What I've Been Reading: In Pursuit of Silence

After stumbling upon it in Google Books, I recently read In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise by George Prochnik. I think it's a wonderful companion to the book I reviewed in 2011, One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Quest to Preserve Quiet by Gordon Hempton. If you missed that review, you can read it here.

Prochnik's book is also a quest of sorts. He travels all over to explore why humans are noisy and to seek out places of silence. Naturally, he encounters the deaf community along his way and devotes part of a chapter to discussing Deaf Space, an inclusive architecture project at Gallaudet.

I highly recommend his book to you as a very interesting read. To learn more about the author, check out this online interview (deaf friendly as it is all text, no video) in which he discusses his affinity for silence and why people are afraid of silence.

If you've already read this book, published in 2010, let me know what you thought of it.

My Friend is Featured in a Book!

Karen Putz has published a new book called The Passionate Lives of Deaf and Hard of Hearing People. Karen has been a role model to me for years so that is reason enough to buy the book. Tina Childress, another person I admire, has her story included in the book which was another reason for me to buy the book. But what got me right over to Amazon.com was reading on Facebook that my friend Jonathan Nicoll was also featured in the book. Way to go, Jonathan!

I got to know Jonathan, who lives in Canada, because he was one of the early readers of my blog. During the summer of 2011, he took a cross-Canada car trip on his own, from Ontario all the way to British Columbia. Returning home, he came through my area and my family and I took him for breakfast at one of our favorite restaurants. It was so fun to get to meet Jonathan in person. He's a very interesting young man who is a teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing. I don't want to tell you too much about Jonathan because I want you to read his story for yourself in Karen's book. And no, you can't borrow my copy. Jonathan has promised to autograph it for me the next time he's in Chicago.

Rusty says, "If I could read, I would buy this book. It features my pal Jonathan as well as famous people like I. King Jordan, Howard Rosenblum, Kathy Buckley, and CJ Jones. There are 24 inspiring people profiled."

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My friend Liz has posted her own review at http://lizsdeafblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/book-review-passionate-lives-of-deaf.html.

Turn a Deaf Ear: A Book Review

I'm very pleased to tell all of you about Turn a Deaf Ear, a novel I read this week. I heard about the book through the publisher who sent me a copy to review here. Before I read it, I didn't know much about the story other than it was a book for adults (as opposed to children or young adult literature) and it featured a romance between a hearing woman and a deaf man. The book was written by sisters Janet Fiore Horger and Linda Fiore Sanders.

My immediate reaction upon finishing the book was the recurring thought "It's been a privilege." I don't think I've ever felt that way about reading a book before. The story combines fictional parts with a basis in fact, but I couldn't tell where those lines were drawn. The story was seamless for me in that regard.

Turn a Deaf Ear is the coming of age story of Linda, a young adult from New Jersey, transplanted to California when her parents divorce. The time period is the 1960s and 70s. Linda's mother relocates to California with her two children, Linda and her big brother Nick, to live near her oldest daughter Cee Cee, a married woman living in Burbank.

The Fiore family is Italian and family and food are of prime importance. I enjoyed learning more about Italian-American culture and found the mother's character particularly well drawn. I especially enjoyed the children's exasperation with her demands while they followed all her wishes to give her the respect due her as matriarch of their family. There are wonderful descriptions of her family dinners, nightly phone calls, restaurant rituals, and The Test she gives all her son's girlfriends to let them know no one is good enough for him.

Deafness enters the story when Nick brings home to dinner a coworker named John. Mama doesn't mind that he doesn't speak or hear, as long as he has a good appetite! Nick has learned ASL and translates. Even without communicating directly, Linda and John fall in love at first sight. They begin to date, but John is reluctant to teach her to sign right away. After three months of fingerspelling only, Linda tells him if he doesn't teach her to sign, it will be their last date! He gives in and this begins her introduction to ASL and deaf culture.

The pair face resistance from friends and loved ones, both hearing and deaf, but their love overcomes all. In a truly beautiful scene later in the book, the mother comes to fully accept John. I challenge anyone not to be touched by it. I hope that's one of the true parts of the story.

There are twists and turns to the story line which kept me interested. I don't want to reveal too much here in case I spoil it for you. Please note that this paperback book is published by Grasshopper Christian Publishing and not a major publishing house. But don't be put off by the name, the book is not preachy in the least and I found the quality a cut above vanity press standards.

If you would like to read this story for yourself, you can find it available here through Amazon. Italian recipes featured in the story can be found on the book's website. I also highly recommend reading my friend's review of this book on her blog, Xpressive Handz.


Special Offer for Readers of Speak Up Librarian:
The publisher is allowing me to offer one copy of the book as a giveaway to readers who live in the United States or Canada. To enter, please send YOUR NAME and EMAIL ADDRESS to me at speakuplibrarian@yahoo.com. I will keep the giveaway open until July 15, 2012. At that time, I will do a random drawing from the names and all participants will be informed if they are a winner or not. Your information will be kept confidential and used for no other purpose. The publisher will contact the winner directly for a mailing address. Only addresses in Canada or the United States qualify.

A Deaf Writer and His Deaf Character: A Review of Deaf Sentence by David Lodge

Deaf Sentence by David Lodge isn't a new book. It was published in 2008. It was new to me, however, and I have reader Joe from Washington State to thank for bringing it to my attention. Joe wrote to tell me he enjoyed my blog and tell me about this book.

