Location: United Kingdom
Member Since:
Jan. 08, 2013
T.J. Garrett
Biography
Tony Garrett had always been interested in writing, and over the past year, he has become not only an avid reader on the site, but also a fairly prolific writer. What makes Tony’s story remarkable is this fact: Tony is legally blind, and—even with the assistance of digital displays—reading is a chore.
It had been 25 years since Tony had read anything as his range of sight leaves him visually incapable of reading physical books. In his own words, when it comes to books, “there is no print large enough.”
However, with the advances in modern display technology, and the malleability of digitally published works on Kindle and other apps, readers are given far more control over the appearance of stories. In Tony’s case, switching the font to display as white on black, and increasing the character size until only a few words appear on each line, allows him to read on a large screen or tablet, albeit very slowly.
“It takes a long time to read, but I don’t mind,” Tony explains. “It’s changed my life. I love reading, now. And to think I never used to read much—back when I could see.”
It wasn’t long before reading the stories of others inspired Tony to want to write his own as he became amazed at how immersive writing could be.
“It’s a much deeper subject than I expected,” stating that it was primarily his experience reading The Lord of the Rings that inspired him to take up writing. “I read Lord of the Rings and was immediately captivated by how much better it was than the films, and I LOVE the films.”
(Take from 'A Writer's Life')
Educated at the London College of Music, Tony is also a keen musician and composer. When not writing, he likes nothing more than performing with his band.
It had been 25 years since Tony had read anything as his range of sight leaves him visually incapable of reading physical books. In his own words, when it comes to books, “there is no print large enough.”
However, with the advances in modern display technology, and the malleability of digitally published works on Kindle and other apps, readers are given far more control over the appearance of stories. In Tony’s case, switching the font to display as white on black, and increasing the character size until only a few words appear on each line, allows him to read on a large screen or tablet, albeit very slowly.
“It takes a long time to read, but I don’t mind,” Tony explains. “It’s changed my life. I love reading, now. And to think I never used to read much—back when I could see.”
It wasn’t long before reading the stories of others inspired Tony to want to write his own as he became amazed at how immersive writing could be.
“It’s a much deeper subject than I expected,” stating that it was primarily his experience reading The Lord of the Rings that inspired him to take up writing. “I read Lord of the Rings and was immediately captivated by how much better it was than the films, and I LOVE the films.”
(Take from 'A Writer's Life')
Educated at the London College of Music, Tony is also a keen musician and composer. When not writing, he likes nothing more than performing with his band.