Susan J. Spungin, Ed.D
Dr. Jernigan and Dr. Susan Spungin
Tribute to Dr. Kenneth
Jernigan
by Susan J. Spungin, Ed.D.
From the Editor: Dr. Spungin is Vice
President of the National Programs Group of the American Foundation for the Blind.
Here are the remarks she delivered at the
memorial service:
I would like to begin with a tribute to Dr.
Jernigan from Carl Augusto, President of the American Foundation for the Blind, who
unfortunately cannot be with us today:
Tuck Tinsley, Ed.D.
Dr. Jernigan and Dr. Tuck Tinsley
Tuck Tinsley, Ed.D.
From the Editor: Dr. Tinsley is President
of the American Printing House for the Blind. He spoke briefly at the memorial service;
this is what he said:
People in Kentucky and Tennessee are generally
plain-spoken, straight-talking, simple people who love the earth. As you know, Dr.
Jernigan was raised on a farm in that special part of our country. We have a saying: you
Larry Campbell Speaks
Larry Campbell speaks at the memorial service.
Lawrence F. Campbell
From the Editor: Larry Campbell is Vice
President of the International Council for the Education of People with Visual Impairment
(ICEVI). He works from the Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The following were his remarks at the memorial service:
It is an honor to have the opportunity to say a
few words today on behalf of the thousands of educators of blind children throughout the
Gerald M.Kass
Dr. Jernigan and Gerald Kass
Gerald M. Kass
From the Editor: Gerald Kass is the
Executive Vice President of the Jewish Braille Institute of America. The October, 1998,
issues of The Jewish Braille Review and the JBI Voice, the organization's flagship
publications, were both dedicated to the memory of Dr. Jernigan. The "JBI
Corner," written by Gerald Kass (as he told Dr. Maurer) "in tribute to Dr.
Jernigan's gifts of mind and spirit," is reprinted here.
JBI Corner
Mass Mail Friends Say Thank You
Mass Mail Friends Say
Thank You
From the Editor: Most charitable
organizations raise at least part of their operating funds by conducting mass mail
campaigns. The NFB is no different. Dr. Jernigan shaped our mail program and wrote and
signed the letters.
Shortly before his death he wrote one
last letter to the thousands of people who had come to know him through those letters and
through the Kernel Books they had received. In this letter he told our supporters that he
The Students Speak
The Students Speak
From the Editor: In the final weeks of
Dr. Jernigan's life a number of students wrote to him, and in the days following his death
there was an outpouring of recollection and calls to rally in time of sorrow on the
student division's listserv that was touching and that must have made Dr. Jernigan's heart
glad. Here is a sample of the letters and messages:
Jim Portillo
Jim Portillo
Greetings to Everyone,
I definitely feel the loss of Dr. Jernigan. He
Jay Wolf
Dr. Jernigan and Jay Wolf
Jay Wolf
October 22, 1998
A Few Good Men
As we all know by now, we as Federationists lost
one of the best early last week. We are all saddened by this, but I would like to share a
few thoughts about Dr. Jernigan and all he has meant to me and every blind person in the
world.
Last week was a tough one for me. The 14th of
October was the one-year anniversary, if you will, of losing my father to cancer, and then
Mariyam Cenmentwala
Mariyam Cenmentwala
Mariyam Cementwala
From the Editor: Ms. Cementwala wrote
this letter to Dr. Jernigan a few weeks before his death.
Dear Dr. Jernigan,
My name is Mariyam Cementwala. You may or may not
recall, but I was fortunate enough to meet you at the 1997 Convention in New Orleans as a
member of the 1997 Scholarship Class. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have met
you and to have heard your message to us in "The Day After Civil Rights" in
Peggy Elliott
[PHOTO/CAPTION: Peggy Elliott and Dr. Jernigan]
Peggy Elliott
From the Editor: Peggy Elliott was a student at
the adult rehabilitation program in Iowa while Dr. Jernigan was the director of the
Commission for the Blind. She is now an attorney and Second Vice President of the National
Federation of the Blind and President of the Iowa affiliate. This is what she writes:
A few weeks ago in Iowa we had a whole day during
which the wind blew at thirty-five to forty-five miles per hour with gusts up to sixty. It
A Hero Among Us
Michael Baillif
A Hero Among Us
by Michael Baillif
From the Editor: Michael Baillif was an
NFB scholarship winner in 1984. He had just graduated from high school. Having embraced
the Federation's philosophy and acquired its training, he went on to graduate from a
prestigious college, travel in Europe on a Watson Fellowship, and graduate from Yale Law
School. Today he is a tax attorney at Davis, Polk, and Wardwell, a New York law firm with