While I was reading the novel, I couldn't believe how similar the narrator's experiences with misunderstanding loved ones and coping with wearing hearing aids were to my own. I wondered how David Lodge got it so right. Well, the answer should have been obvious. David Lodge has a hearing loss himself. The British author discusses his hearing loss journey which began in his late forties and continues on into his seventies in this article from the Daily Mail.

When interviewed by The Book Depository, he was asked directly if Deaf Sentence was based on his own experiences. Here is his reply:

"The portrayal of the central character's deafness is closely based on my own experience, and it is exceedingly unlikely that I would have thought of writing a novel about this condition if I hadn't suffered from it myself. From my late forties I was afflicted with gradually worsening high-frequency deafness, the most common form of hearing impairment, which makes it difficult to distinguish consonants, especially when there is a lot of background noise. The character of Desmond's father is also closely based on my own father who died in 1999. He was also deaf, as a result of old age, but wouldn't wear a hearing aid, so communication between us was often difficult."

Deaf Sentence has lots of funny bits which will make you laugh, particularly if you or a loved one has a hearing loss. Some tender family moments are also included. To add some drama and suspense, there is a subplot about a young female graduate student who is writing a dissertation on suicide notes. For reasons of her own, she puts Desmond, the main character who is a retired linguistics professor, in compromising positions. For reasons of my own, I skipped over some of those parts to allow me to enjoy the book. Do you ever do that?

If you've read the book yourself, I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. As always, keep those book recommendations coming.

Complaining 101 for Advocates

Megan of the marvelous Hearing Sparks blog recently wrote on Positive Communications for Accommodations. She described a situation where a request for accommodation was expressed in a rather confusing manner. Her post concluded with this question: What are some strategies you have found for approaching people to get reasonable accommodations or explain a problem? Her words hit home for me because I had just finished reading The Squeaky Wheel: Complaining the Right Way to Get Results, Improve Your Relationships, and Enhance Self-Esteem by Guy Winch. I've personally experienced the frustration of speaking up and feeling as though no one is listening and I think his book offers some great tips for advocates.

Dr. Winch begins his book by explaining why complaining is often ineffective. Basically, we complain to the wrong people. People who don't have the power to make the change we desire. Thus, our complaining ends up as venting, which may make us feel better temporarily and possibly garner some sympathy, but doesn't fix the problem.

If we're truly serious about speaking up for ourselves, and not simply whining, then we need to do some research and find out who has the authority and responsibility to make the change we want. But once we do that, how do we get them to listen to us? Dr. Winch describes a technique he calls "serving a complaint sandwich". The top slice of bread is an ear-opener, the meat is the complaint, and the bottom slice of bread is a digestive. The secret of his recipe is that the top and bottom of his sandwich are comprised of positive statements. By starting off positive, the recipient can listen to your complaint without having his defense mechanisms triggered. By ending on a positive note, the listener is motivated to help you. In his book Dr. Winch provides real life examples of complaint sandwiches which explain each step in detail.

His final chapter is titled Squeaking as Social Activism. I'd like to share a quote I found significant:

"We have one huge advantage living in a society of ineffective complainers. Those of us who wish to influence our communities have a better chance of succeeding than we may realize because of a phenomenon called overrepresentation, which guarantees those few of us who do speak up have a far stronger impact than we would have otherwise."

I recommend Dr. Winch's book to all those who would like to change their communities for the better and particularly to all who advocate for greater accessibility.

Fathers and Daughters and Books Read Aloud: The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma

As regular readers of my blog know, this year I am happily participating in the Support Your Local Library Reading challenge. I'm reading more than I have in a long time and seeking out book recommendations every chance I get. The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma was recommended to me by a close friend who is also a librarian.

I was intrigued by the idea of a father and daughter's years-long-every-night-without-missing-once reading streak. My own father read to me as a girl. Through him I was introduced to the Chronicles of Narnia and the Hobbit. But we didn't read together every night. It was not a ritual for us. As I remember, it was more of a way to pass the time on a long car trip when it was my mom's turn to drive.

All the same, the sound of my dad's voice as he read aloud is one of my favorite memories of childhood. So when I had a child, I read to him regularly myself. Then I had the idea of convincing my father to tape record a cassette of my son's favorite stories for his bedtime listening. Of course, I also made read aloud tapes of my own voice, my husband's, and his grandmother's. But it was my dad's voice that returned me to my past. It was as much a gift for me as for my son.

Alice Ozma's father, Jim Brozina is a school librarian with a passion for reading aloud to children. Interestingly, he also has a hearing loss. This is not a major theme of the book, but it is mentioned several times. Naturally, that made me relate to the story on another level.

When I began this memoir, I wondered how the account of their reading accomplishment, while quite amazing, could fill up 279 pages. As I read further, I discovered their story offers much more. It is an inside look at a single father raising two daughters. It is a description of the unrelenting determination needed to overcome the obstacles inherent in achieving a lofty goal. It's the biography of Alice Ozma's childhood.

You may wonder, as I did, why The Streak, as they dubbed it, was so important to her. The answer, I think, is when her mother left, her grandparents died, and her sister went overseas as an exchange student, The Streak became something she could rely on when her family dynamics were changing. She and her father began officially when she was in third grade and ended the day she left for college. They read nightly for 3,218 days. The most memorable books they read are listed at the end.

Here's a brief selection from the book:

We called it The Reading Streak, but it was really more of a promise. A promise to each other, a promise to ourselves. A promise to always be there and to never give up. It was a promise of hope in hopeless times. It was a promise of comfort when things got uncomfortable. And we kept our promise to each other.

