35 Years Reading Newspapers
Things fall together in odd ways. Or, as the saying goes, God writes with crooked lines. Whatever, a friend was reading a supermarket tabloid at the time I was looking for an easy way to knock off a bunch of credits for my final semester in college. God never wrote as crooked as that day. Nor was I as crooked.
The tab had a true (wow!) story about some students in NJ who were reading the newspaper over the radio on weekends. I thought that was a nice thing to do and, with my radio background plus experience in working with the blind, could be my meal ticket to “nine hours, nine credits.”
My concept of a radio newspaper for the blind was somewhat different. We have a large elderly population here and many people would benefit from this service. Flat-out blind, visually impaired, homebound, elderly (especially the lonely) who might benefit from a “home visit” via radio.
Only a dozen such services were on the air at the time and all of them required special radios, for which you had to “come out of the closet” to qualify. Ours would be out in the open, on the college’s FM station. Anyone could listen in the privacy of their homes and not admit their vision wasn’t what it used to be.
And so began the venture that was supposed to last two semesters, but is still going strong after 35 years. God’s crooked line wrote well that day.
The tab had a true (wow!) story about some students in NJ who were reading the newspaper over the radio on weekends. I thought that was a nice thing to do and, with my radio background plus experience in working with the blind, could be my meal ticket to “nine hours, nine credits.”
My concept of a radio newspaper for the blind was somewhat different. We have a large elderly population here and many people would benefit from this service. Flat-out blind, visually impaired, homebound, elderly (especially the lonely) who might benefit from a “home visit” via radio.
Only a dozen such services were on the air at the time and all of them required special radios, for which you had to “come out of the closet” to qualify. Ours would be out in the open, on the college’s FM station. Anyone could listen in the privacy of their homes and not admit their vision wasn’t what it used to be.
And so began the venture that was supposed to last two semesters, but is still going strong after 35 years. God’s crooked line wrote well that day.
posted by Tom Carten at 2:11 AM
2 Comments:
Never doubt the impact your 9-hours, 9-credits have had on those who need you. I just have one funny story to tell. I got a call from an elderly gentleman who was once a member of President's Council. He said he would never ever understand today's college students. When I asked him to elaborate, he told me he tuned in King's radio station and, in his words, "Do you know what those kids were listening to? Obituaries." I explained why they were being read and who the target audience was. He was impressed. As are the rest of us who watch this combination of service and ministry unfold each day.
Congrats again, from one of your old readers
Ms. Victoria Lawn
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