To the great number of people who have over the past few years assisted me in gathering material for this book, I owe a great deal of thanks. I am also most grateful to those who completed the questionnaire and returned it to me. And to the many others who shared their reminiscences about ICEVI by talking or by writing to me, a very BIG THANK YOU. To Natalie Barraga, who was kind enough to give me nearly every scrap of material she had, including notes she took over the many years of ICEVI conferences and meetings. And to ICEVI’s current president, Larry Campbell, and former presidents Jeanne Kenmore, William Brohier and Coen de Jong. And to Susan Spungin, Harry Svensson, and to all the past and present Regional Chairpersons of ICEVI. Also to my editor Grace Russoniello, a person whom I have never met but to whom I owe so much.
This publication would not have been possible without the generous support of Victor Siaulys and Laramara - Associação Brasileira de Assistência ao Deficiente Visual.
Last but not least to my wife, Gunilla Stenberg Stuckey, to whom I owe a very special debt of gratitude. Without her this book could not have been written. She has lived with this work from its very conception and, in a very large part, it is hers.