<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Here is a message I think all should see if they haven't. I can't explain why the official silence, but the fact seems to be official. The header information that is still there I have left for documentation.<div><br><div><br></div><div>Cindy Lou</div><div><br><div><br><div>Begin forwarded message:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite"><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>From: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">"Bob Ray" <<a href="mailto:wa0kzb@gmail.com">wa0kzb@gmail.com</a>><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Subject: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;"><b>FW: [nfb-talk] Fwd: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr. Maurer</b><br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>Date: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">December 3, 2013 9:06:48 AM CST<br></span></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium; color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 1.0);"><b>To: </b></span><span style="font-family:'Helvetica'; font-size:medium;">"'Cindy Ray'" <<a href="mailto:cindyray@gmail.com">cindyray@gmail.com</a>><br></span></div><br><div><br><br>From: nfb-talk [mailto:nfb-<a href="mailto:talk-bounces@nfbnet.org">talk-bounces@nfbnet.org</a>] On Behalf Of David<br>Andrews<br>Sent: Sunday, December 01, 2013 12:44 PM<br>To: <a href="mailto:david.andrews@nfbnet.org">david.andrews@nfbnet.org</a><br>Subject: [nfb-talk] Fwd: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr. Maurer<br><br><br>From: "Fredric Schroeder" <<a href="mailto:fschroeder@sks.com">fschroeder@sks.com</a>><br>To: "NFBV Announce" <<a href="mailto:nfbv-announce@nfbnet.org">nfbv-announce@nfbnet.org</a>><br>Date: Sun, 1 Dec 2013 11:12:29 -0500<br>Subject: [Nfbv-announce] Retirement of Dr. Maurer<br><br>Friends:<br><br><br><br>Over the weekend, I participated in a meeting of the board of directors <br>of the National Federation of the Blind. The meeting was held at our <br>national headquarters in Baltimore.<br><br><br><br>As you know, Dr. Marc Maurer has been our national president since <br>1986. He has served as president longer than any of our previous <br>presidents and has guided us through a period of unprecedented growth <br>and change. It was under Dr. Maurer's leadership that we established <br>the Jernigan Institute and all of the programs that have been so <br>successful in demonstrating the truth of our assertion that given <br>proper opportunity and training, blind people can live and work as others.<br><br><br><br>In particular we have developed many programs designed to provide blind <br>children and youth with the skills and confidence they need to compete <br>fully in their education and to develop their life ambitions. We have <br>conducted the Youth Slam, Science Academy, and more recently the BELL<br>programs.<br><br><br><br>In the area of technology under Dr. Maurer's leadership we developed <br>the KNFB Reader Mobile allowing blind people to have immediate access <br>to print with nothing more than a cell phone and special software. And <br>then there was the Blind Driver Challenge. There is no question that <br>lack of access to reliable transportation remains a major barrier for <br>blind people. Yet, the Blind Driver Challenge showed that we could <br>develop the technology to enable a blind person to drive a car, not <br>simply sit passively in a car that drives itself.<br><br><br><br>These are the expressions of Dr. Maurer's leadership. Yet at the heart <br>of his leadership is his spirit and his belief in every blind person.<br>He has inspired and encouraged us, faced the most difficult challenges <br>with resolution and strength, and he has kept us together, and never <br>let us waiver in our belief in our own right to live normal, productive<br>lives.<br><br><br><br>On Saturday afternoon Dr. Maurer told the board that it is his <br>intention to not seek reelection to the presidency next summer at our <br>national convention. He feels the time is right to transition to the <br>next president, the next individual who can lead us for a quarter <br>century<br>or more. Dr.<br>Maurer is in good health and believes that it is important that he step <br>down from the presidency while he is able to assist with the transition.<br>Dr.<br>Maurer told the board that he, Dr. Maurer, plans to support Mr. Mark <br>Riccobono as the next president of the National Federation of the Blind.<br><br><br><br>Mr. Riccobono presently serves as the Executive Director of the <br>Jernigan Institute. He is an accomplished individual with the strength <br>and wisdom to assume the serious responsibility of leading our <br>movement. He has brought to his work the imagination and competency we<br>demand from our president.<br><br><br><br>We are truly fortunate that within the Federation we have individuals <br>who are able and willing to give all they have to furthering our move <br>toward true equality. The demands of the NFB presidency are <br>unimaginable. We require our leader to give all of his time, all of his <br>imagination, and all of his personal reserve of judgment to leading our <br>organization. This is what Dr. Maurer has done for the past 27 and a <br>half years, and it is what Mark Riccobono will do for the time of his<br>presidency.<br><br><br><br>The transition brings to an end one chapter in our history and what a <br>glorious chapter it has been. We cannot face the loss of Dr. Maurer's <br>leadership without a sense of sadness; but the transition to a new <br>president is not just the absence of what we had before. The transition <br>heralds a new chapter in our history and with it, new opportunities-the <br>chance to take all that has come before and build something bigger and <br>more powerful than we have ever known.<br><br><br><br>Please join me in thanking Dr. Maurer for his leadership, his <br>friendship and his faithful devotion to our cause; and please join me <br>in wishing Mark Riccobono the very best as he seeks to take the <br>foundation that is all that has come before and build upon it the next<br>great chapter in our history.<br><br>_______________________________________________<br><blockquote type="cite">Nfbv-announce mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Nfbv-announce@nfbnet.org">Nfbv-announce@nfbnet.org</a><br>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbv-announce_nfbnet.org<br></blockquote><br><br>_______________________________________________<br>nfb-talk mailing list<br><a href="mailto:nfb-talk@nfbnet.org">nfb-talk@nfbnet.org</a><br>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org<br>To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for<br>nfb-talk:<br>http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nfb-talk_nfbnet.org/theweird1%40mediacombb<br>.net<br><br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></body></html>