Michael Hingson–blind since birth, acclaimed speaker, and best-selling author whose new book is “Live Like A Guide Dog: True Stories from a Blind Man and His Dogs about Being Brave, Overcoming Adversity, and Moving Forward in Faith”—recounts how the pandemic precluded his then-regular routine of traveling and lecturing, spurring the idea for writing “Live Like A Guide Dog.”
As the full title suggests, the new book draws on Hingson’s first-hand knowledge living with guide dogs over his lifetime. What’s not immediately suggested is this involves living with eight guide dogs, which Hingson affirms is an atypically large number of canine companions.
In addressing how these dogs taught him important lessons about being brave in various challenging scenarios, he pointed out that “Dogs don’t do ‘What if?,’ adding that us humans commonly ask what if, often thereby erecting obstacles in our own path.
Hingson touts the virtues of preparation as a gambit for fear reduction, as well as more efficient functioning day-to-day. I connect this to observations about how his parents—and his upbringing, really—were distinctly devoted to cultivating confidence, effectively preempting a great deal of fear from even developing. (For specific examples of this, I mention his folks not only encouraging Hingson to ride a bike around the neighborhood, but his Dad dismissing a local jerk who called to complain about it. Also when he was a kid, about to attend a new school, his Mom took him to the campus several times before school started, so he could “map out” the locations of the classrooms, where he’d eat lunch, and so on.)
We discuss “mapping” in a different sense, enabling him to find his way around new neighborhoods—or commute by subway—and Hingson’s gifted mind for such mapping; not coincidentally, he holds a Master’s Degree in physics. And he notes in this part of the conversation the importance of paying attention to details.
Acknowledging the question was probably akin to asking which child is your favorite, I inquire which of his eight guide dogs did he learn the most from—which one influenced him the most? He invokes multiple dogs, probably giving the bulk of the kudos to Roselle, the guide at his side on 9/11, when Hingson famously led them, and others, from the 78th floor of the North Tower to safety.
We also touched on “Unstoppable Mindset,” the podcast that Hingson hosts, noting that we have intersecting experiences (though in different periods) at KUCI, the student/community radio station where I launched “Talking Animals.”
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