GALLERY OF UNUSUAL PEOPLE
She Helps the "Forgotten" Blind
After watching her nearly sightless son struggle with the blurred images in standard 4
texts, Lorraine Marchi put thoughts into action By THEODORE IRWIN
GENE MARCHI, JR., cherubic and
cheerful, was four months old when
an eye specialist discovered that his vis
ion was impaired. How much he would
ever see, the doctor couldn't predict.
The diagnosis was understandably a shock to
his mother, Lorraine Marchi, the vibrant, brown
eyed wife of a San Francisco builder.
"When the doctor broke the news, I was numb,"
she recalls. "I couldn't weep for my baby, nor even
feel bitter or resentful. I was thankful that at
least he wasn't totally blind. But gradually I
began to realize the implications."
It turned out that Gene's visual acuity in his
better eye was only 20200 (10 percent of sight),
which meant that while he could see, he was
considered "legally blind."
"I thought that when Gene went to school,"
Mrs. Marchi says, "he'd merely have to hold
his books closer. I never dreamed there were
people who, even with corrective lenses, could
not read normal print."
Like Gene, more than 90,000 school children in
the U.S. live in such a twilight zone the no
man's land between the seeing and the sightless.
Only one in 10 is receiving special help at school.
Mrs. Marchi was passionately determined to
give her son the education to which every Amer
ican child has a right. In the 16 years since that
terrible day at the doctor's office, she has relent
lessly fought to develop large-type books which
Gene and others like him could read. In the pro
cess, she has opened windows of learning for
thousands of such youngsters and sparked a na
tional organization dedicated to aiding them.
The long uphill struggle began when Gene
entered first grade. Because he was "legally
blind," he was transferred to a school for the
blind where he could be taught Braille. Then his
mother heard of a special sight-saving class at a
San Francisco elementary school.
Theoretically the youngsters in the sight-saving
class were to be taught with texts printed
in oversize type. But there were virtually no
such schoolbooks available, except for a few hand
copied pages. The teacher appealed to Mrs. Marchi.
The dynamic young housewife was fired to
action. For more than a year she investigated
conditions in other California cities. Once Mrs.
Marchi thought she had found the answer in a
newly developed magnifier for enlarging print.
When that proved impractical for schoolroom
use, she continued her stubborn search.
Armed with facts, she called on health officials,
heads of special education departments, leaders
of civic organizations, prominent ophthalmolo
gists, pediatricians, and psychiatrists. Under her
stimulus, a Committee to Aid Visually Handi
capped Children was formed.
With borrowed typewriters, a group of volun
teers began to transcribe books into large print.
They prepared 500 master copies of 12 books to
be printed by an offset process. Then a local
hospital offered the use of its multigraph machine.
Mrs. Marchi waited three months, but the oper
ator couldn't find time to print the books.
Panicky at the thought that the school year
would start without her precious books, the ten
acious mother took over herself, after brief les
sons on how to run the complex equipment.
Singlehanded, working nights and weekends,
she spent almost four weeks printing 25 copies
of seven books. But they were finished for the
opening of school and jubilantly welcomed.
FOR the first time, a partially seeing child
knew how it felt to have a book of his own. It
was Mrs. Marchi's initial triumph.
A year and a half later, a multigraph machine
contributed by a local women's organization
was installed in the basement of the Marchi
home. Today there are two machines, and with
the aid of several assistants Mrs. Marchi still
produces large-type books there.
As word of the unique service in San Fran
cisco spread across the nation, the need for a
national organization became evident. In Decem
ber, 1959, National Aid to the Visually Handi
capped, a nonprofit volunteer agency, was
founded in California.
Today chapters have been chartered or are
springing up in six cities outside San Francisco.
NAVH has produced more than 22,500 volumes of
169 titles including books on everything from
Mrs. Marchi (right) and volunteer look on as Gene
examines first Jarge-type book his mother made.
science and spelling to novels.
Meanwhile, Gene Marchi, Jr., the boy whose
affliction started the ball rolling, has grown up
almost like any normal child. Today, a junior
in high school, Gene rides a bicycle and plays
basketball and football despite his handicap.
To Lorraine Marchi, the rewards of her
efforts go beyond the satisfaction of watching
her son's heartening progress.
"I find a deep joy," she says, "in knowing that
similarly afflicted children now have the chance
to get an education through books the proper
books to help them grow into self-sufficient,
contributing members of their community."
To near-blind children who yearn for the light
of learning, Lorraine Marchi is bringing a bright
beacon of hope into their lives.
(For its catalog of large-type books, or to send
contributions, address National Aid to the Visual
ly Handicapped, San Francisco SI, Calif.)
COVER:
Summertime is a perfect time to touch a
leaf, tuck your toes into a running brook,
or pick a pair of daisies, as this lorely
miss does. Photo by Josef A. Schneider.
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