Blind & Gay

"It is hard for anyone who has not been blind to realize what a thrill it is not to have to see everything. It is really marvelous not to look at a lot of things and people that you don't want to see."

So spoke, at Atlantic City last week, famed Author Booth Tarkington to an able New York Times newsgetter. And further:

"Someone thanked God who made him blind so that his soul could see. I have come to believe that there is a lot of truth in that.

"I have done more work during the past year than ever before. I have written a novel, short stories and several essays. It is true, I believe, that being unable to see is a great aid to concentration. You are not distracted by outside elements.

"I certainly had a fine time in the hospital. Johns Hopkins is a great place. I never knew how many things there were in one man to be examined.

"Half of people's appetite is a result of looking at food. Now that I can't see what I am eating I feel that I could very easily dispense with it."