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John Hull lost his sight in his 40s. His memoir, Touching the Rock: An Experience of Blindness (1990), vividly describes how it feels to lose one’s sight after a lifetime of visual experiences. Oliver Sacks praised its account of how the “inner eye” gradually vanishes with blindness.

While writing a history of talking books, I have spoken with many people who are blind about the differences between reading books with their eyes, ears, and fingers. As Emeritus Professor of Religious Education at the University of Birmingham and the author of several books, Hull stands out among this group as exceptionally articulate when it comes to speaking about his life. I have long wanted to discuss with him passages from Touching the Rock in which he recalls listening to books on cassette tapes. There he notes: “Reading a book has become like listening to a lecture.”

Recently, the London Interdisciplinary Discussion Group held a seminar on “Blindness” at the Science Museum, where John Hull, neuroscientist Colin Blakemore, philosopher Ophelia Deroy, and filmmakers James Spinney and Peter Middleton were invited to address the question: “How can the non-blind understand blindness?” (You can watch Spinney and Middleton’s short film “Notes on Blindness” here: http://intodarkness.co.uk/notes-on-blindness/) Poor health prevented Hull from attending, but I wrote to him after the event. Here are his responses to my questions about what it’s like to go from reading books with your eyes to reading them with your ears:

Matthew Rubery [MR]: In Touching the Rock, you wrote that “Nobody loves cassettes the way people love books.” How has your relationship to books changed since losing your sight?

John Hull [JH]: I suffered acutely from bereavement at the loss of the book. Indeed, I sometimes told people that the greatest losses were the human face and the printed page. The feeling of loss has lessened over the years but I still sometimes feel it. When

Short story by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring Sherlock Holmes

For the 1937 film, see Silver Blaze (1937 film). For the 1977 film, see Silver Blaze (1977 film).

"The Adventure of Silver Blaze", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is the first from the 12 in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. It was first published in The Strand Magazine in December 1892.

Doyle considered "Silver Blaze" among his favourite Sherlock Holmes stories. One of the most popular Sherlock Holmes short stories, "Silver Blaze" focuses on the disappearance of the eponymous race horse (a famous winner, owned by a Colonel Ross) on the eve of an important race and on the apparent murder of its trainer. The tale is distinguished by its atmospheric Dartmoor setting and late-Victorian sporting milieu. The plotting hinges on the "curious incident of the dog in the night-time":

Gregory (Scotland Yard detective): Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?
Holmes: To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.
Gregory: The dog did nothing in the night-time.
Holmes: That was the curious incident.

Plot

Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. Watson travel by train to Dartmoor to investigate a crime of disappearance of the great race horse Silver Blaze and the murder of the horse's trainer, John Straker. Holmes and Watson arrive at King's Pyland, from where Silver Blaze is missing. Bookmaker Fitzroy Simpson had come to Dartmoor (and specifically to King's Pyland) to gather information about Silver Blaze and his stablemate Bayard. He had approached both Straker's maid and a stable boy the night of the horse's disappearance and has been arrested for the murder. To Holmes, there seem to be a number of facts that do not fit the case against Simpson, damning as it looks. It seems odd that he would lead the horse out on to the moor simply

British radio comedy series (1949–1961)

Radio show

Ray's a Laugh was a British comedy series starring comedian Ted Ray which ran on BBC Radio from 1949 to 1961. According to latter-day historians of the era, the show was "hugely popular with the British public" and "one of the major hits of post-war radio comedy".

Background

Ted Ray's alter ego in variety had been Nedlo, the Gypsy Violinist. Originally named Charles Olden, by 1949 he was appearing as Ted Ray (named after the golfer), and this was how he billed himself for his radio series, which was devised by BBC producer George Inns. The show was BBC Radio's replacement for It's That Man Again. Other names considered for the series were Hoo-Ray For Fun and Hip-Hoo-Ray.

Format

For most of the show's run, Ray's a Laugh was a domestic comedy. However, it started off as an American-style three-'spot' show with songs and music. In some sketches, Ray worked for the Cannon Enquiry Agency, later joining the Daily Bugle as a reporter.

Ray's wife was played by Kitty Bluett. From the third series, the show was dominated by scenes featuring Ted and Kitty. She left the show to appear in an unsuccessful spin-off in 1955, but returned the following year.

Cast

Regular cast members were:

Music

Ray's signature tune was "You Are My Sunshine", which prefaced the opening title song, named after the show and written by Ray. "You Are My Sunshine" closed the show until 1951. Music for the first three series came from Stanley Black and the BBC Dance Orchestra. For series 4 and 5, music was by Paul Fenoulhet and the BBC Variety Orchestra.

In the first two series, songs came from an act known to listeners as the Beaux and the Belles, who were actually The Keynotes under another name