Listen "Sir John Wilson"
Episode Synopsis
The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is a man who has devoted his life to helping those who share his own disability - blindness. Sir John Wilson lost his sight at the age of 12 in an accident in his school chemistry laboratory. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how, undaunted, he went on to win a scholarship to Oxford, and then, at the age of 30, mortgaged his home and set up the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind. Since then, he has travelled an average of 50,000 miles a year, helping to restore or save the sight of millions of people the world over. Last year he was awarded the Albert Schweizer International Award for Medicine. [Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs] Favourite track: Mass in B Minor: The Sanctus by Johann Sebastian Bach
Book: A chess strategy book (in braille)
Luxury: A sonic probe
Book: A chess strategy book (in braille)
Luxury: A sonic probe
More episodes of the podcast Desert Island Discs: Archive 1991-1996
Martin Amis
29/12/1996
Jennifer Saunders
22/12/1996
Ian Dury
15/12/1996
Robert Winston
08/12/1996
Bruce Forsyth
01/12/1996
Rt Hon Tony Blair MP
24/11/1996
Tessa Sanderson
17/11/1996
Sir Laurens Van Der Post
10/11/1996
Chris Patten
03/11/1996
Jancis Robinson
27/10/1996
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