[stylist] Donna's on TV Monday! Here's a link if you can't tune in.

Donna Hill penatwork at epix.net
Fri Dec 19 21:02:42 UTC 2008 

Hi all,

Here's my first-ever newsletter. Thought you might enjoy. I'm not sure 
if the pictures come through on our list, so it might be strange for 
those who have sight if they don't.
Donna

*Donna’s on TV Monday, December 22^nd !*

*There’s a Link, if you can’t catch it Live!*

*Caption to Photo: Donna Hill, blind songwriter/recording artist and 
avid knitter, presents pink afghan with “Buddy Check” in Braille to 
Lyndall Stout at WYOU’s studios in Wilkes-Barre. Photo by Rich Hill

*In This Issue*

* Donna & Buddy Check

* Donna’s Appointment to Post of Innovative Nonprofit

* Quick & Dirty

* Knit Wits!

* Going to the Dogs!

* Next Time

* Contact Info

*Donna & Buddy Check*

Monday, December 22 at 7 P.M., TV-22 WYOU (Scranton/Wilkes-Barre CBS 
affiliate) is featuring Endless Mountains' singer/songwriter Donna Hill 
on “Buddy Check.” Donna, a Lehigh Valley native, East Stroudsburg 
University grad & long-time Philadelphia area resident, is a two-time 
breast cancer survivor. If you miss it, it will be posted. Go to this 
link, look for “WYOU Buddy Check News” & click on the Play Media Button 
for December 2008 – screen reader users, “WYOU Buddy Check News” is a 
non-linked text:

http://pahomepage.com/content/health_wellness/wyou/buddy_check

Donna has been cancer-free for eighteen years. She found both tumors 
herself despite negative mammograms. “Buddy Check,” a monthly segment on 
the local news, encourages regular breast self exam.

“Not only did self examination save my life,” says Donna, who started in 
her twenties after losing both grandmothers to the disease, “It also 
limited my treatment. Start checking now; Get familiar with what’s 
normal for you. I’m so grateful to be alive and healthy now. In addition 
to living in a beautiful rural environment with my husband Rich and our 
black Lab, Hunter, I’m doing the best work of my life.”

* *

* *

*Donna’s Appointment to Post of Innovative Nonprofit*

Born legally blind from Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), Donna, who plays 
guitar and piano, learned to use a computer with a screen reader several 
years ago. Her second cancer, diagnosed just after she had finished her 
third album “The Last Straw,” ended her dreams of marketing herself as a 
songwriter in Nashville. Nonetheless, Donna is now using her talents as 
a writer, singer and speaker to improve understanding of and 
opportunities for all blind Americans. In July, she was appointed head 
of media relations for the volunteer-run nonprofit Performing Arts 
Division, National Federation of the Blind (PAD, NFB):

www.padnfb.org <http://www.padnfb.org/>

PAD supports blind entertainers through scholarships, subsidies, 
networking and mentoring. Funding comes from tax-deductible 
contributions and sales of the “Sound in Sight” CD, a multi-genre 
compilation of eighteen original tracks and covers donated by blind 
recording artists. Donna came to PAD after being asked to donate her 
song “The Edge of the Line,” particularly meaningful in the current 
recession. Hear clips at:

http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/padotnfotb

“Strong media presence is a powerful tool for social change,” says Hill, 
who worries about the seventy percent unemployment rate among 
working-age blind Americans, “It’s made a big difference for other 
minorities, but there are few blind people in the mainstream media and 
virtually no blind women.”

*Caption to Photo: PAD President Dennis Holston & 12-year-old, blind 
jazz singer and Braille advocate Rocco Fiorentino (NJ) after Rocco’s 
performance at NYC’s Birdland jazz club. Unknown photographer.

Donna is also concerned that only ten percent of blind kids are taught 
to read Braille. 2009 marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth 
of Louis Braille who developed the raised-dot code which remains the 
only tool offering blind people true literacy.

“We don’t consider sighted children literate, just because they listen 
to someone read to them,” says Hill, “But, that is what most public 
school educators are essentially saying. Braille literacy is the major 
link among successful blind adults.”

*Quick & Dirty*

Is this where she asks us for money, or to become volunteers or something?

Well, we certainly wouldn’t turn down either, but let me guess. Is this 
you? You’d really love to help but even ten bucks would be painful and 
you’re going nuts with your current schedule. Here’s a list of quick, no 
cost alternatives to cash donations

* Link to PAD from your web site.

