Long Time, No See
About the Book
Long Time, No See is certainly an inspiring story, but Beth Finke does not aim to inspire. Eschewing reassuring platitudes and sensational pleas for sympathy, she charts her struggles with juvenile diabetes, blindness, and a host of other hardships, sharing her feelings of despair and frustration as well as her hard-won triumphs. Rejecting the label “courageous,” she prefers to describe herself using the phrase her mother invoked in times of difficulty: “She did what she had to do.” With unflinching candor and acerbic wit, Finke chronicles the progress of the juvenile diabetes that left her blind at the age of twenty-six as well as the seemingly endless spiral of adversity that followed. First she was forced out of her professional job. Then she bore a multiply handicapped son. But she kept moving forward, confronting marital and financial problems and persevering through a rocky training period with a seeing-eye dog.Finke’s life story and her commanding knowledge of her situation give readers a clear understanding of diabetes, blindness, and the issues faced by parents of children with significant disabilities. Because she has taken care to include accurate medical information as well as personal memoir, Long Time, No See serves as an excellent resource for others in similar situations and for professionals who deal with disabled adults or children.
About the Author
NPR Commentator Beth Finke is a freelance writer and frequent presentor at conferences. She lives in the Printers Row neighborhood of Chicago with her husband and her seeing-eye dog. More information about the author is available at www.bethfinke.comReviews
"An insider's report on adaptation. How does a newly blinded woman know what she's doing when she's washing her hair? By distinguishing the shampoo from the conditioner with a single rubber band. How does she write and correspond with the world? By plugging a pocket-size speech synthesizer into a computer. How does she travel around the world? By forming an alliance with a guide dog. What does she do for a living? She models nude for art students."--Chicago TribuneBlurbs
“Finke does a beautiful job of bringing readers into her world, a world of love and fear and hope. If you have ever been challenged with a disability, or know someone who has, or if you want greater insight into the human spirit in general, read this book.”--Andie Dominick, author of Needles: A Memoir of Growing Up with Diabetes
“Beth Finke’s beautifully written memoir catches you up in a life that is exciting, moving, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, full of love and disappointment, charismatic and riveting.”--Mary McHugh, author of Special Siblings: Growing Up with Someone with a Disability
"To face extraordinary challenges with grace and courage is remarkable in itself. To write about it as eloquently as Beth Finke does is a gift."--Jean Thompson, author of Who Do You Love and Wide Blue Yonder
"Unlike many of life's dysfunctions, blindness cannot be hidden. Beth Finke's frank accounting of life from a blind perspective gives a much-needed modern view of the visually impaired in our culture. She reminds us that never giving up the fight assures victory, regardless of the actual outcome of the struggle."--Jazz pianist and composer Marcus Roberts
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