Let There Be Light

This inspirational memoir will provide hope to many of us who feel at times discouraged, stuck in what we think is a helpless situation, bullied on the playgrounds of life, or shunned for being different. Joe Giovanelli was born blind at a time when blind children were often warehoused in special schools and then shunted off to work in sheltered workshops. But not for Joe! His school-teacher mom pushed for a good education and his dad encouraged Joe’s mechanical aptitudes. Joe became a trailblazer in education of the blind, graduating cum laude from Syracuse University. With an upbeat love for his work, he became a leader in the field of audio and recording.

He was awakened in mid-life by how God had and continues to guide him throughout his life. Perseverance, enriched by his personal faith, enabled him to meet obstacles and move beyond where many would give up. Always ready to entertain others with his musicianship and also wit, Joe endears himself to those privileged to know him. And this delightfully told memoir gives us a new understanding of what it’s like to live day by day blind in a sighted world. And Joe says, “I never felt I needed sight.” The memoir of Joe Giovanelli is a beautifully crafted story and one of the best told memoirs I have seen in my over 40 years in publishing. It pulls you the reader in just as if you were sitting chatting with Joe – getting to know well the evolving personality and inspiring life story of this remarkable man. -Stephen Pfleiderer, retired publishing executive