December Newsletter
December 17, 2010 by Mike Hingson · Leave a Comment
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Thunder Dog Interview
December 16, 2010 by Mike Hingson · 1 Comment
Interview with Michael Hingson, Author of “Thunder Dog”
December 2010
Malia: Hello this is Malia McKinney and I’m here with Michael Hingson, international public speaker and author. Congratulations on your upcoming book, “Thunder Dog, a Blind Man, His Guide Dog and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero.” I understand it’s due out next summer to commemorate the 10th anniversary of 9/11.
Michael: First of all Malia, thank you very much for meeting with me. Yes, the book is due to be out late next summer. Amazon says it will be out August 2nd, and our goal is to have it for the National Federation of the Blind Convention in Orlando. We are all very excited about the book and the opportunities it brings.
Malia: So Michael, 10 years later, what are the biggest changes that you see that have been ushered into this country by 9/11?
Michael: I think the biggest change is that people are allowing fear into their lives much more and not taking control of their lives. Also, the fact that we are so divided when there isn’t a need to be. On the other hand, I see great opportunity for growth. We’ve made such wonderful strides as challenges become more visible and we work together to create solutions to meet those challenges.
Malia: Michael it seems that there are factions in this country that would like to use the memory of the events of 9/11 to keep people polarized. How is your message different?
Michael: I agree that there are people who have been playing on fear. We’ve seen it in the recent political elections and in the media. What we aren’t hearing often enough is talk about how strong our unity was after 9/11. We could still have that unity today if we worked at it. I think that trust is still under attack in this country. It is up to us to reassert our leadership as individuals, first in our own lives and then in the form of collective leadership, getting those who have been tasked with serving us to work together instead of wrangling.
One of the lessons from 9/11 that I share is not to focus on the things that I can’t control but to focus on the things that I can. Despite the things we do not have direct control over, there are many situations we can influence. Trust and teamwork are two things we can work together to achieve. We should be demanding that our politicians, our leaders, work together, regardless of party affiliation. We should be demanding unity and collaboration. If we don’t do that now we’re going to be in worse trouble later.
Malia: So Michael, your book contains lessons that can help unify, heal and empower. Can you give us a little bit more detail about that?
Michael: Besides not worrying about what we can’t control, at the end of the day, there’s nothing better then having a good dog bone and time to play, relax and move on. Roselle and every guide dog I’ve ever had does that very well. Another is that teamwork works. The fact is that on 9/11, my guide dog and I working together helping other people get out, as well as allowing other people to help us. Team work is critical for our very survival. Trust is the second critical factor. I trust my dog every day to do her job and she trusts me to do mine. It doesn’t get any better than this simple, strong message.
Malia: I can see now how trust and teamwork apply to nearly every aspect of life, to enrich it. The title of the book, “Thunder Dogs” certainly arouses imagination. Tell us about the real life hero in this story.
Michael: The real hero is Roselle, of course. Roselle was my guide dog at the time, my fifth guide dog. The title, “Thunder Dog,” came from the fact that she’s afraid of thunder. On the morning of 9/11 we had a thunderstorm pass over our house about 12:30 a.m., so I had to go down into my basement with her and give her some space away from the lighting and the thunder as much as I could. So I turned up my stereo, I did some work. Even still, she could hear the thunder and was just shaking and quivering under my desk. 5 hours later we woke to go into my office in the World Trade Center. Although we did not hear it at 8:45 and then later at 9:04, as the buildings collapsed it was thunder all around us. So “Thunder Dog” seemed like a naturally appropriate title and I think it’s being well received.
Malia: That’s very poignant to think this dog was afraid of thunder and yet under fire, in life-threatening conditions, she was brave, she did her job and she stayed calm. That’s truly something that is worth pondering.
Michael: And a great lesson: when the chips are down and when people need to work together we do. We should take that into our lives all the time and not wait for the chips to be down; but we can work together. Roselle and I did even in the most adversarial circumstances and the most horrific example possible we worked together and we survived.
