[stylist] Article about NFB Braille Monitor editor, Barbara Pierce

Thu Jan 22 05:26:53 UTC 2009

yeah,
some refs to "the chronicle" but didn't actually see it was from Oberland.
thanks.
jc

Jim Canaday M.A.
Lawrence, KS

At 08:45 PM 1/21/2009, you wrote:
>Jim,
>It's the Chronicle Enterprise, and the contact 
>info is at the head of the article in my post. I 
>think it's from Oberland, Ohio.
>Donna
>
>--
>For my bio & to hear clips from The Last Straw:
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>Performing Arts Division of the National Federation of the Blind
>www.padnfb.org
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>
>James Canaday M.A. N6YR wrote:
>>thanks for sharing this Donna. that is a very good article.
>>what publication is that from?
>>jc
>>
>>Jim Canaday M.A.
>>Lawrence, KS
>>
>>At 08:54 AM 1/21/2009, you wrote:
>>>Hi Everyone,
>>>The article copied below is posted at:
>>>http://www.chroniclet.com/2009/01/21/woman-devotes-life-to-helping-the-blind_122/ 
>>>
>>>Donna Hill
>>>
>>>Woman devotes life to helping the blind
>>>John Light | The Chronicle-Telegram
>>>Contact John Light at 329-7148 or
>>>ctnews at chroniclet.com.
>>>
>>>OBERLIN — Barbara Pierce retired as president 
>>>of the National Federation of the Blind of 
>>>Ohio last November. Her work, however, is far from finished.
>>>
>>>Pierce, a resident of Oberlin, has been 
>>>actively helping blind people for more three 
>>>decades. She talks passionately of her work and of the issues she has
>>>championed, although she feels that not nearly 
>>>enough progress has been made.
>>>
>>>Pierce moved to Lorain County to attend 
>>>Oberlin College in the early 1960s but she did 
>>>not become involved in the federation until 1974, when she came across
>>>its literature. After reading it, she said she 
>>>had a new appreciation for the struggles that 
>>>she and other blind people faced daily.
>>>
>>>“I realized, if I was honest with myself, that 
>>>I talked a better game than I lived. I 
>>>pretended that I was comfortable using a white cane and doing what
>>>I needed to do to take care of my family and 
>>>so on,” Pierce said. “But I found that here 
>>>were people who were living boldly the life that I only sort of
>>>pretended to live. 
 Here were people who were 
>>>doing what I didn’t dare to do.
>>>
>>>“And then there were other blind people who 
>>>absolutely were being discriminated against — 
>>>having their children taken away from them, being told that they
>>>couldn’t rent houses or rent apartments. 
 I 
>>>just simply hadn’t had the hard time that a 
>>>lot of people had, and I thought, ‘Well, I’m not pulling my weight.’
>>>”
>>>
>>>Within a few months, Pierce founded the Lorain 
>>>County Chapter of the National Federation of 
>>>the Blind of Ohio. And 10 years later, in 1984, she was elected
>>>president of the National Federation of the 
>>>Blind of Ohio, a position she held until last 
>>>November, when she chose not to stand for re-election.
>>>
>>>Pierce also serves as editor of the National 
>>>Federation’s monthly publication, The Braille 
>>>Monitor, a position she plans to continue at least through the
>>>end of the year.
>>>
>>>But while being heavily involved in her work 
>>>at the state and national levels, Pierce has 
>>>remained active locally as an advocate for inclusiveness in Lorain
>>>County, said Brian Wilbert, Pierce’s friend 
>>>and the pastor of Oberlin Christ Church.
>>>
>>>“You’re not going to get Barbara focused on 
>>>handicaps or physical challenges,” Pierce 
>>>said. “You’re going to get Barbara talking about how inclusiveness
>>>is a way of life. 
 It’s not just one thing, it’s everything.
>>>
>>>“I don’t see her ever really retiring. I see 
>>>her letting go of some of the administrative 
>>>stuff, but I don’t see her ever really giving up helping people.
>>>People call her that want to speak to her 
>>>because they have a child that’s been born 
>>>blind, or they themselves have gone blind and they want to know what
>>>it’s like. She’s there to help people make that kind of transition.”
>>>
>>>Sherry Ruth, Pierce’s successor as president 
>>>of the Lorain County chapter of the National 
>>>Federation of the Blind of Ohio, relied on Pierce when she first
>>>lost her sight.
>>>
>>>“I was very unsure of myself as to what I 
>>>would do with the rest of my life,” Ruth said. 
>>>“Barbara was a major inspiration to me by the way she traveled
>>>independently and the way she kept her home, always baking and cooking.”
>>>
>>>Pierce takes a direct approach to helping people cope with becoming blind.
>>>
>>>“I get them to tell me what bothers them,” she 
>>>said. “If they can’t dial a telephone, I can 
>>>teach them over the telephone how to dial a telephone. You put
>>>yourself in the other guy’s position and you 
>>>try to think, ‘OK, what is it that bothers 
>>>this person, and what can I suggest out of my experience that will
>>>help get them grounded, let them know where to start?’ ”
>>>
>>>When asked how blindness affects someone’s 
>>>life, Pierce replies that it doesn’t make the individual feel deprived.
>>>
>>>“When you’ve never had it, or you’ve lost it 
>>>early on, or you’ve lost it gradually, you 
>>>fill up the rest of your sensory world with the data that you have
>>>that do come in,” she said. “The world is full 
>>>no matter what your experience of it is.”
>>>
>>>Contact John Light at 329-7148 or ctnews at chroniclet.com.
>>>
>>>
>>>--
>>>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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