Loved this book! And now I am signed up for his other books. He's an amazing poet.
In a lyrical love letter to guide dogs everywhere, a blind poet
shares his delightful story of how a guide dog changed his life and
helped him discover a newfound appreciation for travel and independence.
Stephen
Kuusisto was born legally blind—but he was also raised in the 1950s and
taught to deny his blindness in order to "pass" as sighted. Stephen
attended public school, rode a bike, and read books pressed right up
against his nose. As an adult, he coped with his limited vision by
becoming a professor in a small college town, memorizing routes for all
of the places he needed to be. Then, at the age of 38, he was laid off.
With no other job opportunities in his vicinity, he would have to travel
to find work.
This is how he found himself at Guiding Eyes
paired with a Labrador named Corky. In this vivid and lyrical memoir,
Stephen Kuusisto recounts how an incredible partnership with a guide dog
changed his life and the heart-stopping, wondrous adventure that began
for him in midlife. Profound and deeply moving, this is a spiritual
journey, the story of discovering that life with a guide dog is both a
method and a state of mind.
Connie Kuusisto
Stephen Kuusisto directs The Burton Blatt Institute’s
interdisciplinary programs in disability at Syracuse University where he
holds a University Professorship. He is the author of the memoirs Planet of the Blind (a New York Times “Notable Book of the Year”) and Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening, and of the poetry collections Only Bread, Only Light, and Letters to Borges. His newest memoir, Have Dog, Will Travel: A Poet’s Journey
was published by Simon & Schuster. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s
Workshop and a Fulbright Scholar, he has taught at the University of
Iowa, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and The Ohio State University.
Kuusisto has served as an advisor to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and
the Museum of Modern Art in New York and to the National Endowment for
the Arts in Washington, DC. He has appeared on numerous television and
radio programs including The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dateline, All Things
Considered, Morning Edition, Talk of the Nation, and Animal Planet. His
essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Harper’s, and The Reader’s Digest.
His his daily blog, Planet of the Blind, is read globally by people
interested in disability and contemporary culture. He is a frequent
speaker in the U.S. and abroad.
www.stephenkuusisto.com
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment