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Press Release
CO-FOUNDER
OF RFB&D'S REGIONAL UNIT OF
THE VIRGINIAS AND CAROLINAS LEAVES A LEGACY OF
EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH PRINT DISABILITIES
National nonprofit mourns
the passing of pioneer Marie Miller, 97
February 16, 2005 (Princeton, NJ) - Nearly fifty years
after establishing a small recording studio that has since expanded
into Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic's Regional Unit of
the Virginias and Carolinas, Marie Therese Miller died today.
The longtime champion for students and adults with print disabilities
was 97.
According to RFB&D President & CEO John Kelly,
"Marie Miller was an extraordinary woman with extraordinary
will and commitment. Her tireless dedication to our organization
surpasses its impact in Charlottesville, Virginia. Her legacy
extends across this country in the number of students who have
benefited from her lifelong commitment to making education accessible
to all students, regardless of disability."
In February 1958, Miller and her husband Ralph founded
the Virginia Unit of Recording for the Blind® (RFB®) by
training themselves and volunteers from a small office on Main
Street in Charlottesville. Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic®,
as it is known today, is a national nonprofit organization and
the nation's educational library of recorded textbooks for students
with visual impairment, dyslexia or other physical disabilities
that make reading standard textbooks difficult or impossible.
Nationally, RFB&D® was founded in 1948 in an attic
space at the Yorkville branch of the New York Public Library.
Moved by the plight of servicemen who were blinded during World
War II and seeking a college education under the GI Bill, Anne
Macdonald convened the library's Ladies Auxiliary to begin recording
textbooks on a request-by-request basis. Inspired by the organization's
mission, Miller and her husband opened the doors of the Virginia
Unit ten years later. In 2004, the unit expanded its mission to
four states and currently serves more than 8,000 members.
"When we started in 1958, I had to actually run this
show on a budget of just $5,000 a year," recalled Mrs. Miller
in an interview just months before her death. Following her husband's
passing the following year, Miller says the "life-changing"
experience of running the studio helped her move on and, at the
same time, honor her husband's memory and continue their good
work.
Even in her later years, Miller never tired of fulfilling
RFB&D's mission that all people have equal access to the printed
word. "She died as she lived," said Chris Eure, executive
director of the Regional Unit of the Virginias and Carolinas,
"she was large and in charge." Eure remembers the last
time she ever saw Miller and how happy she was that her legacy
was a "little seed that grew into a full-blown tree."
The Unit's new location will be named the Marie Miller Center
in honor of their beloved founder.
RFB&D serves more than 137,000 students from kindergarten
through graduate school and beyond with its one-of-a-kind collection
of more than 104,000 educational titles on CD or four-track cassette.
Students rely on RFB&D's unique accommodation to access the
printed page and to achieve educational success. All of RFB&D's
accessible titles are recorded by volunteers working in 29 RFB&D
recording studios nationwide, including Charlottesville, VA.
additional media inquiries:
RFB&D News Desk 1-800-803-7201
media e-mail inquiries
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