I highly recommend this book to all book lovers. This title is #37 on my reading list. I still have more than 4 months of reading before the challenge is over. Do you have any recommendations for me?

Half for Me and Half for Others

I recently read Og Mandino's The Greatest Salesman in the World. I had originally checked it out from the library for my husband who works in sales. The book is completely different than what I had expected. Its story is set two thousand years ago and features a salesman who became powerful and wealthy by following the secrets contained in ancient scrolls that he alone read. I was surprised to learn that the salesman was directed to give away half his profits every year and that this practice drove his success rather than impoverishing him.

I came across the same idea in the next book I read, The Power of Half by Kevin and Hannah Salwen. This book published in 2010 tells the story of an American family who decide to sell their home and donate half of the profits to help others. This dramatic idea was triggered when the family's teenage daughter, Hannah, observed the juxtaposition of a homeless man with a man driving past him in a Mercedes. She mused aloud that if the rich man drove a less expensive car then he would be able to use the extra money to help the homeless man.

The book follows the family's decision making process as they consider how they can do more to help the less fortunate. Even before their luxury home is sold, they move into a significantly smaller home. They spend weekends discussing the world's problems and researching organizations that are working to make a difference. One chapter takes a hard look at the large amounts of money that have already been donated to developing nations and where well intentioned efforts have gone wrong.

Just as with Mandino's book, I was surprised by this book by the Salwens. I had thought the main story of the book would be the house's sale and the family's donation. Instead it's about the transformation of the Salwen's family dynamics and the maturing of their teenage children into thoughtful, caring young adults. The sacrificial sale of their home is a footnote to the story rather than it's main theme.

When I started this library reading challenge, I could not have imagined the inspirational stories I would encounter this year. Certainly before reading about the concept of giving half in these books, I would have outright dismissed the idea as ridiculous. But now I see it differently, especially because of the Salwen's example. Not that I'm implementing it myself or recommending that anyone else do so. I'm just reevaluating my own needs and the concept of what is enough.

What do YOU think of the idea of keeping half for yourself and giving half to others less fortunate? Crazy or thought provoking?

Friends in Spite of Differences

Have you ever seen two people who looked really odd together? Perhaps it was due to an age difference or a cultural difference, perhaps it was because of a difference in ability whether mental or physical. But after you watched the pair for a bit you noticed how happy and in sync they were together. How the friendship or relationship worked for them despite their disparity.

The second book I read for the Support your Local Library Challenge tells of such a friendship in the animal world. It's the true story of Tarra & Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends by Carol Buckley. Tarra was the first resident of an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee. As additional elephants came, they paired off with a buddy. All of them except for Tarra. She never found a best friend. Then she met Bella one of the many dogs on the property. Normally the dogs and elephants keep their distance from each other. But these two bonded. They spent all their time together. If the other elephants wanted to socialize with Tarra, they had to accept her friendship with Bella and include him.

One day Bella is injured and unable to move. Tarra stands guard nearby until a sanctuary worker finds the injured dog and takes her to receive medical help. When Bella does not return after two days, Tarra goes to find her. Meanwhile, Bella is convalescing upstairs in an elephant barn with a large picture window. When she sees Tarra outside, she is happy. Tarra makes a commotion until the workers carry Bella down to see her. Tarra returns every day for a visit until Bella has healed and can return with her to the sanctuary grounds.

Here's a video of Tarra & Bella. [For my deaf readers: there are no captions to this video because there is no human dialog. There are animal sounds and soothing background music has been added.]

If you enjoyed this video, you can see additional ones on the Elephant Sanctuary's YouTube channel. You can learn more about the sanctuary at their website.

Regarding the Support Your Local Library Challenge, please remember that any book checked out from a library counts. Even children's books.

Aspire

I've started the Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge with a terrific inspirational book, Aspire: Discovering Your Purpose Through the Power of Words by Kevin Hall. This title was highly recommended to me by Karen who writes A Deaf Mom Shares Her World blog.

I was very intrigued by the two concepts in the title- discovering your purpose and the power of words - and how the two might be connected. Here's a quote from the book that explains the author's purpose:

I'm on a quest to uncover the secrets of words and what they meant originally when they first surfaced...It's like peeling an onion. By breaking down words layer by layer by uncovering their pure meaning, you tap into a force that will help you find your purpose and better lead your life.

Although many words are explained within the book, Hall focuses on the following eleven: Genshai, Pathfinder, Namaste, Passion, Sapere Vedere, Humility, Inspire, Empathy, Coach, Ollin, and Integrity. If some of them are unfamiliar, you will have to read the book to find out what they are. I'm not telling!

Author Kevin Hall shares many wonderful personal stories to illustrate his points. One of my favorite parts of the book was his retelling of afternoon study sessions with the Master of Words, Arthur Watkins. Arthur teaches him not only by lecture but also by example. He's a man in his nineties, yet he continues to learn a new vocabulary word every day.

Two lessons I learned from the book are that encourage means to add to someone's heart and the word fear can be thought of as an acronym for false emotions appearing real.

I highly recommend this book for anyone in need of inspiration and motivation. You can read the first chapter for free online at this link.

An Interview with Gordon Hempton

Since November, I've been in contact with Gordon Hempton, author of One Square Inch of Silence. Over the course of several emails, we discussed various topics related to hearing, listening skills, and hearing loss. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by what he had to tell me.