* Forward this to people you know.

* Tell your favorite nonprofits they can earn $4 for each $12 order they 
take for the “Sound in Sight” CD with no minimum or upfront costs.

* I’m pretty sure I don’t know what I’m doing at least half the time, so 
if you have a suggestion, let me know.

* Hey, words of encouragement are always appreciated. It really is an 
uphill battle.

* *

*Knit Wits*!

Yes, guys, you can skip this, if you like. On our camping trip through 
South Dakota, Wyoming and Utah this fall, I spent a lot of time 
knitting. Well, what else was I going to do, drive? I made several lap 
warmers and shawls, all in the same pattern -- Butterflies from “The 
Pattern Library: Knitting” edited by Amy Carroll, 1981 (US publisher, 
Ballantine Books). I already had it memorized – all 14 rows. No matter 
that it doesn’t look as much like butterflies as big seashells. Each 
butterfly, which is on a lattice-work background, is a solid fabric of 
reverse stockinet with 6 ribs which start out separated by 3 stitches 
and ultimately come together in a wrapped cluster. The ribs are made by 
knitting through the back loop. There’re a lot of “k 1 - TBL” stitches 
in the lattice as well and just as much decreasing either by knitting 2 
together or using slip, knit pass. I couldn’t help but wonder why 
sometimes you knit 2 together and sometimes slip, knit, pass? After a 
thousand miles or so, I realized that the reason was to keep the “TBL” 
rib stitch on top of the stitch that it was being combined with. If the 
“TBL” stitch comes first, you use slip, knit, pass. If “TBL” comes 
second, knitting the two stitches together gets the “TBL” on top of the 
finished stitch! OK, tell me your latest knitting revelations. I’ll use 
the best one next time and give you credit.

* *

* *

*Going to the Dogs!*

* *

**Caption to Photo: Donna’s 5-year-old Lab guide dog, Hunter, takes a 
well-deserved rest. Photo by Rich Hill.*

*A few weeks ago, Hunter and I were walking cross-country on paths 
through the fields near our house. With him guiding me, I often … well, 
space out and get lost in my thoughts of new songs and stories as well 
as the physical joy of walking.*

* *

*Suddenly, Hunter stopped, and I was brought back to my senses. It 
seemed like a strange place to stop. Fortunately, more than thirty-five 
years of using guide dogs had taught me something. The procedures for 
occasions like this that I had learned during my four visits to the 
Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind (Smithtown, NY) popped into my head.*

* *

*First, I stuck my left foot forward and swept it around in front of us. 
This would have revealed a ditch or a branch across the path, but I 
found nothing. I heard an animal in the brush and thought Hunter may 
have stopped just to look at it. I encouraged him to go forward. He didn’t*

* *

*O.K., what’s next? I lifted my right arm forward and swept it through 
the air at head level. I was sure that there weren’t any overhanging 
branches, and I was right. Was he staring at a rabbit?*

* *

*Next, I inched ahead and as my foot swung forward, it hit …*

* *

*A wire? A really long extension chord about ten inches off the ground? 
Ah, yes, I remembered. They were looking for natural gas deposits in the 
area. The company doing the seismic testing had draped wires all over 
the place. We carefully stepped over the obstacle and continued on our 
way. How could I have thought he was goofing off?*

* *

*“Good boy, Hunter! You deserve to bask in the leaves!”*

* *

* *

*Next Time*

* *

Donna’s visit with US Congressman Chris Carney! Till then, have a joyous 
holiday season!

* *

* *

*Contact Info*

For house concerts, other bookings and information about PAD or 
acquiring Donna’s writing services:

Donna Hill, Head of Media Relations

Performing Arts Division, National Federation of the Blind

(570) 833-2708

dwhill at epix.net <mailto:dwhill at epix.net>

RR #3 Box 15-C, Meshoppen, PA 18630

For Donations to PAD, Make checks payable to:

“National Federation of the Blind, Performing Arts Division” & send to 
above address, or use PayPal at:

www.padnfb.org <http://www.padnfb.org/>

Published 12/18/08 by D.W. Hill


-- 
For my bio & to hear clips from The Last Straw:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/donnahill

Apple I-Tunes

phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=259244374

Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
www.padnfb.org







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