Published: 1 June 2017
ISBN: 978-1-925384-96-3
ISBN ePUB: 978-1-925183-82-5
Format: Paperback
AU: $29.99
Categories: Memoir
About the Authors
Over the past decade, athlete, accessibility advocate and global adventurer Nick Gleeson has built up an enviable reputation for public speaking. Nick has that rare gift of being able to convey a serious message – that of overcoming the challenges of living with blindness – with warmth, humour and honesty. A lifelong lover of sport and adventure, Nick has crossed the finish line in the New York City Marathon three times, climbed Everest basecamp and Kilimanjaro, carried the Sydney Olympic Torch and represented Australia in the Paralympics. Nick describes himself as a very ordinary person who has managed to follow many of his dreams – among them marrying Heather, who is also blind, and raising two children, Peter and Belinda.
Peter Bishop was founding Creative Director of Varuna, The Writers' House in the Blue Mountains from 1994-2010. A writing mentor to many, Peter is a master of asking the right question at the right time.
'In desperation, I look up into mum’s face. A small face – a loving face —
And the lights go out. Her face is the last image I will ever see in my lifetime.'
Blind since the age of seven, Nick Gleeson has spent his life learning to ‘see’ without seeing.
Growing up in the working-class Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows, Nick’s young life was defined by touch and smell: learning the shape of each shoe so he knew left from right. Holding the huge, rough hand of his father. Smelling the well-worn vinyl in the family car.
Many years later, when Nick meets Peter Bishop in the lounge room of Varuna, the Writers’ House, he has led an amazing life of physical adventuring. A Paralympic athlete and captain of a blind cricket team, Nick has scaled base camp at Everest, climbed the summit of Kilimanjaro, and has just returned from an expedition to the Simpson Desert.
In a unique blend of memoir and conversation – and with many insights into the writing process – Peter and Nick find compelling ways to explore a life journey with more than its share of challenges, loves, losses, and laughter.
The Many Ways of Seeing is an inspiring true story of determination in the face of hardship, the vital importance of trust and friendship and all that can happen when writing is revealed to be the most surprising adventure of all.
Praise for The Many Ways of Seeing
'This book is honest, insightful and refreshing. Recommended.'
KATHRYN'S INBOX
'Whether he is recalling the joys of going mushrooming with his father or the smell of mandarins when he was told of his mother's death, this unorthodox memoir vividly demonstrates the "many ways of seeing" through touch, smell and sound that a blind person experiences.'
SYDNEY MORNING HERALD
'A generous and moving story'
THE AUSTRALIAN
'Poignant, honest and open, Gleeson takes us on a journey of incredible fortitude, everyday courage.'
READING, WRITING AND RIESLING