[Blindtlk] FW: Sales soar as talking books mark 75 years [UK article]

[David Andrews]

>
>Here's a nice piece of "blind history."
>Lorraine
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Ed Meskys [mailto:edmeskys at roadrunner.com]
>Sent: Monday, November 08, 2010 4:23 PM
>To: bardtalk; blind-sf
>Cc: nhblind-talk
>Subject: Fw: Sales soar as talking books mark 75 years [UK article]
>
>Sent: Monday, November 08, 2010 4:02 PM
>Subject: Sales soar as talking books mark 75 years [UK article]
>
>
>Sales soar as talking books mark 75 years
>
>What began as a public service for blinded First World War veterans is now a
>major publishing success story
>
>By Emily Dugan, Independent.co.uk
>
>Sunday, 7 November 2010
>
>They started as an aid for battle casualties and elderly people with failing
>eyesight. Now talking books are a publishing sensation, enjoyed by millions
>as an alternative to the printed word. According to the most recent sales
>figures from the Publishers Association, downloads of audio books grew by 72
>per cent between 2008 and 2009. Sales of talking books on CD, cassette and
>DVD also grew to an annual £22.4m, according to the sales monitoring company
>Nielsen BookScan.
>
>It all began very differently. Exactly 75 years ago today, audio books were
>first produced as a public service for soldiers blinded in the First World
>War. The Talking Books Service, an audio library run by the Royal National
>Institute of Blind People, was launched in 1935, when Agatha Christie's The
>Murder of Roger Ackroyd was recorded on to LPs and distributed to users,
>along with a large record player. Modern technology - particularly MP3
>players - and a growing roster of high-profile narrators, have given the
>format a dramatic boost.
>
>AudioGO, which took over BBC Audiobooks last year, is one of the UK's
>largest producers of recorded books, and passed a landmark millionth
>download last year. Its publishing director Jan Paterson said: "The market
>is growing all the time. The portability of MP3 players has made more people
>interested in listening to books. The perception of the audio book as
>something for older people has changed because people listen to them while
>doing other things."
>
>The RNIB has been a major beneficiary, with the five audio books it offered
>in 1935 growing to more than 18,000 titles, which are distributed to 1.76
>million Britons.
>
>The actor Martin Jarvis, who has narrated hundreds of books, said: "I get
>letters from people all the time who say they listen to me in their cars or
>hear my voice coming from their children's bedrooms. When I record I'm
>shooting a movie in my mind; I want the listener to forget they're listening
>and imagine they're there."
>
>Sir Duncan Watson, 84, vice-president of the RNIB, said: "I've been using
>Talking Books since I lost my sight at 16. They were on big records then and
>didn't play for long, but now I've just heard Alastair Campbell's The Blair
>Years on two CDs. It really gives you a window on the world."
>
>Sue Townsend: Author of the Adrian Mole series
>
>
>
>One day, after a heavy writing stint, I lay down on the sofa with a copy of
>Simon Gray's diaries. I read 17 pages then I went to sleep. When I awoke I
>couldn't see. Those 17 pages were the last words I read unaided. The RNIB
>Talking Books Service lifted me out of the pit of misery. I went on holiday
>and lay listening to hours of beautifully read books. Talking Books helped
>me to realise that it was possible to be well read without books.
>
>
>Talented talkers: Voices that bring words to life
>
>Stephen Fry has made a fortune as the official narrator of the audio books
>for all J K Rowling's Harry Potter series in the UK. His output pales,
>however, compared with actors Miriam Margolyes and Martin Jarvis, two of
>Britain's most prolific recorders of talking books.
>
>Jarvis was described by columnist Christopher Hitchens as like "a company of
>actors inside one suit" after he listened to his recordings of P G
>Wodehouse's novels.
>
>Roald Dahl recorded several readings of his own children's books, including
>Fantastic Mr Fox and The Giraffe and the Pelly and Me, often beginning tapes
>with the words: "Read by Roald Dahl, that's me."
>
>The tones of Joanna Lumley have also become ubiquitous on audio books; the
>actress has narrated everything from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice to
>war poetry and Dahl's Esio Trot.
>
>Gordon Brown used the Talking Books service after an operation on his retina
>when he was 21 meant he was entirely blind for several days, while Margaret
>Thatcher also borrowed from the RNIB library after an eye operation. The
>actor Eric Sykes and poet laureate Sir John Betjeman also used the service.
>
>COMMENT:
>
>        a.. RobertTK:  I work for RNIB's Insight Radio and have just brodcast
>a documentary about Talking Book's 75th Anniversary. You can hear it at
>www.insightradio.co.uk

         David Andrews and long white cane Harry, dandrews at visi.com
Follow me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dandrews920