Malia: That’s really, really touching. This book promises to inspire virtually everyone and make a perfect gift of encouragement. I understand it can be pre-ordered now on Amazon. How does pre-ordering work?
Michael: It can be pre-ordered my going to Amazon.com and searching on the words Thunder Dog or visit my website www.michaelhingson.com and you will be presented with a link to go straight into the Amazon ordering page. Again that’s www.michaelhingson.com. The way it works is you order the book, it’s $22.95 for the hard cover copy and when the book is out and your book is ready to be shipped you’ll receive confirmation and your credit card will be charged at that time and the book will be sent.
Malia: So by pre-ordering the book now on Amazon we can actually help make it a best seller and spread awareness about this important message of hope in the process.
Michael: Right
Malia: That sounds like a pretty simple way that we can make a difference and again how we find it on Amazon.
Michael: Go to www.michalhingson.com or www.amazon.com and at Amazon search for the word Thunder Dog and you’ll be taken to the place where the book is. The reason were asking people to pre-order it is that the more visibility it receives and the more orders it gets now the more interest is demonstrated to the major booksellers and to the publisher and the more marketing we can get. I think this is a book that virtually anyone will want to read and can read. Everywhere I speak I’ve been asked, “When are you going to write a book, book”. Literally I think I’ve had hundreds of thousands of people ask me that question. Well were finally able to get the book done. I’m really excited about the fact that I am and the lady who is working with me Suzy Flory are able to finally bring this to fruition and bring this out for people to actually be able to read. So I hope that they will pre-order it and I hope people will be excited about it as much as we are and make the best seller that we mentioned.
Malia: You know I have to say that although I’ve heard the story and you know obviously we think we know about 9/11 having lived through the collective experience, the idea about teamwork and overcoming our fears and also having that trust restored in one another and in our nation, that is a timeless message and I think that the legacy of that, the positive legacy of that will touch thousands of people and I’m very, very privileged to know you and to be part of this project. I just encourage everybody to get a copy of this book and also to be able to share it with the people that they love.
Michael: Well thank you. And I would say this is just not a book about 9/11. This is a book about life, about my life. It tells the story of growing up. I tells a lot of the lessons I learned about blindness, like the handicap isn’t blindness the handicap is our attitude, our misconceptions. And that’s true in some many different things in our lives. The lessons about teamwork, working together. The lessons of overcoming adversity not just on 9/11 but in so many other ways. So we’re going to talk about a lot of things in the book and I think that people will be able to relate to it and learn a lot from it that I hope they’ll be able to use and take to heart.
Malia: Thank you Michael. I can’t wait to get a copy of“Thunder Dog” and hope to get your autograph when it comes out.
Michael: I absolutely will autograph your copy and I’m always willing to autograph any copies. So we’re glad to do that. So again www.michaelhingson.com and while there you can sign up for our newsletter or you can go to www.amazon.com and actually order the book my searching the words Thunder Dog. So thank you very much.
Malia: Alright thank you Michael.
Count Your Blessings…
December 16, 2010 by Mike Hingson · 2 Comments
COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS
By Michael Hingson
I am a collector of classic radio shows from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. If you are not familiar with the genre, it’s the entertainment that was in wide use before the invention of television. Old-time radio is especially fun because it forces you to use your imagination unlike television which usually spells out everything. I also enjoy old movies, especially at Christmas time.
Last week I listened to a radio dramatization of Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas,” inspiring me to seek out the movie version which played on American Movie Classics. In one scene, Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney cannot sleep and find themselves alone together in the middle of the night talking about their reasons why. Bing tells Rosemary that his way to fall asleep is to count his blessings instead of sheep, and then as happens in these movies he sings a song to her entitled “Count your Blessings.”
Whether or not you count blessings, sheep, or use some other method to fall asleep, this is a really good time of the year to look back at the accomplishments, challenges, good things, and not-so-good things which this year held, and consider how they may have helped us grow and move forward. I prefer to think of these things as blessings and would like to share a few of my blessings from 2010.
