Trailblazing blind student back for reunion
Man among first students without sight at Bellaire High returns for class reunion
The first blind Houston ISD student, who went on to travel the world advocating education for the blind and founding a religious nonprofit for the visually impaired, returns for his 50th reunion at Bellaire High School.
Glynn Langston glides slowly through the bar of the Marriott Hotel, his dark glasses reflecting the faces of his former classmates. Ready with a smile at his 50th high school reunion, Langston waits to hear their voice.
He quickly recognizes the voice of classmate Pam Stahl Lambert and cracks his first joke of the night: “I’ll continue with my story, considering you don’t look bored.”
Langston, 68, on Friday night was attending the 50th anniversary reunion of his Bellaire High School class of 1967. He calls his own impairment simply an “inconvenience.”
A veteran missionary and founder of Insight International, a nonprofit Braille and tape outreach ministry, Langston, has dedicated his life to the education of the blind and visually impaired across the globe.
His sister, Marla Maudlin, said HISD conducted multiple interviews with Langston before allowing him to attend public school.
It took “quite a bit of convincing” of the school board, said the Meyerland woman. Her brother later said their parents were told by HISD trustees that he was the first fully blind student.
It was unclear how many visually impaired students were in the district at the time. This year, there are 583 students with visual impairments in Harris County, according to Texas Education Agency data. Statewide, there are more than 3,900.
Langston was born prematurely, the sole survivor of twins. His parents were not aware he was blind throughout his infancy, said Maudlin.
“It took them several years to find out,” she said. “They didn’t know at the time that pure oxygen in an incubator would blind a child.”
While attending Austin’s Texas State School for the Blind at age 9, Langston learned navigational skills and reading and writing in Braille to prepare him for his first ventures out into the
world. He was also disciplined severely.
“The punishments were cruel. It was like something out of Dickens,” Langston said.
Still, once at HISD, he received various awards and was inducted into the National Honor Society He also was his senior class vice president in 1967.
“He was always a hard act to follow at school. He made it look so easy,” Maudlin said, remembering the many nights Langston spent in his bedroom in darkness, talking to people across the world through his ham radio.
In school, Langston’s classmates treated him like any other student, although periodically underestimating his abilities. Some of Langston’s teachers had a tendency to “be nice” in a way that Langston could never be sure he was getting the grades he deserved.
It wasn’t until a teacher gave him his first D that he knew he was being treated fairly, and persevered to do better.
Two of Langston’s classmates, twins Linda Evans and Sandy Hanson, bonded with Langston because of their common background: they were also born premature and placed in incubators, but retained their sight.
“He did so well because you didn’t think of him as ‘That’s the guy who’s blind,’ ” said Evans. “You thought of him as ‘That’s the guy who’s cool.’ You never had to worry about offending him.”
After graduating, he went to Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, where he met his wife. He studied history and English.
After finishing schooling, Langston and his wife moved overseas. They stayed in Ireland for 22 years, where he was admitted into the Irish National Council for the Blind. Langston used his mastery of four languages to carry out missionary work across Europe on behalf of Ireland’s Churches of Christ.
He has been granted private audiences to discuss education for the blind with various past world leaders, including King Faisal of Saudi Arabia and Irish President Eamon de Valera.
Currently a resident of Carencro, La., Langston spends six months of the year in Cork, Ireland, where he previously lived full time for 22 years while he and his wife raised their two children
Langston now directs Insight International in providing free Christian audio cassettes and Braille and electronic Bibles in 70 languages to individuals throughout the world, the demand for which is “remarkably high.”
After placing advertisements in international papers, Langston receives calls and emails from individuals in countries like Pakistan, where he then organizes the delivery of Braille Bibles, sometimes in secret. If necessary, he’ll find messengers to handcarry the Bibles to those asking for them.
When situations are dire for those he’s in contact with, he will send money, clothes or necessities.
“I lie awake at night thinking ‘We have to help these people,’ but, for lack of a better expression, we use a rifle with our aid, not a scatter gun,” Langston said. “We can’t help them all, but we try.”