[Ohio-Communities-of-Faith] FW: Sound of Silence

Wed Apr 21 13:08:04 UTC 2021

From: Larry Perry [mailto:larryperry at performancepress.ccsend.com] On Behalf Of Larry Perry
Sent: Wednesday, April 21, 2021 8:11 AM
To: mmoore11 at kent.edu
Subject: EXT: Sound of Silence

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Letter from Larry

Wednesday

April 21, 2021

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Good Wednesday Morning Everyone:

 Hello Darkness My Old Friend, a Simon and Garfunkel song inspired 

by a College roommate who went blind - reveals an untold story. Enjoy

and then listen to the song and especially the words.

Sound of Silence

One of the best-loved songs of all time. Simon & Garfunkel's hit The 

Sound Of Silence topped the US charts and went platinum in the UK. 

The Sound Of Silence means much more than just a No 1 song on the 

radio with its poignant opening lines: "Hello Darkness my old friend, 

I've come to talk with you again."

Sanford "Sandy" Greenberg is Art Garfunkel's best friend, and reveals

in a moving new memoir, named after that lyric, that the song was a

touching tribute to their undying bond, and the singer's sacrifice that

saved Sandy's life when he unexpectedly lost his sight. "He lifted me 

out of the grave," says Sandy, aged 79, who recounts his sudden 

blindness, and how Art Garfunkel's selfless devotion gave him reason

to live again. 

Sandy and Arthur, as Art was then known, met during their first week 

as students at the prestigious Columbia University in New York. They 

became roommates, bonding over a shared taste in books, poetry

and music. 

“Every night Arthur and I would sing. He would play his guitar and I

would be the DJ. The air was always filled with music." 

"Still teenagers, they made a pact to always be there for each other 

in times of trouble. "If one was in extremis, the other would come to 

his rescue," says Sandy They had no idea their promise would be 

tested so soon. Just months later, Sandy recalls: "I was at a baseball 

game and suddenly my eyes became cloudy and my vision became

unhinged. 

Shortly after that darkness descended." Doctors diagnosed 

conjunctivitis, assuring it would pass. But days later Sandy went blind,

and doctors realized that glaucoma had destroyed his optic nerves.

Sandy was the son of a rag-and-bone man. His family, Jewish immigrants 

in Buffalo, New York, had no money to help him, so he dropped out 

of college, gave up his dream of becoming a lawyer, and plunged into 

depression.  

"I wouldn't see anyone, I just refused to talk to anybody," says Sandy. 

"And then unexpectedly Arthur flew in, saying he had to talk to me.

He said, 'You're gonna come back, aren't you?' "I said,: 'No, There's 

no conceivable way.' "He was pretty insistent, and finally said, 'Look,

I don't think you get it. I need you back there. That's the pact we 

made together: we would be there for the other in times of crises. 

I will help you'." 

Together they returned to Columbia University, where Sandy became

dependent on Garfunkel's support. Art would walk Sandy to class, 

bandage his wounds when he fell, and even filled out his graduate 

school applications.

Garfunkel called himself "Darkness" in a show of empathy. The singer 

explained: "I was saying, 'I want to be together where you are, in the 

black'." Sandy recalls: "He would come in and say, 'Darkness is going 

to read to you now.' “Then he would take me to class and back. He 

would take me around the city. He altered his entire life so that it

would accommodate me."

Garfunkel would talk about Sandy with his high-school friend Paul 

Simon, from Queens, New York, as the folk rock duo struggled to 

launch their musical careers, performing at local parties and clubs. 

Though Simon wrote the song, the lyrics to The Sound of Silence 

are infused with Garfunkel's compassion as Darkness, Sandy's old

friend.

Guiding Sandy through New York one day, as they stood in the 

vast forecourt of bustling Grand Central Station, Garfunkel said 

that he had to leave for an assignment, abandoning his blind friend

alone in the rush-hour crowd, terrified, stumbling and falling.

