New Jersey honors two talking-book fans
Anne Rowe and Anne Sayre are among the more than twenty centenarian patrons of the New Jersey Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (LBPH) who continue to pursue their love of reading even though they are unable to see the printed page.
Photo Caption Front row (left to right): Anne Sayre; Rocco Fiorentino, Jr; Anne Rowe. Back row (left to right): Venetia Demson, director of the library; Frank Kurt Cylke, director of NLS.
On March 14, 2005, Frank Kurt Cylke, director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), visited the New Jersey LBPH to induct Sayre and Rowe into the NLS 102 Talking-Book Club.
Readers from early childhood, both Rowe and Sayre are full of praise for the talking-book program. "It is the most wonderful program I can imagine," said Rowe. "I use it whenever I can find time, mostly in the evening." Sayre stated that she enjoys the LBPH very much and that she started with large-print books, but now reads talking-books.
Anne Rowe, who is 101, was born in New York City, New York, and grew up on Long Island. She majored in art at Teachers College, which later became part of Columbia University. Rowe has been married and widowed twice and has two children. In 1987 she lost her sight to macular degeneration while living in Hawaii, and she became a patron of the Hawaii Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in 1989. When her second husband died three years ago, she relocated to New Jersey. She was impressed by how easy it was to transfer her membership from Hawaii to New Jersey. Since both libraries are members of the cooperating network, no paperwork was necessary. Rowe believes that talking books have made her life happier. She especially likes to read historical novels, biographies, mysteries, and westerns.
Anne Sayre, who is 103, is also a big fan of historical fiction and says that she has been reading books about the U.S. Civil War since she was a child. Born in Charlottesville, Virginia, Sayre moved to Essex Fells, New Jersey, where she lived most of her life until retiring to Monroe, New Jersey, fifteen years ago. Sayre is an avid gardener and was president of the New Jersey State Garden Club, contributing to the victory garden effort during World War II. Her husband died in 1960, and she has two sons. At the age of ninety, Sayre too lost her sight to macular degeneration. An experienced traveler, she uses talking books to continue to discover the geography, flora, and fauna of the world around her. "I traveled twice around the world," Sayre said. She is particularly fond of exploration and adventure stories.