a little competition. That’s good for her – her head was getting big after those designer treats at the Renaissance Hotel!
Karen Thomas was there, too – she’s the editor of Dialogue Magazine. DIALOGUE is an international news magazine for people who are experiencing vision loss or are blind. It comes out in large print and on cassette, and Karen brought a copy of both formats for me. Guess what? “Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound” is reviewed in the September/ October 2007 edition! I listened to the review — and the rest of the magazine — on my flight back to Chicago.
And now that I’m home, I’ve made a note to myself: in the future, I’ll start my presentations by asking the audience to say, hmmm, let me think. How about they say “Safe!” if they’re adults. “Sound!!” if they’re kids. Then at least I’ll know who I’m talking to!

Hanni and I have stayed in plenty of hotels, but never before has a concierge offered us a gift bag…for the dog!
We’re at the Renaissance Austin Hotel – I gave a presentation about assistive technology at the Convio Summit yesterday, and tomorrow I’m giving a presentation about Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound in the Kids Department at BookPeople. BookPeople is the largest bookstore in Texas. We all know everything is bigger in Texas, so Yikes, Book People must be a pretty big place!
But back to Hani’s goody bag. Renaissance Austin Hotel is “small dog friendly” so it keeps a stash of goody bags on hand for canine guests. Hanni is not a small dog, of course, but her Seeing Eye status gets her in everywhere. Her goody bag was perfect for one of those toy-poodle-like dogs –a fancy paper bag, slick and shiny to the touch, tied at the top with a ribbon and everything! Inside I found a Mutt Mitt for easy “pick up” and a few treats for Hanni. The treats, I was told, were made by the restaurant’s pastry chef. But that wasn’t all – she also got a squeak toy (Hanni loves squeak toys) and a teeny-tiny rawhide bone.
Needless to say, Hanni loves this hotel.
I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised at the goody bag. Mike, Hanni and I were lucky enough to be in Austin last June, and everywhere we went that weekend people – and businesses — were friendly and welcoming to dogs. Austin-Bergstrom International Airport even has a dog park! I
was so taken by Austin’s love of dogs after that June trip that I contacted Dog Fancy Magazine to see if they’d be interested in my writing a story about it. My article about Austin will appear in the January issue of Dog Fancy – look for it on newsstands in late November.
For now, I’ll reach in that goody bag for a Mutt Mitt — time to go out with Hanni before her goodnight snack. Hope she doesn’t get too used to these homemade dog treats – I can assure you, I won’t be making these at home!

          “Is your hand tired?” “You doing okay?” “Got writer’s cramp yet?”
Those are the questions I was getting last night at the Easter Seals national Convention. It wasn’t until Hanni and I got back to our hotel room that I realized why: I’d been signing books for two hours!
Here’s the deal: I work part-time for Easter Seals Headquarters in Chicago. I’m the “interactive Community Coordinator” there – a fancy-schmancey title that means I moderate the Easter Seals Autism Blog. You have Easter Seals to thank – or blame – for this blog I’ve started about my new book. It was at Easter Seals that I learned to use the blogging tools.
When Easter Seals found out Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound was coming out at the same time as their national convention this year, they arranged with my publisher to produce a special Easter Seals edition. The special edition has the same cover design as the regular book, but the inside book flap is different – it describes my connection with Easter Seals. The back of the special edition features the Easter Seals logo and explains “Vision 2010”: Easter Seals’ goal to serve 5 million people with disabilities annually by the year 2010.
I spoke at the Easter Seals President’s Council event last night — President’s Council members each give $1000 to Easter Seals annually. After my speech, each President’s Council member was given a copy of the special Easter Seals edition of “Hanni and Beth: Safe & sound” as a thank you gift. Members stood in line for me to sign and Braille my name into their books — Hanni’s paw print was rubber-stamped onto each copy, too.
It was such a happy occasion, it never occurred to me we’d been sitting there signing for two hours! Hanni noticed, though – by the end of the night her paw was in my hand, she was begging me to go home with her. Or in this case, to go back to the hotel room. And trust me, when we got there, we both slept very well. You know…safe & sound!

More than 30 people gathered at the Madison Children’s Museum Friday night to hear me talk about “Hanni and Beth: Safe & Sound.” A lot of the kids in the audience were Girl Scouts. By attending the presentation I did with Hanni these scouts not only made progress on their “Books” badge, but they got a headstart on their “Disability Awareness” badge, too!
The audience had tons of questions during the q and a part of my session, everything from “How does it feel to be blind?” to “How do you pick up the dog’s poop?”
My sister Marilee was with me at the event — she had flown in from orlando to chauffeur Hanni and me to Madison. We had a great time, as always, and Saturday morning came too soon. We had a quick breakfast, then took off for O’Hare Airport. I kissed Marilee goodbye there — she was spending the rest of the weekend with Flo. Flo’s our mom, and when I think of it, Flo was my Girl Scout leader.
I am typing to you from seat 18D on our flight to Washington, DC. Hanni is sleeping at my feet. Well, her head is at my feet — her bottom is tucked away under the seat in front of us It’s good she’s resting up — we have a busy few days ahead of us at the Easter Seals National Convention. Stay tuned…!

Just got back from Springfield, Illinois where Hanni and I gave a presentation at the Illinois Library Association Conference. My friend Jenny chauffeured me to Springfield and back. She works at The Book store in Glen Ellyn, IL. The Bookstore received a special advance order of “Hanni and Beth: Safe & sound” – Jenny carted a boxload along to sell after my presentation.
It was a 3+ hour drive, and we arrived in Springfield Tuesday night just in time to grab some snacks at the hotel bar. And guess what? Wine and beer is cheaper in Springfield than it is in Chicago. We had fun! Hanni enjoyed her time, too, snatching the kernels of popcorn that’d fall on the floor from time to time.
The next morning Jenny, Hanni and I visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum before heading back to the conference to give my talk. My session was called “More Than Meets the Eye: Teaching Children about Blindness” and librarians from all over the state were in the audience. I was especially happy to find out that some of the audience members were from the Library of Congress Talking Book Service.
I first found out about the National Library Service Talking Book program back in 1985, while I was in the hospital enduring surgeries the doctors hoped would save my eyesight.
A hospital social worker brought me a big plastic box one day—it was the size and weight of a Chicago phone book. Twenty years later, I still use that oversized tape recorder from the Library of Congress to listen to books.
All I have to do to get books on tape is email my Talking Book librarian to order them. The National Library Service tapes are mailed to me in special containers. When I finish listening I simply flip an address card on the container over and slip the whole thing into any normal mailbox to return it free of charge.
An essay I wrote earlier this year about the Talking Book Program won a contest in Woman’s Day magazine. The essay is featured on the American library Association’s “I Love Libraries” web site — you can check it out at www.ilovelibraries.org .
I am, and have always been, a huge fan of books and libraries, and it was a great feeling to be in Springfield surrounded by the people in Illinois who make the library system run as smoothly as it does.