Hi Gordon,
I wanted to write and tell you I am enjoying reading your book One Square Inch of Silence. I plan to write about your book on my blog once I've finished reading it. I think my readers would really enjoy your beautiful descriptions of nature sounds. Would you be willing to answer a few questions by email that I could include as part of my article?

Yes, I would be glad to answer any questions that you might have for your blog.

In the book you discuss your own experience of a hearing loss, which fortunately proved to be temporary rather than permanent. Why did you have a negative reaction when a doctor suggested a hearing aid for your hearing loss?

As you already know hearing aids are designed for human speech with some of the more sophisticated ones including settings for music and other purposes. But I do not know of a single hearing aid or cochlear implant processor that does a decent job of nature interpretation—although they could if the manufacturers felt there was an interest.

Do you teach people how to listen to nature?

I used to teach wilderness listening skills in classes up to 21. Now I only offer one-on-one tutorials, everything from just listening with the naked ear to using my professional sound recording equipment to produce a unique CD.

Please tell me more about your listening tutorials.

My listening tutorials are simple—basically I have made a career out of listening and so I work one-on-one with individuals to achieve what goals they might have in mind—or to put it more accurately, address those goals and then move on to goals that were previously unrecognized. Nearly everyone that I have worked with wants to become a better nature listener and while there are definitely some techniques for enhancing skill level, what most people don’t take into consideration is that WE ALL HEAR DIFFERENTLY with or without a hearing loss. The key to becoming a better listener is not to hear what someone else hears but instead to recognize that you hear differently and learn to use this difference to explore the world.

I take people of all ages and hearing abilities into nature to use my recording equipment. The equipment helps focus the auditory attention and also remove many of our bad listening habits—for some odd reason when someone listens through a microphone they listen to everything. We explore ocean beach, listen to beach logs, walk through ancient forests… as we do a deeper inner nature emerges—and this begins deep listening—a soul changing experience.

In brief my tutorials do little more than encourage you to trust your instincts and gain confidence in using your hearing to its fullest. One woman commented after one of my workshops that she had taken the workshop in order to hear many of the sounds that she had missed since her hearing loss, but she confessed that even with her hearing loss she is hearing more than when she had normal hearing.

How can the deaf and hard of hearing community play a role in your cause? I ask because I found reading your book - the recounting of America's hearing loss- to remind myself of my own hearing loss. How can you motivate those of us who perhaps cannot hear these nature sounds to play a part in protecting them for those who can?

I would like to answer all of those related questions by describing my experiences with my fiancée, Rebecca, who was born completely deaf in her right ear and impaired in her left ear. Today she has a cochlear implant in her right and a hearing aid in her left (but even with it she tests with profound hearing loss and is eligible to go bilateral with implants). I know we are an odd couple—I make my livelihood by listening and recording nature’s most eloquent and subtle voices and she has no idea what the hell I am talking about. She has never heard a bird that sounds anything other than a chirp—all birds are the same annoyance. All water sounds are the same, too. In strong contrast I have shaped my life to hear nature’s music more clearly, providing a series of epiphanies for me.

Yet, the poetry of nature sound is written in visual patterns. And while Rebecca did not know anything about nature listening she knew a lot about people listening—she taught me that you do not need to hear to be a good listener. This is obvious to me now but totally new to me before I met her. So we are trading knowledge and now embarking on a project called, Lip Reading Nature. Simply put: the same technique used to understand the spoken word (and the CONTEXT that allows a true understanding), can be applied to the wonderful expressions of nature—thereby allowing one sense (vision) to compensate for the lack of information provided by another sense (hearing). It is entirely possible for example to look at a photograph and know what it would sound like if you were there in person with normal hearing.

Enough said, the point of all this is that our national parks may look visually pristine but in fact are full of auditory trash due to overhead air traffic. As a result of noise pollution in our parks and also in and around our homes and work places, even the hearing world is profoundly listening impaired. It is especially important that both worlds, the hearing and none-hearing, listen to the Earth, because the Earth is speaking and telling us great things. When you think of people that you love, and discover that they might needs something, you simply do it if you can, you don’t get out the cost/benefit spreadsheet and see if it is worth it. We need to fall back in love with Earth and our courtship grounds are our national parks and wilderness areas.

The other night Rebecca wakes up and says, “What is that?” I say, “Traffic noise.” She says, “But I’m deaf!” The world is getting so out of control with noise pollution that it can wake the deaf, literally.

And for those that have some of their hearing it is particularly important that we keep our natural areas free of noise pollution. A passing overhead jet (of which there are thousands each day over natural areas) makes what little access that hearing impaired persons have to listening to nature impossible.

It is time for all of us, hearing or not, to defend our right to quiet from noise pollution which not only damages our health but separates us from each other and the Earth. I urge everyone to speak out on behalf of nature and get the noise pollution out of our parks. Currently there is not a single place in the world off limits to aircraft for non-military and security reasons. The goal of One Square Inch of Silence Foundation is to establish Olympic National Park as our nation’s first quiet place. You can read more about that at www.onesquareinch.org.

What's happening now with your project on Lip Reading Nature?

We are fundraising for the documentary to be shot. Have the pilot DVD edited and shot, but no funds yet.

