Lessons About Life, Luck, and the Choices We Make
by Kathy Buckley
with Lynette Padwa
241 pages
Hardcover, Dutton, 2001
HarperAudio, December 2008
In If You Could Hear What I See, Kathy Buckley tells her life story, beginning with her small-town childhood in Ohio-where she was unable to form words until age seven-to her career as “America’s first hearing-impaired comedienne.” She’s now a resident of Glendale and a top-rate motivational speaker.
She movingly describes the pain and confusion of growing up not only hearing-impaired but misunderstood and misdiagnosed. She endured being labeled “retarded” and a troublemaker, because she couldn’t hear her teachers’ instructions. Luckily for her audiences now, all her other senses were fully engaged, and the insights she’s reaped from her journey have given inspiration to many.
Throughout the book, Kathy describes most of the difficult situations she’s faced with great humor. She talks about the people and events that changed her life and encouraged her to dream. Kathy has appeared on numerous network and premium channel comedy shows. For her original PBS special, No Labels, No Limits!, she was awarded the CINE Golden Eagle Award as writer and executive producer, and the Media Access Award for Outstanding Television Special.
She has become a gifted motivational speaker as a result of her own epiphany, realizing that she had a choice: she could choose to accept how others labeled her, or she could define herself. Her fantastic sense of humor and drive to help others get past self-imposed limitations reveal a warm heart and a strong calling, and both of these come through clearly in her book.
Although she published the print version of her book in 2001, an audio version with a new bonus chapter was just released in December 2008. Check out Kathy Buckley’s website here.