Barbara Walters Most Memorable Interview

Barbara Walters most memorable interview

She relates: 'It is not a president or a king or a movie star.
It is a man I interviewed more than 25 years ago. He was
a teacher and a poet, and the most inspirational person I
have ever met. His name is Robert Smithdas.'

-- Bob Smithdas taught himself to cook. He prepares and
cooks his own dinner every night. One of his specialties is
Chicken Cacciatore.

-- He is well read. In fact, he reads 20 magazines a
month.

-- He understands the stock market and operas.

-- Bob graduated from college at the top of his class, plus
earned a master's degree and two honorary degrees.

-- He is a teacher. He is also a speaker and a poet.

While these details are certainly impressive, how would
you feel if I told you that Bob Smithdas, the man whose
life I described above, lives in silence and in darkness.

Yes, Bob is both 'deaf and blind.'

Bob cannot hear his own voice, but he learned how to talk
again after he became deaf and blind at the age of 4. He
became the next deaf-blind person, after Helen Keller, to
graduate from college at the top of his class. He then
earned his master's degree from New York University -- the first advanced graduate degree anywhere for a deaf-blind student. On top of that, he earned two honorary doctorate degrees and then became a teacher, a poet and a husband.

Bob and his wife, Michelle -- who is also deaf and
blind -- have never seen each other, but they know what
the other person looks like. They talk with each other; not
with words and sound, but hand-to-hand with a manual
alphabet. They finger spell words, letter by letter, into
each other's palms.

Bob wrote a special poem to Michelle for their wedding
day:

"There is no need to speak.
I understand each quick impulsive movement of your hand.
By some strange magic of the heart,
I guess the meaning of each gesture, each caress.
Oh, when I reach to take you by the hand,
it is because I need to understand
that I am not alone in this broad land."

Bob and Michelle, married for 23 years, manage to live
independently; cooking by touch, using teletype-style phones and computers, wearing pagers that vibrate to signal the ringing of the telephone or the doorbell.

They also do all their own housekeeping and chores.

The home that Bob and Michelle decorated together is
designed so that their sighted friends will be comfortable
when they visit. Bob selected the artwork himself.

Bob reads about 20 Braille magazines a month, ranging
from The Economist to Popular Mechanics to Martha
Stewart Living. He understands the stock market and the
opera.

I watched in utter amazement as Bob cooked himself dinner.  He sliced onions, used a pressure cooker and adjusted the flame -- with no help.

And what is the Smithdas' workday like? Bob, his wife
Michelle -- who earned a master's degree from Columbia
University's Teachers College -- and their colleagues at
the Helen Keller National Center on Long Island teach
other deaf and blind people how to cook over a hot stove,
how to crack open an egg and save the yolk, how to do
office work and how to use computers. In short, how to
live organized, independent and happy lives.

Bob and Michelle do not have sight, but they see their life
full of opportunity rather than limits.

Talk about being organized! These two people are the
epitome of effective organization. And remember -- they
can't see and they can't hear.

They've accomplished so much in life, by goals, planning
and dedication. By being organized, positive and
committed. They're independent and they're happy. This
is certainly food for thought for every one of us.

[Original source unknown]