Thank you, Gordon. When I wrote you I had no idea you had a close relationship with someone who is deaf. I'm so pleased now that I took the chance on contacting you about your book and writing about it for my blog. Thanks again for your eloquent response. I am so proud to put this on my blog. All the best to you and Rebecca, Sarah

One Square Inch of Silence: One Reader's Experience

One Square Inch of Silence refers to a spot in Olympic National Park located in the upper northwest corner of the continental United States. Gordon Hempton, an acoustic ecologist, designated this spot as the last quiet place in America and vowed in 2005 to protect it from manmade noise intrusions. The book chronicles his journey, two years later, across the United States on his way to Washington DC to request federal recognition of the spot and to discuss the value of quiet in the lives of Americans.


I first heard about One Square Inch of Silence when it was cited in passing at a Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA) conference presentation last June. Before I picked it up for myself this winter, I had only a vague notion that it was about how the world had become a noisier place and this was not such a good thing. The book does talk about that but it is so much more. I quickly realized I would need to devote some time to a careful reading of it.

In the beginning, I found myself slowing down to read the book's beautiful descriptive passages and recreate their scenery in my mind. I was enchanted by his descriptions of nature sounds unknown to me and enjoyed "hearing" them through Hempton's ears. I thought that might be all I would gain from the book.

But quite early on in the story, Hempton reveals he had a frightening experience with a sudden onset of a hearing loss. Because his work as a nature sounds recorder depended on his ability to hear, the loss was devastating. Like many of us, he found himself withdrawing from others when communication became difficult. Eventually, he was diagnosed with a middle ear problem. His doctor suggested a hearing aid, but he refused. Fortunately for him his hearing loss proved to be only short term, rather than permanent. Over a period of months, after Hempton made a few changes in his habits, his hearing was fully restored. This part of the book stopped me in my tracks as I pondered what it would be like for me to have normal hearing again.

Much later in the book, Hempton has his hearing tested at a special facility in Indianapolis. He includes his audiogram and his results are excellent. He has fantastic hearing. I felt wistful when I saw that. What must having above normal hearing be like?

Throughout the story, I found myself struck by the insights of various people Hempton interacts with along his cross-country trek. Several people had found healing through spending time alone in the wilderness. I wondered if it would be possible to restore a person's hearing, lost through noise impacts, by spending time in silence. The book doesn't say. I wonder if anyone has ever tried it.

I have to admit that reading this book as someone with a hearing loss was tough for me at times. The story of America’s hearing loss reminded me of my own. Near the very end of the book, Ken Feith of the EPA, says "People simply do not understand the significant adverse health effects of noise. They just don't." Unless they're coping with a hearing loss on a daily basis, I wanted to retort.

Whether or not people in the hearing loss community will want to get behind Hempton's push to save nature sounds that we ourselves may or may not be able to hear, I do not know. But there are several parts of the book I'd like to highlight for you.

First, the spiritual influence of nature is expressed several times in the book with insights like "In silence I feel God's presence and ultimate control." and "God whispers. Man shouts." These comments resonated with me strongly. Personally I find spending time in nature to be as spiritually renewing as time spent in church. Nature refreshes my spirit and makes me feel alive to my existence as a creature on this planet connected with every other living thing, whether plant or animal. Obviously, sounds are not as much a part of this experience for me as I don't hear crickets and other high pitched calls. Instead, it is the fresh air flooding my lungs and the visual delights of trees, water, and sky and their colors, shapes, patterns, and textures.

Secondly, Hempton discusses how the animals' sense of security is compromised when manmade noise intrudes into their habitat. Background noise interferes with the animals' ability to communicate with each other and attract a mate. For the animals, it's vital to survival to be able to hear a predator's stealthy approach. As someone who is frequently startled by people approaching me unawares in my daily surroundings, I can appreciate the vulnerability of the wild creatures drowned in a sea of noise produced by power tools, trucks, helicopters, etc. over which they have no control. I know that whenever I have visited a large city, I have found myself on hyper alert to the unfamiliar surroundings and proximity of strangers. Hempton explains that our ears evolved to serve us in this capacity. We have no earlids because our ears never sleep. So often, humans are utterly oblivious to the impact their activities have on animal life. This is something Hempton hopes to change through his writing.

Lastly, whether you agree with Hempton's priorities or not, he is a man to be admired. I recently wrote about being the change you want to see in the world and Gordon Hempton is a perfect example of that philosophy in action. Throughout his book a recurring theme is whether one person can make a difference in the world. I believe that one can. In his quest to protect the last quiet place in America, Hempton has gotten two airlines to agree to fly around Olympic National Park and one airline to make a concession towards that goal. He has also persuaded his local senator to sponsor legislation to protect the park's soundscape. He has made a difference.

The book concludes with several helpful guides to quiet in the wild, in the office, and in your home and neighborhood. I would also be remiss as a librarian if I didn't at least mention that the book's narrative includes an interesting description of the Seattle Public Library's acoustics.

You can find out more about One Square Inch of Silence at the organization's website. I'm interested in knowing your thoughts on the subject whether you've read the book or not. Tomorrow I will publish Gordon Hempton's response to my question: How would you motivate those of us who can't hear these nature sounds to play a part in protecting them for those who can? His answer may surprise you.

My Encounters With the Amish

Lately I've been reading Christian fiction author Beverly Lewis' series Abram's Daughters about a Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Amish family. These entertaining stories are filled with faith and family and storylines dramatic enough to rival a soap opera. I highly recommend them to you.



By chance, I happened across a charming children's book in my library last week about two Amish girls and a peacock called Just Plain Fancy by Patricia Polacco. I highly recommend it to you as well. You can learn more about this book and related learning activities about the Amish at the author's website.