Blessing 1 Roselle – As some of you may know, Roselle is the guide dog that was with me during my escape from Tower One of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Roselle is now almost 13 years old. She doesn’t move around as much as she used to and has had a lot of back pain this year. In March, I had the honor of delivering the keynote speech at the American Animal Hospital Association Convention in Long Beach, California. At the end of the speech, I introduced Roselle to the audience to a standing ovation. While there, I met an incredibly kind woman, a veterinarian, who attended one of my three workshops and decided to sit with Roselle while I spoke. She observed that Roselle had quite a bit of back pain and offer to do an adjustment for her. Later, I found out that this doctor was one of the nation’s foremost experts on pain management for dogs. After the adjustment, Roselle was indeed better, almost immediately returning to a more normal gait.
At the suggestion of this wonderful doctor, we took Roselle to her veterinarian who specializes in both Western and less traditional Eastern medical techniques such as acupuncture. Over the next several months, she received acupuncture treatments as well as some herbal supplements for her diet. She is not bouncing around like a puppy, but she once again is very engaging and clearly does not have the back pain anymore. We are confident that she will be with us for some time to come. Roselle constantly teaches me about perseverance and how strength ensues from a positive attitude. That is a great blessing by any standard.
Blessing 2 Encouraging Others Through Speaking – Throughout the year, I have had the honor and pleasure of speaking before many different groups, companies and associations, some like the one mentioned above have been attended by over 1,000 people. One speaking engagement especially stands out in my mind – a speech that I gave only two weeks ago.
Early in December I was contacted by the Vice Principal of a nearby school who invited me to help motivate his staff. It seemed that the school had its share of difficulties over the past several years including the murder of a student two and a half years ago and the recent death of another student caused by a drunk driver. The staff, the principal said, was down in the dumps because of these events, the economy, and other school-related issues.
I cannot recall ever being asked to speak in such a challenging environment and agreed to do what I could. The staff was not told in advance about me and my experiences concerning the World Trade Center. Even during my introduction, the staff was not alerted to what was coming. I began the process of engaging the audience by using both humor and a discussion of blindness and the capabilities and challenges experienced by blind people. This lead up to dropping the bombshell: that I was a survivor of the WTC terrorist attacks. You could have heard a pin drop. Clearly I was delivering a speech this audience had not expected. For the next 50 minutes I shared about other life challenges I had faced, from being told many years ago that I could not purchase life insurance because I was blind, to how I used every skill I possessed to escape from the collapsing Tower on 9-11.
Afterwards, people stayed around for fifteen minutes just to talk and to meet Roselle who accompanied me as a special surprise. I was told that my story had made the desired impact of lifting the staff’s spirits. It is a blessing to encourage others and share a message of hope.
Blessing 3 Race for Independence – In October of 2001, Dr. Marc Maurer, president of the National Federation of the Blind challenged U. S. industry and America’s universities to participate in developing a vehicle that blind people could drive. Two years ago Virginia Tech accepted the challenge. In various ways I have been participating in the programs leading to the development of a car that can be driven by a blind person. On January 29, 2011, prior to the commencement of the race, history is being made at the Rolex 400 Race at the Daytona Raceway. The world will see a blind person independently drive a car around the race track for the first time, in public. We are not ready to drive at nearly 200 MPH just yet, but to think that in my lifetime a blind person will drive a car is a tremendous blessing and an incredible leap forward for blind and sighted people alike. The vehicle avoidance technology utilized in this revolutionary vehicle will benefit all drivers in the years to come.
Blessing 4 “Thunder Dog” - Earlier this year, I was contacted by Susy Flory, an author who was writing a book called “Dog Tales” which would tell stories about many unusual and heroic dogs including Roselle. As we talked she expressed an interest in helping me write our story as its own book. She introduced me to Chip MacGregor, the top literary agent in the country. Together with Chip’s help, Susy and I have are pleased to inform you that our new book, “Thunder Dog,” will be available next summer. Read about it and pre-order it on my web-site, www.michaelhingson.com. By pre-ordering the book, you send a powerful message to the publisher, Thomas Nelson Publishers, that there is considerable interest in this story. Your support will also help the publisher gain distribution of the book to major book selling outlets. You also can pre-order by visiting www.amazon.com and searching for the title “Thunder Dog.” This book has to be the most incredible blessing for me in 2010. I invite you all to share it with me.
