Welcome to Nobody Told Me.

I'm Laura Owens, and I'm Jan Black.

Our guest on this episode is James Tate Hill, and he's the author of a new remarkable memoir,

which is getting fantastic

reviews. The book is called Blind Man's Bluff, and Literary Hub calls it one of the most

anticipated books of 2021. In it, James tells the story of losing his sight and hiding it from the

world. James, we thank you so much for joining us. I'm really happy to be with you.

This story is fascinating, and it's your story. So please, tell us what happened.

I was a completely unremarkable 16-year-old who had just gotten his driver's license, and

I slowly noticed I couldn't see the chalkboard and overhead projectors.

I thought I needed glasses.

We went to the eye doctor and along arduous diagnosis process later, I had central blindness

that moved from one eye to the other eye.

And so then I was legally blind about to enter my senior year of high school.

And the through line of the book and, you know, the many years of denial that led me to

continue trying to pass for sighted at every possible turn, which, you know, hijinks and isolation and bad relationships ensued, was never a conscious choice, really. It just blossomed isn't the right word, wilted. It just became a series of lies of omission that eventually became lies of commission and constantly

removing myself from situations or relationships where I might have to put myself at risk of

people seeing what I couldn't do or seeing who I was not.

I know that really revealed itself in your relationships,

and your romantic relationships.

How did those go for you?

And what were you most concerned about the girls finding out about you?

...