Where I grew up in the Midwest, encounters with the Amish were not unusual. I remember during my school days being outside at recess time and seeing horse and buggy carriages pass by with their cautionary orange triangle symbols attached at the back. Family names of Troyer, Yoder, Miller, Schlabaugh, etc were common in the area. Reading these books brought back these memories to me. They also reminded me of two humorous encounters I have had with the Amish.

One time when I was a young girl my family went to an Amish restaurant. I was hungry and ordered a hamburger. When it was served to me, I reached out for the condiment bottle on the table and poured what I thought was ketchup onto my burger. Then I noticed the Amish waitress's surprised look. "That's apple butter, miss." Oops. I hurriedly scraped it off as my sister laughed at me.

Several years later when I was in college and working as a substitute teller during the summers, I was assigned for a day to a bank branch frequented by the Amish. Since, the bank had trained me to ask for identification every time I cashed a check for someone I didn't know personally, when an Amish man handed me a check to cash, I automatically asked him for his driver's license. The man just stared back at me wordlessly until the light dawned on me. You don't need a driver's license for a horse and buggy! Oops - major faux pas. Fortunately the teller next to me rescued me and approved the check for cashing.

Have you had any encounters with the Amish? My British readers may be interested to know that the Amish refer to anyone outside of their community as the "English".

A Very Harry Halloween

My entry in the library's Pumpkin Carving Contest.

I've been sick with a virus for about two weeks now. Last Friday I went to the doctor and was tested for influenza A/B and strep. Both tests came back negative. The doctor suggested it might be mono and that I needed to get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids. As needed I could take Tylenol for my sore throat pain.

Fortunately, my downtime hasn't been a complete waste. I've been reading the Harry Potter series. Now that I've entered the world of J.K. Rowling, it's hard to believe I haven't read them before now. My only explanation is that when the books first came out my son was too young for them.

I remember there was also some concern by conservatives about witchcraft being promoted through the novels. Now that I've read them for myself, I can't understand that viewpoint at all. Even though the world is magical, it's far from perfect. The characters all must cope with events beyond their control and must deal with everyday problems like bad weather, unfair teachers, and taunting classmates. I find it particularly endearing that Harry who may be the most powerful wizard of all must wear glasses to correct his nearsightedness. No magical Lasik vision spell for him.

So far, I've read the first four novels. After each one, I've rented the movie on DVD. It's been an enjoyable way to spend my time while resting and really put me in the mood for Halloween next week!

Why We Make Mistakes

I recently read this fascinating book by Joe Hallinan. I highly recommend it to everyone who makes mistakes. If that doesn't include you, you can stop reading now.

Uh-huh. I thought so.

Ever since I started blogging about my funny hearing mistakes, I've been intrigued by how my mind works to fill in the missing parts of conversation and tries its best to make sense of the garbled speech I hear.

Here's some examples:

When someone was describing a museum exhibit featuring parts of the body, I thought she said the finger instead of The Thinker. I think my misperception actually fits better with the context.

When a coworker was describing a bird that got out of its cage and flew around an apartment, I thought she said it landed in the cat dish rather than the cactus. It seems as though my mind was thinking about pet mishaps and naturally thought of cat. I have a dog who has large bowls for his food and water. I pictured in my mind the bird landing in a cat's dish of water. Splash! That would be funny. If I were the bird, I'd prefer my version over a prickly cactus landing. Ouch!

Recently I attended a library event where a photographer explained how you can use a point and shoot camera to maximum effect. He said he got on to doing art shows in order to make money. Silly me thought he said archery. In defense of my poor brain, I would like to point out his talk was all about "shooting things". Heh.

When I picked up Mr. Hallinan's book, I was hoping to read some research on hearing mistakes. But the subject wasn't covered. Undeterred, I emailed the author and received the following replies which I have received permission from him to post. The following is excerpted from the emails:

From Me:
I really enjoyed reading your book Why We Make Mistakes. I was hoping you would include research about the mistakes that are most common in my life which are hearing mistakes. Do you have any information on that subject?

From the Author:
You raise a very good issue and one I've given a lot of thought to lately. I had thought about this some while I was writing the book, but decided against focusing on hearing mistakes in part because they are very hard to illustrate -- at least in a print medium. So my short answer is no. But hearing mistakes of the kind you describe are perfectly consistent with the other kinds of mistakes we describe in the book. For instance, I talk about how we all tend to "skim," -- noticing just enough to get by, drawing inferences where we can, etc. And it seems to me very likely that we do the same thing when we listen to someone speak at a lecture or give us directions: we "skim" hear, taking in some but not all of what is said.

From the Author's second email reply:
You can make mention, if you want, of the example we use of F.C. Bartlett and the native American story he has people read and then recount. I suspect something similar happens when we hear things and try to recount what we are told -- we only retain a fraction. In fact, one study found that the average judo fighter can recall only 29.3% of pre-match coaching instructions after the match is over.

This wasn't the kind of response I was hoping to receive. I really wanted some insight into the kind of hearing mistakes I make. The ones he refers to are ones I think people with good hearing make. Or am I in denial about my own level of attention to a speaker?

I received the following comment from Jonathan to my last blog post which seems particularly relevant to this discussion too:

Honestly, I always find it odd that people without hearing loss can mishear what other people said. I've associated this experience with being hard of hearing so much that it just seems bizarre that it's not exclusively an HOH issue. But, then it somewhat parallels to what someone, a hearing person, once said to me: hearing people don't listen, hard of hearing people do.

