Kenneth Pierce: “The Difference Is Day and Night”
Ken has dedicated his life to words. As a journalist and editor at major publications, writing and reading didn’t just define his career; they defined him. They defined his world.
Now 84, Ken has age-related macular degeneration. One eye is legally blind, and reading traditional print has become increasingly difficult. For years, he relied on services designed to help blind readers, but found them good for many popular genres in commercial fiction and basic non-fiction, yet limited and poorly suited to the specialized, academic, or hot-off-the-press interests that had fueled him his whole life. He worried that his failing vision would slowly close the door on the thing he loved most. Then, in 2024, life changed.
That was the year he found Bookshare.
“The difference is day and night,” Ken says. “It opens the entire world of books, no matter how specialized, arcane, or peculiar. For someone like me, it remains the bridge to most of what I think that reading is important for.”
Since embracing Bookshare, Ken’s passion for reading and lifelong learning is fully intact. From autobiographical writing by a female bush pilot in early 20th-century Kenya (praised by Hemingway, no less) to an online course on The Brothers Karamazov, he moves through literature, history, and niche scholarly topics with the same hunger he always has, now while walking for exercise and listening on his phone.
“The selection is incredible,” he says. “I can instantly access books in formats uniquely suited for my low vision. Unlike traditional audiobooks, you aren’t limited to popular titles. You can find academic works, out-of-print books, the specific translator a teacher recommends if it’s by a foreign author, and more, any time you need them.”
Ken is one of more than two million readers who rely on Bookshare — people for whom books are a lifeline, but who can’t access them in formats that work. Your gift can help ensure that the next reader who needs Bookshare can find it. Give today to make that possible.
“If you truly value books and your interests go beyond the bestsellers,” Ken says, “Bookshare keeps you exploring, no matter what.”
