Father of the Blind A Portrait of Sir Arthur Pearson

by Norman, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780752451824
• ISBN10: 0752451820
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-06-01
• Publisher: The History Press

Summary

In August 1914, Arthur Pearson, a newspaper magnate and founder of the Daily Express, learned of a Belgian soldier who was languishing in a London hospital. The man had been blinded by a rifle bullet during the siege of Li?ge, and Pearson felt sympathy for the man, having himself been blinded by glaucoma. He resolved to work to prevent blinded Allied servicemen from returning home, only to slip into 'hopeless and useless lives'.He therefore opened St Dunstan's in 1915, a hostel where returning soldiers could 'learn to be blind', where they were taught Braille and a trade, equipping them to re- enter the world as useful and self-respecting citizens. When Pearson died in 1921, no less than 1,800 St Dunstaners attended his funeral. Father of the Blind is the biography of an extraordinary man who refused to consider blindness an affliction, but rather a handicap which could be overcome. His charitable work has continued long after his passing.

Author Biography

Andrew Norman is also the author of Adolf Hitler: The Final Analysis, Agatha Christie: The Finished Portrait, Arthur Conan Doyle: Beyond Sherlock Holmes, Jane Austen, and Mugabe: Teacher, Revolutionary, Tyrant.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 7
Acknowledgements	p. 9
Author's Note	p. 10
Preface	p. 11
Arthur Pearson: Early Life	p. 13
Pearson's Weekly: Pearson's Magazine	p. 17
Pearson's Fresh Air Fund	p. 20
Pearson Remarries: Frensham Place	p. 24
Pearson and Grant Allen	p. 27
Pearson the Newspaper Proprietor: Tariff Reform	p. 29
Pearson and the Search for the Giant Sloth	p. 35
C.Arthur Pearson Ltd: Pearson the Author: Pearson and the Occult	p. 41
Pearson and the Scout Movement	p. 47
Pearson and the National Institute for the Blind	p. 53
Pearson and the Founding of St Dunstan's	p. 57
The Newcomer to St Dunstan's	p. 62
Types of Eye Injury Sustained and Treatment	p. 67
Pearson's Brainchild in Operation	p. 73
A Successful St Dunstan's: Aftercare	p. 81
Gladys Cooper, the Fresh Air Fund and St Dunstan's	p. 86
Pearson's Winning Formula	p. 89
The Chief Visits the Front	p. 99
Thomas Waldin: a St Dunstaner Goes Forth	p. 105
The St Dunstaners from Overseas	p. 110
Pearson and Helen Keller	p. 114
Basil Gotto: in Memory of the Fallen	p. 119
Richard King Huskinson	p. 121
Death of the Chief	p. 124
Aftermath: Pearson's Legacy	p. 130
Epilogue	p. 132
Chronology of Events at St Dunstan's	p. 138
Pearson Family Tree	p. 144
Notes	p. 145
Bibliography	p. 152
Index	p. 154
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