Do you agree that the examples I gave above of my own mistakes are different from the hearing mistakes the author cites as due to lack of attention. I would argue I was putting a lot of effort into following the conversation based on the context I was able to decipher. Or do these examples prove my brain uses inference to understand speech the same way as someone with regular hearing does?

Overcoming Hearing Loss and Achieving Success on Her Own Terms: The Kathy Buckley Story

I enjoy looking at life in a humorous way. For me it's very rewarding to make people laugh with a perfectly timed zinger. Even better would be to get paid to do it. When I was a child I sometimes pretended to be a stand up comedian like the ones featured on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. In my twenties I even put my hand to writing a few jokes of my own. Even now humor is one of the bigger categories in my blog sidebar's list of topics. So I was thrilled to recently learn about a deaf comedienne named Kathy Buckley.

She has written her life story in an inspiring book titled If You Could Hear What I See: Lessons about Life, Luck, and the Choices We Make. Kathy's childhood was difficult. Her hearing loss was not even diagnosed until she was eight years old. Until that time, she was presumed to be mentally slow. In her late teens, she was run over by a lifeguard driving a Jeep. She says, "I finally get laid and it's by a Jeep." No laughing matter, she needed five years to recover from her extensive injuries. Doctors said she wouldn't be able to walk normally again. She didn't listen to that and is today able to walk unassisted. The next challenge to come along was cervical cancer. A frightening diagnosis for anyone, it was even more so for her when she couldn't understand what the doctors and nurses were saying during her treatments. She pulled through and moved forward with her life.

She got a pair of hearing aids and went to school for massage therapy. She wanted to be an actress but got into comedy instead when she entered and won a competition that was raising money for a children's charity. She then worked hard at learning the comedy business and used her onstage platform to tell her life story with humor and raise awareness of what it's like to be a deaf woman. Eventually this led to motivational speaking opportunities.

I highly recommend her book to you. If you'd like to learn more about Kathy, you can visit her website. There's a video there that features some of her comedy act. Unfortunately it's not captioned, I'm disappointed to say.

The following short video gives a summary of her achievements. (No captions needed, the audio is a song.)

On the Fence: The Hidden World of the Hard of Hearing by Mark Drolsbaugh

Hard of hearing people can find themselves stuck in the middle between the world of the hearing and the world of the culturally deaf. If that's how you've felt, then this is the book for you. Filled with poems and short essays describing the whole spectrum of the hard of hearing experience, this book by turns frightened me when discussing discrimination, saddened me when expressing feelings of isolation, and inspired me when challenges were overcome and new opportunities realized.

If you are hard of hearing, this is a must read book. It will not provide the type of useful information found in the books listed on my sidebar but it will help you know you are not alone. Thirty-seven others (the writers of On the Fence) have been there.

This book is currently available from Harris Communications, a wonderful resource of products for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Deafening by Frances Itani

Growing up as a hearing child and then experiencing hearing loss in midlife it's hard for me to understand what it might be like to be deaf as a child. When I visited my local public library and saw Deafening by Frances Itani as a featured selection, I knew I had to read it.

Deafening tells the story of Grania, a Canadian girl who becomes profoundly deaf at the age of five from scarlet fever. Suddenly the world which was just beginning to open up to her becomes much more difficult to navigate. School is a nightmare. Her older sister is unable to be of much help there as she is grouped with the children her own age. At home life is difficult as well because her mother refuses to accept her deafness continually praying for a miracle to restore her hearing. Her father is clueless that his mustache interferes with her ability to know what he's saying. Only her beloved grandmother Mamo seems to understand how to help her. She is the one who insists that Grania attend the Ontario School for the Deaf even though it breaks her heart to be parted from her. There Grania learns sign language and makes a best friend with whom she can finally communicate freely.

The story continues with Grania growing up and falling in love with Jim Lloyd, a hearing man she meets through her job at the school hospital. Jim is fascinated by her world of silence and tries to explain the world of sound to her. The two marry but are soon separated by World War I when Jim goes overseas to work as a stretcher bearer in an ambulance unit. Letters and memories are all that connect them through this difficult time. Jim is trapped in a world of horrific battle sounds while Grania is confined to an unbearable wait for his return home to her.

To be completely honest, I skipped over some of the war parts. I was much more interested in reading about Grania's relationships with her beloved grandmother Mamo who teaches her to read, her sister Tress who uses home signs with her, and Fry her best friend from deaf school and the first person she can fully communciate with since becoming deaf. I liked the early part of the book the best. I felt so bad for Grania when she was sent to public school with her sister and the teachers had no idea how to help her learn. Her sister tried to help her not become isolated from the other children but the difference in their ages made that difficult. I was glad when Mamo convinced Grania's parents she needed to go to deaf school but was saddened when it meant a lengthy separation from the family and no visit home at Christmas.

My absolutely favorite lines from the book were these sentences: "Her hands, to her surprise, and jerkily at first, begin to send ideas out. Her face and body punctuate; her eyes receive. She is falling into, she is entering a new world. She is joining the larger conversation of hands." [page 84] This book is definitely pro ASL! I also didn't know before reading it that Canadians used ASL.

Very interesting to me was the discovery that the author herself is not deaf. Before writing this story, Frances Itani studied ASL and participated in the Ottawa deaf community. Her own grandmother was deaf but this is not her personal story. It's a novel not a biography.

