APH News & Press
Talking Books narrator at American Printing House for the Blind to be honored for sixty years of service, bringing the pleasure of books to those who are blind
News Release: Louisville, Kentucky, August 3, 1998
For over sixty years, Terry Hayes Sales has used her special gift, the ability to make the printed word come alive in the mind of the listener, as a narrator for the American Printing House for the Blind (APH) recorded book program. She has recorded over 800 titles and continues to do more. Her contribution to the field will be recognized at a reception on August 12, 1998, in Louisville, Kentucky. Representatives from the National Library Service, Washington, DC will join APH officials in the celebration.
When the APH recorded book program began in 1938, Terry was one of the first of a small group of narrators selected to read for the new "phonographic recordings." Today, APH produces cassette tape recordings of about 500 titles a year on contract for the Talking Book (TM) program of the National Library Service for the Blind and PhysicallyHandicapped, a division of the Library of Congress. There are twenty-five APH narrators, but Terry is the only one still active who helped launch the program. Many thousands of older blind adults never learn braille, so this service in an invaluable aid that gives them access to books of all types.
Terry Hayes Sales was born in Chicago, Illinois. When she was a sophomore in high school, she started her professional career singing on radio. Soon, she had her own weekly program. A year later, she became a staff singer on WBBM, a CBS affiliate, and did network shows. She left radio temporarily to attend Stanford University. After she married and moved to Louisville, Kentucky, she sang at WAVE and WHAS. It was during those years that she began her career as an APH recorded book narrator. When her husband volunteered for Naval Officers Training, she moved back to Chicago and became a talk show host on WGN, radio doing interviews on subjects of interest to women. She also did serials, drama, comedies and commercials. She regards all this experience as "wonderful training for my real career as a narrator" for the recorded book program at APH, which she took up again when she returned to Louisville with her husband and children. In addition to her work at APH she has appeared in television commercials and in theater and television plays. She is narrator of the "Tour on Tape" created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Kentucky Center for the Arts. She and Tom Wheatherston wrote the script that describes the art work at the Center.
In December of 1988, she was inducted into the Talking Book Hall of Fame as one of two Charter Members for Significant Achievement in the Narration of Talking Books.
The American Printing House for the Blind, founded in 1858, is the oldest organization of its kind in the United States and the world's largest not-for-profit company that creates educational, workplace and life-style products and services for visually impaired people.
Contact Roberta Williams, Public Relations Specialist, for more information. Telephone: 1 -800-223-1839 or (502) 895-2405; e-mail: rwilliams@aph.org