Monday, October 23, 2006
A man with a large white dog walked inside a classroom full of students and faculty at about twelve noon.
This man was not an intruder, on the contrary, he is renowned author Stephen Kuusisto. He was led through the room by his guide dog Vidal.
He read from his new book “Eavesdropping,” making the audience laugh by sharing about his experiences from a man who refers to himself as “firewalker.” This “firewalker” claimed he can heal Kuusisto with his “bed of coals” in his ranch.
He also told a story about another blind gentleman, from his book “Planet of the Blind,” about how a sales representatives questioned his decision to buy a color TV.
Kuusisto explained, “blind people have families who like color.”He read his poems explaining his inspirations and showed the audience his world through his speech. He asked listeners to visualize beyond their scope of visual senses to exercise their mind and imagination.
“Blindness is another form of music,” Kuusisto said.He creates his literature by using his imagination, which compensates for his handicap.
Kuusisto has been blind since birth. According to his web site, he is a graduate of University of Iowa and a Fulbright Scholar. He also teaches at the Ohio State University in the Disabilities Studies program and serves as a Fellow of the Moritz College of Law’s Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Policy Studies.Kuusisto appeared in “The Leeza Gibbons Show,” “Dateline NBC” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
He credits his success from his “good teachers.” It was because of them, he was able to triumph over his fears and depression. He said he hopes the students of De Anza College also have “good teachers” to help them succeed.