For those interested in learning more about Deafening and Frances Itani, check out these links:
1)Christian Science Monitor's eloquent book review.
2)Washington Post transcript of an interview with the author.
3)another book review. This one directly speaks to the author's use of language.
4)a brief 44 second video of Frances Itani talking about the book.
It isn't captioned so for my deaf readers I've typed out what she says here: "The reason I wrote my book Deafening is because of my long association with my deaf grandmother. She was born in 1898 and died in 1987 and I loved her very much. And that is the reason I began to write this book. It's a book about Grania, a five year old child who becomes profoundly deaf from scarlet fever. It goes through her childhood at a school for the deaf up into her adulthood where she meets and falls in love with a hearing stretcher bearer. It's a book about World War I. It's a book about love and loss, about hope and despair, and about love in its many guises. Love between the main characters, love between grandmother and child, and between sisters and war buddies."

This book is definitely worth reading. I highly recommend it to you.

What's On Your Nightstand?

The people at Five Minutes for Books have issued a "What's on Your Nightstand?" question for bloggers. How it works is you take a photo of the books on your nightstand if you like to read in bed like me or a photo of your shelf or wherever you tend to pile them if you read somewhere else. Then you write a few words about the books and share why you chose those titles. Here's my nightstand photo:

A cozy mystery lover, I am enjoying reading The Cat Who...series by Lilian Jackson Braun. I've seen these books whenever I've browsed a library's or bookstore's shelves but I have never gotten around to reading them until now. Before I took my recent vacation to Michigan, I stopped by my local public library for some light reading material. Just inside the front door, they had shelves of paperback novels for sale. For a mere fifty cents, I was able to pick up two of the Cat Who titles.

As a diehard mystery series reader, I enjoy reading a new series beginning with the first book and continuing on in order. I like seeing how the main characters develop and knowing what the references to past events are about. Fortunately, one of my purchases was the first book in the series, The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. Admittedly it took me awhile to get into the novel but once I did, I became charmed by amateur detective, Jim Qwillerman. He's a middle aged divorced man trying to resurrect a career in newspaper reporting who's forced to accept a job covering the art beat for a Midwestern city paper. The story gets more interesting with the introduction of Koko, a Siamese cat with the amazing ability to communicate crucial mystery clues to his new owner. Eventually Qwillerman learns to trust the cat's instinct and tune in to his own mustache's sensitivity to omens of trouble. Lilian Jackson Braun's stories have a gentle humor and interesting characters. They aren't scary in the least and I've found myself coming to the end without having figured out the culprit halfway through.

So far I've also read
The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern (Qwillerman is assigned to an interior decorating magazine for the newspaper in this one and he acquires a second cat, Yum Yum.)
The Cat Who Saw Red (Qwillerman is assigned to review restaurants after being ordered on a strict diet by his doctor. See what I mean about her humor!)The Cat Who Played Brahms (Qwillerman takes a vacation up north to write a novel but is too busy playing detective to compose a single line.)

Currently I'm reading
The Cat Who Played Post Office (Qwillerman receives an unexpected inheritance with strings attached.)

An animal lover, I've always been partial to cats. Unfortunately, my husband's highly allergic to cats, so we can't own one. Here's a photo of my beloved childhood pet Jellybean, a tiger cat. The picture was taken circa 1977.


At the 5 minutes for books website, you can check out what other people are reading now. What a fun way to get a book recommendation.

Book Review: Talk, Talk

I just finished reading Talk, Talk by T.C. Boyle. This book is a thriller that explores the question of what someone might do if their identity were stolen. Dana is a deaf teacher who finds herself pulled over by a police officer when she rolls past a stop sign on her way to the dentist. A bad situation becomes a nightmare when the officer arrests her and takes her to jail. With the help of a translater she learns she has been charged for crimes she never committed. Once the mistaken identity is cleared up, she is released from prison but finds she can't let her anger go. She can't leave it up to the police to apprehend the thief and bring him to justice. She must go after the man who has caused her so much trouble. How far will she go and what price is she willing to pay for revenge?

Dana is not alone in her quest. Her hearing boyfriend, Bridger, is literally along for the ride as Dana chases the thief from California to New York. Their relationship faces difficult odds as most deaf/hearing couples don't make it. Will this trial bring them closer or tear them apart?

Talk Talk spoke to so many fears of mine like vulnerability, identity theft, communication struggles, and relationship worries that I was compelled to turn the pages and find out what happens to Dana and Bridger even as I bit my own nails in empathy.

Book Review: Ruffly Speaking

Originally posted: October 7, 2007. Over the weekend I read Ruffly Speaking, which features two hard of hearing characters and one hearing ear dog. This book by Susan Conant is worthy of note for its description of Rita, a middle aged woman, who has difficulty acknowledging her hearing loss and experiences a rough adjustment to hearing aids. Rita is the friend of Holly, the mystery's amateur detective. Holly is the one who convinces her to get her hearing tested and even goes so far as to try wearing Rita's hearing aids to understand what she's experiencing. The Ruffly of the title is the hearing ear dog of a female Episcopal priest. The dog's unusual behavior and the mysterious cutting out of her owner's hearing aids are all part of the strange happenings surrounding the recent death of a friend of Holly's.

This is the first novel I've come across with a hard of hearing character. I emailed author Susan Conant about Rita and found out that she is included in other books of the series but mainly as a minor character. One book that features her more prominently is Gaits of Heaven. However, in that story her hearing loss is not mentioned because she has adapted to it. Amusingly, Conant also said that readers can assume that Rita would now own the spiffy new kind of hearing aids available in a variety of colors.