The Eyes of Don Rosa

Dan Shane danshane at bellsouth.net
Wed Mar 26 15:02:51 CET 2008


To all DCML members:

Don has communicated to me that  on Tuesday he had a follow-up visit to the
eye doctor to check the progress of his recent surgery.  It was discovered
that his "good" eye was developing some tears that foretold the same retinal
detachment  he experienced in his left eye, so he again had an immediate
operation - this time laser surgery to mend the tears. His doctor feared
that the retina in his right eye might also detach before his left eye had
healed, rendering him blind in both eyes for months. 

Don's vision has been suffering for many years, and the level of detail he
puts into his long stories most certainly contributed to it.  I have watched
him hovering closely over his work and was often reminded of the character
played by Donald Pleasence in THE GREAT ESCAPE.  He portrayed an excellent
forger who also lost his vision when the constant hours of highly detailed
paperwork aggravated his myopia to the point of blindness.

Fortunately Don's condition has not reached that point, but it would be
unrealistic to think that his vision will actually improve.  The best we can
all hope for is that his situation does not worsen.  It is more likely that
his vision problems can only be slowed.  He has known (obviously) that his
eyes are not what they used to be, and it probably helps explain the
reduction in his output in recent  years .

I know everyone on DCML hopes that the coming weeks will see Don recover
most of his vision so he can pursue either further work or whatever
interests  him.  He has told me he genuinely appreciates the concern you
have expressed and that I have relayed to him.


Dan Shane
(danshane at bellsouth.net)



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