About The Author and Publisher of Music for Sight, Donald E. Bowen,
Jr.
My
parents, working class immigrants from the hollows of wild and wonderful West Virginia, left the railroad days behind and
in 1953 moved into a small duplex on Molar St in Columbus, Ohio. And in the spring
of 1954, just when mom and dad probably thought life couldn’t get any more complicated, along came… me.
From
an early age my dad has told me I have an inclination to make things more complicated than they need to be. I wonder if he was talking about my world or his? I always
assumed he was talking about mine, and now I’ll never know for sure as dad crossed over Jordan in 1999. My mom is still with us though and provides a great deal of the supportive verification needed by this
author and web developer to keep Music for Sight plugging along.
I started
this project in 2003 after receiving my first, and to date, only guide dog from Southeastern Guide Dog School in Palmetto, Florida.
I grew
up during the fifties and sixties on the Southside of Columbus. It was there that my dad gave me my first guitar.
It
was love at first sight, and I dreamed of becoming a rock and roll star. Much like David Crosby and Roger McGuinn, I came
out of the theater after seeing Help! and knew that was the life for me.
Somewhere
around 1974, realizing there were way too many guys with the same vision of rock stardom, I put my musical dreams on the back
burner and committed myself to a career building aircraft and raising a family.
The
plan worked out pretty well until around 1978 when my employer started going out of business.
I set
my sights on a new career in the emerging computer industry, went out with my dad and bought an Altair kit and put it together. I was immediately hooked!
Things
went well, and I felt I had finally found my niche and would be doing technical work for a very long time! Then I was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa in 1985.
I spent the next 15 years working in the information technology arena.
As
my RP advanced I was introduced to adaptive technology. The screen readers and screen magnifiers worked well for me until
in 2001, with my RP having reached the “advanced” level, and my age not far behind, I retired and committed myself
to my original dreams of being a professional musician.
I was
given my first guide dog in 2003 and that was when Music for Sight was born. The guide dog, a black Labrador retriever named
Lucky showed me I was the lucky one.
I thought
“now I’m doing The Labrador Shuffle and seeing the world through
Lucky eyes”, and so was born The Labrador Shuffle Project.
So
now here I am, passing the half century mark and living happily ever after, now
and then, in Central Florida doing what I can to serve my Lord Jesus Christ, my family, my Music for Sight project, and with my beloved and loyal guide dog, Lucky, at
my side I know I will always get where I am going!
You
see why I say, “I’m the Lucky One!”
Dj
Bowen
October
17, 2008
Lake
Alfred, Florida
Studio
B
