THE TRUE STORY OF A REMARKABLE BLIND COUPLE
The Sound of Her Voice: My Blind Parents’ Story
BY MARY PIERONI HARPER
The Sound of Her Voice: My Blind Parents’ Story is the inspiring chronicle of a remarkable couple, who against all odds, lived full and productive lives. Mario became the first blind graduate of the University of Notre Dame Law School and was later elected Judge of two different county courts in Muncie, Indiana. Jane ran the household and raised four children without outside assistance.
Their story is told by their youngest child, Mary Pieroni Harper, who used extensive archival material including hundreds of press clippings and photos, interviews with them recorded on audio and video tapes, and her own recollections of having parents whom she could see but only knew her by touch and sound.
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“A moving and believable family account.”
MY PARENTS’ STORIES
So much of falling in love is visual.
Physical attraction. Their clothing. Their smile. Catching someone’s eye.
But how do the blind fall in love if it cannot be at first sight?
By sound, of course.
My Father
My father, Mario Pieroni, was born with glaucoma. He lost what little sight he had at the tender age of four, but that didn’t stop him from exploring the world and wanting an education.
When he was eight years old, his parents enrolled him in the first grade at the Indiana School for the Blind in Indianapolis, where he lived in a dorm with other students and learned to read and write Braille.
It was heart-wrenching for his mother to leave him there to live with strangers, but Dad was determined to get an education. Staying at home in Muncie, Indiana was not an option.
My Mother
My mother, Jane Small, was also born with glaucoma. Her vision was good enough for her to begin public school, but eventually what little sight she had faded. She could no longer keep up with the other students and was enrolled at the School for the Blind in September 1924 at the age of eleven.
Just weeks after beginning the fourth grade, she was called upon to recite a poem from memory. Her clear, articulate voice caught Mario’s attention. He was impressed by her presentation and wanted to congratulate her. But, even in class, boys were not allowed to talk with the girls. In the 1920’s, the sexes were kept strictly apart, with separate playgrounds and dining rooms.
During high school, Jane and Mario found ingenious ways to communicate. When they graduated from the School for the Blind in 1934, both were twenty years old and deeply in love.