Now you know my most memorable blessings of this past year. What are yours? I invite you to visit www.michaelhingson.com and share your blessings and thoughts, personally and specifically. We all have much to be thankful for even through challenges and hardships and I am sure others would be interested in ways you have moved forward this year. If you do not wish your comments to be made public on the web site just say so and your preference will be respected. Let’s take a moment to remember our blessings as we go into and through 2011. Be positive and feel blessed. Who knows, you may even sleep better.
October Newsletter
October 15, 2010 by Mike Hingson · 1 Comment
Please check out our online version of our October Newsletter
2010 Race for Independence – Blind Driver Challenge
June 1, 2010 by Mike Hingson · 1 Comment
The tall sandy-haired man walks to the new, shiny red car. He opens the driver side back door as his yellow lab hops in and settles on the floor behind the front seat. As he activates the keyless ignition, the engine begins to purr. “Welcome Mr. Hingson” the car speaks in a melodious yet professional voice. “Ready to engage.” Michael gently accelerates as his Guide Dog Africa begins to snooze. Michael, a man who defies stereotypes and enjoys leading others to do the same, is a WTC survivor. He is also blind since birth. And he is driving a car!!!!!
No, this is not a futuristic dream. This is a soon-possible reality. This July, at the National Federation of the Blind Convention in Dallas, a blind driver will take to the road. Michael Hingson’s goal is to be that driver. Michael’s very life this far has defied all odds. Surviving the 9/11 WTC Terrorist attacks with his guide dog Roselle was perhaps the most dramatic. But blind people are breaking barriers and stereotypes each and every day.
The 2010 Race for Independence – Blind Driver Challenge is an event guaranteed to change the very definition of being blind. Advancements in technology combined with the spirit of innovation and the power of keeping an open mind are being brought together to turn our attitude about “abilities” and “disabilities” on its head!
Join Michael in making history by supporting him in forging a new “first” with your donation. Select the “Support” button and help him reach his goal, while demonstrating that together we can make a difference and change history.
All of the money raised from this event will be returned to National Federation of the Blind state and local affiliates in the form of grants and direct funds to help in educating the public about blindness, provide scholarships for blind students, and to aid in the development of new technologies to help blind persons in all walks of life including an automobile which can be driven by a blind person.
It will also be used to support the NFB Jernigan Institute’s programs for children, youth, college students, adults, and seniors.
Together with the National Federation of the Blind, you and Michael will change what it means to be blind. Let’s rev up those engines!
Michael is a proud member of the National Federation of the Blind which raises funds to educate the general public about blindness. This organization is of vital importance to Michael and countless others, as it has played a vital role in redefining what it means to be blind.
Michael’s fund raising team for this challenge is “NAGDU,” or the National Association of Guide Dog Users, of which Michael is Vice President. Michael is an ardent advocate and teacher on the importance and value of the human-animal bond, and what it can show us about teamwork. After all, it was his Guide Dog Roselle that led Michael and others down from the 78th floor of Tower 1 of the WTC to safety on 9/11.
The NAGDU’s team goal is $30,000, which they must reach before the NFB Convention on July 1st of this year. Click on the support button now to be directed to the donation page. Michael and his current Guide Dog Africa thank you in advance and will keep you informed of their progress.
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National public speaker, teamwork and assistive technology expert, Michael Hingson is Vice President, National Association of Guide Dog Users (NAGDU) and President of the Michael Hingson Group, Inc. www.michaelhingson.com
Help Michael make history and by assisting him in his goal of raising $30,000! Speed on over to the Race for Independence and donate today!
