Perspectives
“Light emerged from darkness in Genesis, in the creation of the heavens and the earth. Light also emerged from darkness in the life of Sandy Greenberg. This memoir reveals a triumph of the human spirit. It is the story of a man brought from blindness to richness, from darkness to light, through his passion and his accomplishments, and from a deep commitment from those who loved him. This book renews life in us all.”
—Richard Axel, 2004 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine
“Sandy plays the hand he got and tries to make the world a better place. He has aspirations and hope. Sandy is a role model for all of us.”
—Michael Bloomberg
“When blindness is vanquished, and it will be, we will have Sandy Greenberg and his story to thank.”
—Senator Chris Coons
“There is no greater measure of character than viewing one’s personal setbacks as a call to serve others. Sandy and Sue soared above their personal challenges and dedicated their lives to making a positive change in the world. We’re confident that this magnificent book will be one of the most inspirational you will ever read.”
—Elizabeth and Bob Dole
“An inspirational story of resilience, determination, achievement and, mostly, of the power of friendship and love. I could not stop reading this extraordinary book about an extraordinary journey.”
—Susan Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief, National Geographic
“An inspiring must-read for anyone facing challenges in life, as a guide to beating the odds and making your impact on the world.”
—Vice President Al Gore
“A majestic book, authored by the most ‘haimish’ of men. This should be required reading for every young person with a dream of helping their community.”
—Senator Ron Wyden
A POST HILL PRESS BOOK
Hello Darkness, My Old Friend:
How Daring Dreams and Unyielding Friendship Turned One Man’s Blindness into an Extraordinary Vision for Life
© 2020 by Sanford D. Greenberg
All Rights Reserved
ISBN: 978-1-64293-497-7
ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-498-4
Cover art by Jason Heuer
Interior design and composition by Greg Johnson, Textbook Perfect
Afterword by Margaret Atwood © O.W. Toad Ltd 2020
This is a work of nonfiction. All people, locations, events, and situations are portrayed to the best of the author’s memory.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.
Post Hill Press
New York • Nashville
posthillpress.com
Published in the United States of America
Distributed by Simon and Schuster
For Sue, the one who has always been there
Contents
Foreword by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Introduction by Art Garfunkel
Part 1: Day & Night
1. Stranger on a Train
2. Survival Skills
3. Brighter Days
4. The Seduction of the Mind
5. My Shadow Education
6. Shots Across the Bow
7. “Son, You Are Going to Be Blind Tomorrow”
Part 2: A Bridge Over Troubled Waters
8. Lights Out
9. A Walk on the Wild Side
10. The Blind Senior
11. Tough Love
12. Moving Forward
13. Paying Back
Part 3: Tikkun Olam
14. The Start of Something Big
15. The Beauty of Small Things
16. Road Tripping
17. My Blindness Balance Sheet: Debits
18. My Blindness Balance Sheet: Assets
19. Speak, Memory
20. No Man Is an Island
21. A Promise That Cannot Be Broken
22. Old Friends Sat on the Park Bench Like Bookends
23. My Big Party
Epilogue: To End Blindness Forever
The Final Word by Margaret Atwood
Acknowledgments
End Notes
Had I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.
—William Butler Yeats
Foreword
Supreme Court of the United States
Washington, DC
A few days after the 2010–2011 Court term ended, my good neighbor at Watergate South, Sandy Greenberg, visited me in chambers. He had done so the year before, just to see how I was faring at work after the death of my husband. He is that kind of caring man. But this time he came to convey a request. Sandy had composed a volume reflecting on his life’s extraordinary course. He asked if I would read the manuscript and perhaps write a brief foreword. I spent every spare hour the next week reading Sandy’s remembrances. Often his memories brought smiles; other times they left me near to tears. From the first page to the last, I was captivated by his bright mind, ready wit, and indomitable spirit.
A snapshot of Sandy in 1958 at age seventeen: brainy, athletic, president of his Buffalo, New York, high-school senior class and of the school’s student council, trumpet player, a tall and all-around good fellow. That year, he entered Columbia College on full scholarship. There he thrived on learning, made lasting friendships, and experienced the city’s many wonders. In steady correspondence, he described his adventures to the love of his life since sixth grade, Sue Roseno, his beloved wife and soul mate now for a half century.
At age nineteen, midway through his third year at Columbia, Sandy became blind. Initial despair over his total loss of sight gave way, in small time, to a fierce determination not to be seen, or to live his life, as a blind man. He played the part well. Sandy would have no dog, or even a cane. “If you were to see me in the hallway of the Watergate,” he observed, “you would not know I am blind.” Quite so. I had been told, when we bought an apartment at the Watergate in 1980, two doors up from Sandy and Sue’s, that his vision was poor. He could see shapes but not faces; he wore thick glasses to magnify things. I believed what I was told.
A half-dozen years passed before I learned the harsh truth. In 1986, I heard Sandy say to a throng of well-wishers: “I am blind.” The occasion was his induction as a Fellow of Brandeis University at a celebration in DC.1 Sandy could, at last, publicly acknowledge his blindness, for he had proved, time and again, that he had developed “other
