You may have seen American Board of Ophthalmology Emeritus Director Daniel M. Albert, MD, in a recent PBS documentary on the life of Joseph Pulitzer, the late 19th century newspaper publisher whose fortune funded the launch of the journalism school at Columbia University as well as the famous prizes for writing that bear his name.
Ophthalmic history expert and OHSU professor Dr. Albert, who served as an ABO Director from 1998-2005, provided research and commentary for the production on Pulitzer’s history of low vision and eventual blindness. According to Dr. Albert, Pulitzer had high myopia and an amblyopic eye. He suffered a retinal detachment in his better eye, which then became blind, followed by a central retinal artery occlusion in his amblyopic eye, and had NLP vision for the remainder of his life, Albert said. Pulitzer did not allow vision issues to slow him down, however, living an active and varied life as a soldier, congressman, journalist, publisher, and father.
Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People aired on April 12. The full documentary is available online for a limited time.