Editor's Intro to The Value of Planning

Editor's Intro to The Value of Planning

Also in that year, 1993, Dr. Jernigan edited The Journey. In it he talked about
the need to think for tomorrow-the value of planning. His article, entitled "The
Value of Planning" and the "Editor’s Introduction" contain this
information:

EDITOR’S
INTRODUCTION
by Kenneth Jernigan
This is the second Kernel Book to be issued this year, and the fifth in
the series. The first Kernel Book was published in 1991, just over two years ago.
When we started the series, we hoped it would reach a wide audience and
bring a new understanding about blindness-that it would show blind people as they really
are, ordinary human beings with the normal range of wants and wits, strengths and
weaknesses. I think it is fair to say that we are well on the way to achieving that
objective-or, at least, that we have made substantial progress toward it.
We have now published more than two million Kernel Books, and the
demand for them shows no sign of diminishing. An increasing number of people (very often
strangers I meet as I travel over the country) tell me they have read more than one of
these books and now feel that a great deal of the mystery has gone out of blindness for
them. These strangers (they usually don’t stay strangers) feel comfortable in asking
me questions about blindness-how a blind person travels from place to place, how clothes
are selected, and how the ordinary tasks of daily living are performed. But they also feel
comfortable talking about personal matters-how it feels to be blind, and everything from
perception of color to courtship and marriage.
This, of course, is what we hoped would happen. The people whose
stories appear in these pages are mostly just like you except that they can’t see.
This doesn’t give them unusual talents, such as improved hearing or special musical
ability; nor does it curse them with unbearable burdens. If those of us who are blind have
appropriate training and equal opportunity, we can get along as well as anybody
else-earning our own way, having a family, and leading a regular life. And, after all,
isn’t that really the way it is with you? If you didn’t have a chance for an
education and if everybody thought you were incompetent and inferior, isn’t that
pretty much the way it would be? That’s how it is with the blind. In short, if we
have a chance and good training, we’ll do all right, neither needing nor wanting
custody or care.
And one more thing: We want you to know about the National Federation
of the Blind. Established in 1940, this organization has, in the opinion of most of us who
know about such things, been the single most important factor in helping blind people
stand on their own feet and do for themselves. We who are blind still have a long way to
go, but we are getting there-and the Kernel Books are helping.
Some of you already know many of the people you will meet in this
volume. Others will be new to you. Whether you are a first-time reader or have been with
us from the beginning of the series, I hope you will find the present volume interesting
and informative. If you have questions about blindness or know somebody who needs our
help, let us know. Meanwhile, here is the fifth Kernel Book. It tells of a journey-a
journey which, in its own way, is as significant as the trek across the prairie in the
last century by the pioneers, or the landing on the moon in the present century. It is the
journey of the blind from second-class status to hope and opportunity.
Kenneth Jernigan
Baltimore, Maryland
1993

Back to Top | Table of Contents | Next Page