Accessible World

CBS Television is rerunning the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "Front of the Class" tonight at 8pm US eastern time. This story is about Brad Cohen, a boy with Tourette Syndrome who grows up to be the teacher he never had. After this movie aired the first time, I found Brad himself and invited him to appear with us on Books And Beyond. Because CBS is showing his movie again, we decided to air his appearance with us again this weekend.

Is it possible to fall in love with the author of a book? Yes! As I read the last of the five books by Eva Rutland available on the download site, I grew more and more certain the above answer to the question remained yes.
How fortunate we are when we read not only a great book but one that speaks to our hearts. When an author can take us in to her world, when we can feel her pain and her tears, embrace with her all she has told us including her triumph and victory over difficulties, we know we have met and spent time with a master of her craft.

Bob Acosta, founder of www.radiooutofthepast.org and former schoolteacher is our guest on this evening's Books And Beyond. Chosen as one of the five outstanding men in California by the California Jaycees in 1969, Bob became the first blind teacher there.

Thanks to lister Steve of California, we have the semiannual bookshow that Bonnie Blose does on WBZ with Jordan Rich. Commercials and newsbreaks have been removed, and each hour is a separate file. Enjoy.

How do teenagers deal with major family issues? How do the adults around them behave in the face of such circumstances?
On tonight's Books And Beyond, we have Sara Zarr, an author of 3 books for and about teenagers: Story of a Girl, Sweethearts, and, most recently, Once Was Lost.
How much of these 3 stories come from her own life as a teenager? Were only the names changed to protect the innocent? We'll ask her these and many other questions.

L.J. Ganser, & Bonnie Blose

How does a blind person work in television news? Are there any special difficulties with this?
Tonight our guest is John Weidlich, former program director of Mind's Eye and former news reporter for KPLR channel 11 here in St. Louis.
What is happening with radio reading services these days? With the availability of more modern technology, do such services even have a place in our world today?
We'll answer these questions and many more.

Are the holidays always happy times for everyone all the time? What about for those who live alone with no family or close friends nearby?
It's been said that this is the time of year when depression is worse and there are more suicides than at other times of the year. How do lonely and isolated people get through such times?
On this week's Books and Beyond, we'll speak with Debbie Hazelton, a mental health counselor and minister, about these and other pertanent issues.

On january 9, we honored the200th birthday of louis Braille who developed a revolutionary reading system for blind persons. It is only appropriate at the end of 2009 to listen to a Books and Beyond program in which Bonnie Blose interviews Mr. Michael mellor, the former Editor of The matilda Ziegler magazine. Mr. mellor has written a book on the life of louis Braille which is available on NLS.

Anna Dresner has written many books concerned with the subject of
technology. On our show tonight, she will discuss social networking, the
subject of the book she is writing presently in which she explains twitter,
facebook, and linked in. How can we use Ipods and mp3 players more
effectively? Is it possible for a visually impaired person to use something
with a flat screen? What are her plans for the future? In the world of
computers and technical information, an author's job is never done. Progress

takes place so quickly that updates to previous books are often needed very