"I cut my forehead" says Sandy. "I cut my shins. My socks were 

bloodied. I had my hands out and bumped into a woman's breasts. 

It was a horrendous feeling of shame and humiliation. "I started

running forward, knocking over coffee cups and briefcases, and 

finally I got to the local train to Columbia University. It was the 

worst couple of hours in my life."

Back on campus, he bumped into a man, who apologized. "I knew 

that it was Arthur's voice," says Sandy. "For a moment I was enraged, 

and then I understood what happened: that his colossally insightful,

brilliant yet wildly risky strategy had worked." Garfunkel had not 

abandoned Sandy at the station, but had followed him the entire 

way home, watching over him. "Arthur knew it was only when I 

could prove to myself I could do it that I would have real independence,"

says Sandy. "And it worked, because after that I felt that I could do 

anything.

"That moment was the spark that caused me to live a completely

different life, without fear, without doubt. For that I am tremendously 

grateful to my friend." Sandy not only graduated, but went on to 

study for a master's degree at Harvard and Oxford.

While in Britain he received a phone call from his friend - and with it 

the chance to keep his side of their pact. Garfunkel wanted to drop

out of architecture school and record his first album with Paul Simon,

but explained: "I need $400 to get started." Sandy, by then married to 

his high school sweetheart, says: "We had $404 in our current account. 

I said, 'Arthur, you will have your check.' "It was an instant 

reaction, because he had helped me restart my life, and his request

was the first time that I had been able to live up to my half of our 

solemn covenant."

The 1964 album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, was a critical and 

commercial flop, but one of the tracks was The Sound Of Silence,

which was released as a single the following year and went to No 1

across the world. "The Sound Of Silence meant a lot, because it 

started out with the words 'Hello darkness' and this was Darkness 

singing, the guy who read to me after I returned to Columbia blind,"

says Sandy.

Simon & Garfunkel went on to have four smash albums, with hits

including Mrs. Robinson, The Boxer, and Bridge Over Troubled 

Waters. Amazingly, Sandy went on to extraordinary success as an

inventor, entrepreneur, investor, presidential adviser and philanthropist. 

The father of three, who launched a $3million prize to find a cure

for blindness, has always refused to use a white cane or guide dog.

"I don't want to be 'the blind guy'," he says. "I wanted to be Sandy 

Greenberg, the human being." 

Six decades later the two men remain best friends, and Garfunkel

credits Sandy with transforming his life. With Sandy, "my real life 

emerged," says the singer. "I became a better guy in my own eyes, 

and began to see who I was - somebody who gives to a friend. "I 

blush to find myself within his dimension. My friend is the gold 

standard of decency." Says Sandy: "I am the luckiest man in the 

world!"

Now shut your eyes and listen to the song lyrics by clicking here:

 <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001qiOWZU6Upep8jqMpQV1kBVLjoXsY9d6LDSuLJ7p3oKNEyi7kA6cPsJR9vMx7q_8Zj6pdmbt4GNDAa5pU_aloyf-Gr2i29Tc7ssdpB6mc5LfqmPpRzpMb2S7N-eOCuaLfJCMX1nS4pg9tig3svvse0Fk-lQTDFsUK6FltqMcqmiebkn_RVRMclw==&c=YpIPoRdJOsFaIhHFgcZstGDQC3JLAl0WgXhl2-lvWJK9J0DfmaSX1g==&ch=x9wkrhJvqRK3UJXmnOCHvcStAGnQ_31t_JTm3Sj5iqnRy7f6L0O41Q==> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fWyzwo1xg0

I share this story today with you to remind you that God works in 

mysterious ways for our benefit as he did with Sandy. You see

Sandy thought Garfunkel had abandoned him when in fact he was

following to protect him as Sandy learned how to find his own way

without depending upon assistance. Sometimes God does the same

with us, but just knowing that He is ALWAYS there is very comforting

for us. God promised that he would never leave us!

*****

Much love from the East Tennessee mountains where God's

glory is in full bloom !

Larry

‌

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