“I would like to be remembered as a good listener, and as a person who is able to tell other people’s stories by synthesizing what they told me in a way that has a universal meaning.”

— Catherine Revland. “Catherine.” Lawrence James, YouTube, February 19, 2022, 36:20

https://youtu.be/4bj45Ny23mk?si=V4KPuJZMZDbEvh42

My mother’s voice has been the soundtrack to much of my life. Whether Catherine was embodying Shakespeare’s lines onstage, singing with her early music ensemble, chanting at a demonstration, transcribing interviews, hosting Writers Union meetings or just telling funny stories at a party, her voice was musical, stentorian. She held court.

Hers was a voice of leadership, and I never realized how dependent leading is upon listening until she started losing her hearing. Swiftly, over the course of the past three years, her ability to participate in conversations has diminished. When she tries to respond, she struggles with word retrieval, as hearing, memory and cognition are linked. She can either give up, and become a ghost in the conversation, or pretend to understand, to avoid annoying people by asking them to repeat themselves. This severs important links to meaning in time and space, increasingly making her lost in the world.

Having the right hearing aids would link my mother back to her community, to her voice, and to herself.

Catherine’s friend Lynne has thoughtfully initiated a GoFundMe campaign to purchase hearing aids for Catherine. Please consider donating to support Catherine’s participation in her own life, and in ours.

Lynne Vittorio:

I have known Catherine Revland since 2007. I met her while she was working on a history project. She chose to donate her skills as a writer and researcher to a local history project that became near and dear to both of us and turned us into lifelong friends.

She has been struggling with her hearing for at least as long as I've known her and after many failed attempts to get a proper diagnosis, she is close to giving up because, now that she has a diagnosis, she cannot afford the hearing aids she needs.

Two weeks ago, she learned that her brain's retrieval of sound, especially words and names, is too slow, is not coordinating with the ear canal or the ear drum. It's not a good diagnosis and her hearing won't be improved by "regular" hearing aids.

She told me that she "... went to the local commercial hearing clinic on 14th Street, got an immediate hearing test with an MD, then listened to the sound of a voice that I could hear for the first time in many months. It was thrilling!"

Unfortunately, the cost will be approximately $4000. "I am not surprised," she told me, "... what with my condition."

Catherine lives on a fixed income and is concerned that this extra monthly expense will make it virtually impossible to make ends meet.

Catherine has lived in New York (from North Dakota) since 1962. She has been a professional ghostwriter for at least the past 4 decades. She is an extraordinary writer, a staple of her community in the North Village, and her work has impacted the lives of countless readers.

Please help her retain what is left of her hearing, which she considers to be precious. She cannot talk on the telephone; she cannot partake in Zoom calls. Listening to music is a thing of the past. Even a face-to-face conversation is challenging. Imagine how this impedes her ability to interview her subjects for books or stories she is writing.

Perhaps one day, when she is wearing the hearing aids you will help her purchase, you can ask her about all the books she has written and you will marvel at how many you have heard of or read.