[NFBMI-Talk] Co-Developer Of Braille Blaster Software Memorialized In Wall Street Journal

[christineboone2 at gmail.com]

Kane, Thanks very much for sharing this. 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: NFBMI-Talk <nfbmi-talk-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Kane Brolin
> via NFBMI-Talk
> Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2023 1:11 PM
> To: NFB Chapter Presidents discussion list <chapter-presidents at nfbnet.org>;
> NFB of Indiana Mailing List <NFB-Indiana at googlegroups.com>; NFB of
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> Cc: Kane Brolin <kbrolin65 at gmail.com>; Lee Martin <lches at sbcglobal.net>;
> Dick Davis <dickblind at gmail.com>; tcoburn4 <tcoburn4 at gmail.com>;
> Catherine Brands (CCMS) <catherine.brands at carroll.kyschools.us>; Gary Van
> Dorn <garyvdrn at msn.com>; jlshown at prosperospen.com
> Subject: [NFBMI-Talk] Co-Developer Of Braille Blaster Software Memorialized In
> Wall Street Journal
> 
> This has received astonishingly little coverage across the various blindness
> listservs I subscribe to, so I am writing to several to spread the word.
> 
> John J Boyer certainly did a lot to deserve our gratitude in this movement.  It is
> significant that his passing was memorialized in both the print edition [February
> 11, 2023] and the digital archives of The Wall Street Journal.  If you were an
> NFB-NEWSLINE® subscriber, you could have read this article free of charge by
> now.  Two sighted people in my sphere of influence in Northern Indiana have
> come to me this week, having noticed the article about Mr. Boyer, even though
> neither of them has had extended contact with the blind.  So the announcement
> about his passing has made an impact.
> 
> I reproduce the first few paragraphs below.
> 
> "John J. Boyer, raised on (sic.) a Minnesota farm family with 12 children, was
> born blind and lost most of his hearing by the time he was 10 years old.
> 
> "None of that stopped him from setting up a basement science lab and aspiring
> to be another Thomas Edison. What did frustrate him was a lack of textbooks in
> braille. “When I was in high school, my physics book was older than I was and
> didn’t even explain what made the sun hot,” he would later tell the Wisconsin
> State Journal.
> 
> "He studied mathematics and computer science, learned to live on his own,
> married only to lose his wife to death a few years later, and sank into
> depression. He credited his recovery to counseling and his Roman Catholic faith.
> 
> "Then Mr. Boyer fulfilled what he saw as his duty: He developed Liblouis as free,
> open-source software—now used around the world—to translate text into
> braille. ViewPlus Technologies Inc., an Oregon-based maker of equipment used
> to create and format braille documents, commissioned Mr. Boyer to develop the
> software and covered his expenses. ...
> 
> "He helped develop BrailleBlaster, an interface that facilitates such tasks as
> creating braille textbooks. That software is made available through the
> American Printing House for the Blind, a nonprofit that serves blind people. His
> software is also used in screen readers allowing people with visual impairments
> to read material displayed on computers.
> 
> "Mr. Boyer died Jan. 17 at a hospital in Madison, Wis. He was 86 and had been
> under treatment for pneumonia.
> 
> "“My working relationship with the Lord is that I do what is possible and He will
> do the impossible,” Mr. Boyer said."
> 
> Cordially,
> 
> Kane Brolin
> President, Indiana State Affiliate
> National Federation of the Blind
> (574)386-8868 (mobile)
> 
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