Joan Brock is co-author of “More than Meets the Eye,” based on her true-life struggles, heartbreak and achievement against all odds. Her book was made into a movie for Lifetime, and now Brock has been traveling and speaking to audiences worldwide.
On Monday night, Brock spoke as part of Bakersfield College’s Eminent Speaker Series in the Fireside Room. Approximately 60 people attended the event.
Brock grew up in Bakersfield. She attended Washington Junior High, Bakersfield High School and one semester at Bakersfield College. On a whim Brock moved to South Dakota, where she finished college and received her degree in recreation therapy. After college, she got a job working in a mental health facility and women’s correction facility.
Brock later married Joe Beringer, who was also a recreation therapist, but he was working with blind children. The two moved to Iowa and began working at a boarding school for blind children, “I didn’t have a clue what I was doing,” Brock admits, “But I really loved it, . I felt I was really doing good stuff.”
“I accepted a variety of positions, I wanted to learn more and more, learn everything there was to know,” said Brock. She became the dormitory liaison, which was a position that was created for her, “I would go out and speak to the community on the schools’ behalf . that is where the public speaking began.”
At the age of 32, while working at the school for blind children, Brock began to have trouble with her vision, and within a three-week period she was blind. Brock’s vision loss was due to macular degeneration, which usually affects only the elderly.
“Here I was working at a school for blind children, and I went blind,” Brock chuckles. But her work at the blind school meant she “had all the tools” to be able to lead her life as a blind person. “It was my choice to take those tools and integrate them into my own life.”
Brock’s daughter, Joy, who was only 3 at the time Brock went blind, was the focus of Brock’s thoughts. “One of the hardest things for me when I was in the hospital was what I will never see again. I’ll never see my daughter’s face again.”
Five years after going blind, Brock lost her husband, Joe, 36, to cancer. Joy, who was then 8, had to become Brock’s “eyes,” helping her pay bills, “She thought she was my secretary,” Brock said.
Brock moved back to Bakersfield and “rekindled some friendships from high school.” She and Jim Brock married six months later.
With so many things happening in her life, Brock decided to begin writing a journal for her daughter.
“Writing was very cathartic, very therapeutic for me,” she said. “I didn’t know what I was doing, I was writing a journal for my daughter actually, because so many amazing things had happened, and so that was eventually the basis for my book, and in 1994 I published the book.”
Her book, “More than Meets the Eye,” was published in 10 languages, and has also been available in Braille and cassette.
Brock’s book was also created into a movie for Lifetime in 2003, which starred “Law & Order’s” Carey Lowell as Joan Brock. The title of the movie was “More than Meets the Eye: The Joan Brock Story,” which can be seen periodically on Hallmark Channel.
After the release of her book, Brock began making appearances and has become a well sought-after speaker for various organizations, according to her Web site. With target topics that include women’s issues, education, wellness and medical, insurance and finance, Brock is able to speak to a wide variety of clients.
Brock has traveled around the world giving her speeches: Malaysia, Singapore, Hawaii, Canada, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. “My husband Jim likes to say ‘She had to go blind to see the world,'” she said.
While discussing her public speaking in BC professor Mark Staller’s communications class on Monday morning, Brock said, “My one benefit is I don’t have to look at the audience, I can just pretend I’m standing in the shower.” Brock also stresses the importance about knowing your subject, “.know you know what you are talking about.”
When asked if she had any dreams or thoughts about where she would like her life to go from here, she replied “No.”
“If 23 years ago you would have told me that this was all going to happen, I was going to go blind, Joe was going to die . I would have been appalled,” she said. “So making plans is certainly not the path that I am going to plan. A lot of people say what are your goals. I don’t know, I just want to be happy.”
At Brock’s talk Monday night, Jim Brock was in the audience. He has published several books, including “Butterflies of Arizona,” “Butterflies of North America” and “Field Guide to Caterpillars.” Jim also spoke to biology classes during the day at BC.