How Daring Dreams and Unyielding Friendship Turned One Man’s Blindness into an Extraordinary Vision for Life
Foreword by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg / Introduction by Art Garfunkel
Final Word by Margaret Atwood
The remarkable and inspiring story of a Columbia University undergraduate from a poor Jewish family who, after losing his eyesight to disease during his junior year, finds the power to break through the darkness and fulfill his vision for a life of great professional success and distinguished public service.
It’s a bitterly cold February in 1961. Sandy Greenberg lies in a hospital bed in Detroit, newly blind. A junior at Columbia University from a Jewish family that struggled to stay above the poverty line, Sandy had just started to see the world open up to him. Now, instead of his plans for a bright future—Harvard Law and politics—Sandy faces a new reality, one defined by a cane or companion dog, menial work, and a cautious path through life.
But that’s not how this story ends.
In the depth of his new darkness, Sandy faces a choice—play it “safe” by staying in his native Buffalo or return to Columbia University to pursue his dreams. With the loving devotion of his girlfriend (and now wife) Sue and the selflessness of best friends Art Garfunkel and Jerry Speyer, Sandy endures unimaginable adversity while forging a life of exceptional achievement.
From his time in the White House working for President Lyndon B. Johnson to his graduate studies at Harvard and Oxford Universities under luminaries such as Archibald Cox, Sir Arthur Goodhart, and Samuel Huntington, and through the guidance of his invaluable mentor David Rockefeller, Sandy fills his life and the lives of those around him with a radiant light of philanthropy, entrepreneurship, art, and innovation.
People Magazine feature on Sandy, his friendship with Art Garfunkel, and his memoir, Hello Darkness, My Old Friend.
TODAY Show segment – Art Garfunkel and Sanford Greenberg discuss their special bond
2022 Wolf Blitzer interview with Sandy about his memoir, Hello Darkness, My Old Friend, for broadcast by the 92nd Street Y in New York City.
Hello Darkness is the true story of a young man who at the peak of his college career loses his eyesight and is plunged into total darkness. Once, Sandy Greenberg had dreamed of being a lawyer, maybe even governor. Now, he’s told he must walk cautiously through life. But that’s not how this story unfolds. Love, friendship, and his own iron determination write an entirely different end to this inspiring story.
From the Foreword:
“You would think that a book about a young man going blind would be very sad. I went blind at age nineteen, and, yes, there were some awfully hard times. But my story is more than a tragedy. In fact, it’s not really a tragedy at all.
I think of my life in three acts, like a play.
In Act One, I was a young boy, raised by poor but loving parents just after World War II.
In Act Two, I went to a great college and had a promising future ahead of me. Then, wham, I got a disease that left me blind.
In Act Three—well, you’ll just have to read this book to find out what happened. Along the way there are tears and laughter, painful moments and wonderful times.
When you go blind after nineteen years, you remember a lot of what the world looked like. You remember all kinds of things. After I went blind, my memory became like muscle that grew stronger every day. I remember so much that I just had to write it down. What follows are some of the low and high points of my life.”
Blinded in college, Sanford D. Greenberg turned adversity into a mission to end blindness.
Explore
Initiatives
Discover Sanford Greenberg’s inspiring journey from blindness to impact.
© 2025 by Sanford D. Greenberg