The recently published historic novel, The Fortunate Ones, describes the difficult life of blind and visually impaired people who lived and worked in 18th-century Philadelphia without the use of Braille or today’s technology. In a lecture given at HSP on March 2, 2011, author Frederick W. Noesner discusses his novel. Mr. Noesner was born with malignant tumors of the retina that totally destroyed his sight during early childhood.