Hans Cohn

Hans Cohn

Hans Cohn

Hans Cohn

I first met Kenneth Jernigan in 1984 on his

becoming an International Officer [of the World Blind Union], but his reputation had gone

before him. Through my reading I knew about his struggles in the early years of the

NFB-USA—against airlines denying disabled people equal rights with other patrons,

against blind welfare organizations denying the blind a fair share in the making of

decisions affecting their lives, in debates over the Americans with Disabilities Act,

among others. His logical mind and ability to go straight to the heart of a problem

combined with a healthy impatience with those ranged against him if they tried to keep

blind people from assuming their rightful place in society enabled him to come out on top

in the important battles he fought. It must be largely due to his organizational skill

that the Federation grew to be the force it is today while he was its President.

In international affairs he was an unsung

visionary. It was he who laid down the principle that political considerations should play

no part in admitting new members to the World Blind Union; this enabled Israel eventually

to join against the wishes of countries seeking her destruction. Unlike most of his

colleagues on the WBU Executive, he set his face against the idea of a projected

International Federation of the Disabled from the beginning and was proved to be right.

Readers of these pages are witness to Dr.

Jernigan's ability to put his ideas into words which both charmed and convinced, as seen

in his many contributions to the Braille Monitor and the Kernel Books. I shall always

treasure the memory of a summer afternoon in our garden in London during his European tour

to celebrate his wedding anniversary in 1996. One of the things he told me was that he

thought the London Underground was the best public transport system in the world—a

tribute I was able to reward by presenting him with a history of the London Underground.