[nagdu] Article from the Tampa Tribune

Wed Dec 8 14:45:26 UTC 2010

Sherrill,
    Thanks for the support! I have worked with Barb on several occasions and 
she really gets it! I knew she would again!

Fraternally yours,
Marion


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sherrill O'Brien" <sherrill.obrien at verizon.net>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>; "Performing Arts List" <perform-talk at nfbnet.org>; "Music 
List" <musictlk at nfbnet.org>; "Human Services List" <humanser at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 9:24 AM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Article from the Tampa Tribune


> My dear friend Marion,
>
> Great article!!  Finally, a really well written piece.  Congratulations, 
> and
> cudos to the reporter who got it right.
>
> Sherrill
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org]On
> Behalf Of Marion Gwizdala
> Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 8:58 AM
> To: NAGDU List; Performing Arts List; Music List; Human Services List
> Subject: [nagdu] Article from the Tampa Tribune
>
>
> Dear All,
>    Thanks to Barbara Routen for writing this great article about me and my
> work!
>
> Fraternally yours,
> Marion Gwizdala, President
> National Association of Guide Dog Users
> National Federation of the Blind
> 813-626-2789
> President at NAGDU.ORG
> HTTP://NAGDU.ORG
>
>
> Local musician offers acoustic Christmas concert
>
> by Barbara Routen
>
>
>
> Reprinted from the Tampa Tribune, December 8, 2010
>
>
>
> BRANDON - Marion & Martin - 55-year-old singer songwriter Marion Gwizdala
> and his Martin D-35 guitar - will perform "An Acoustic Christmas" in a 
> cozy
> venue with a fireplace and wood-planked floors.
>
>
>
> Gwizdala's acoustic, finger-style guitar music will accompany his tenor
> vocal renderings of secular seasonal songs and religious Christmas carols.
>
>
>
> The concert at 7 p.m. Saturday  will include a sale of baked goods and
> holiday crafts to benefit Brandon Unity, and an opportunity to meet 
> Gwizdala
> after the show.
>
>
>
> The venue, the Brandon Women's Center at 129 N. Moon Ave., is an historic
> building and only acoustic music is allowed to be performed in it, said
> Gwizdala, who prefers the pure sound and doesn't even use a pick.
>
>
>
> The Florida native started playing piano at 6 and guitar at 14. Although 
> he
> always wanted to play guitar, his mother insisted he learn piano first.
>
>
>
> His stage debut was in theater in third grade as the emperor in "The
> Emperor's New Clothes.
>
>
>
> "I think I got the role because I was the only one in my class willing to
> walk around in underwear!" he said.
>
>
>
> He performed in community theater and toured for a while with a Christian
> rock troupe called The Joyful Noise Ensemble.
>
>
>
> He attended high school seminary and a semester at St. Vincent de Paul
> Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach before deciding the priesthood was not
> his calling.
>
>
>
> Gwizdala majored in music in college before earning a bachelor's degree in
> psychology from the University of South Florida and a master's degree
>
> in mental health counseling from Nova Southeastern University.
>
>
>
> At 17 he learned he had inherited retinitis pigmentosa, a degenerative
> condition that gradually stole his sight. At 25, after hitting a
> tractor-trailer he didn't see in the dark, he gave up driving.
>
>
>
> "My cousins, whose father was blind with the same condition, came down 
> from
> Michigan and told me about the National Federation of the Blind and other
> resources,"
>
> he said.
>
>
>
> "They introduced me to other blind people who showed me I could become
> successful and pursue the dreams I had. These blind people were ordinary,
> average,
>
> everyday people living ordinary, average, everyday lives. They were not
> extraordinary people."
>
>
>
> "I had been told that my uncle was extraordinary, amazing, because he 
> lived
> a normal life even though he was blind," Gwizdala said. "I saw myself as
> average - a C student, a little above average athletically and musically -
> so I didn't think I could be successful if I admitted I was blind."
>
>
>
> He chuckled. "Not admitting it didn't change the fact that I was blind!"
>
>
>
> He has been married twice and has a daughter, 24-year-old Aislinn Woody. 
> She
> is a personal trainer and Coast Guard reservist in San Francisco.
>
>
>
> Gwizdala is employed as music director at New Life Unity in North Tampa 
> and
> has a private practice as a certified hypnotherapist.
>
>
>
> He performs what he calls positive acoustic rock, a combination of 
> original
> music and covers of folk and contemporary songs with an upbeat message.
>
>
>
> He also is a public speaker and advocate for the blind.
>
>
>
> Gwizdala served for many years as president of the East Hillsborough 
> Chapter
> of the National Federation of the Blind, but because of his greater
> involvement
>
> on the national level now, the chapter has been disbanded, he said.
>
>
>
> Gwizdala currently is president of the National Association of Guide Dog
> Users, a division of the National Federation of the Blind.
>
>
>
> In March he got Sergeant, a 100-pound German shepherd from the Guide Dog
> Foundation for the Blind in Smithtown, N.Y. Sergeant is working out well,
> Gwizdala
>
> said.
>
>
>
> "He's still got a lot of puppy in him. He's a really good dog with quite a
> personality, and I've found my music puts him to sleep."
>
>
>
> Gwizdala said people have misconceptions about blindness. They expect 
> blind
> people to wear dark glasses and walk hesitatingly with their arms extended
> in front of them, and for the blindness to be visible in their eyes.
>
>
>
> Gwizdala's condition is inside his eyes, so there is no cloudy film across
> them and they move in unison.
>
>
>
> Because of that, and also his confidence and independent lifestyle, people
> from time to time question whether he's really blind, particularly on or
> around the local buses he rides everywhere he goes.
>
>
>
> "With my characteristics," Gwizdala said, "I feel I'm on stage all the 
> time.
> I'm blind, go around with a dog, I'm tall, redheaded - people are always
> looking
>
> at me. And people recognize me from all the advocacy work I've done."
>
>
>
> For more information, contact
>
>
>
> Marion Gwizdala
>
> 813-626-2789
>
> SwampFox1833 at Verizon.net
>
>
>
>
>
> Neighbors at tampabay.rr.com">name="signature">Neighbors at tampabay.rr.com .
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