An Army of Normal Folks - Fanny Crosby: What She Gained By Being Blind

Episode Date: December 30, 2024

For our series "An Army of Normal Dead Folks", Larry Reed tells the story of Fanny Crosby, who became blind and yet still holds the records for the most number of songs written & most number of Presidents met. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the age of six months as a baby, she was blinded in both eyes. She never saw anything. And you know, during her lifetime, so many people would say, even after she became so famous for the hymns she was writing, they would say things like, oh, Miss Crosby, so sorry for your handicap. It must be awful to have dealt with this for so long. Things like that, that people would naturally say. And her response every time was the most optimistic, uplifting thing you can imagine.

She would say, thank you, but I've often wondered how much I might have missed if God had given me the gift of sight. Welcome to an army of normal folks. I'm Bill Courtney. I'm a normal guy. I'm a husband, I'm a father, I'm an entrepreneur, and I've been a football coach in inner city Memphis. And the last part led to an Oscar for the movie about our team.

That film was called, Undefeated. Guys, I believe our country's problems will never be solved by a bunch of fancy people in nice suits using big words that nobody ever uses on CNN and Fox, but rather by an army of normal folks. Guys, that's us, just you and me deciding, hey, you know what, maybe I can help. That's exactly what Fanny Crosby did. And today, along with Larry Reed, the author of Real Heroes, we pay tribute to her as part of our special series, An Army of Normal Dead folks. I cannot wait for you to meet Fannie Crosby right after these brief messages from our Jenner sponsors. Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch and I'm

exhausted. But turns out the end is in the home stretch and I'm exhausted. But turns out the end is near, right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. This podcast is for people like me who need a little perspective and insight. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's, to help me out like Ezra Klein, Van Jones, Jen Psaki, Astead Herndon. But we're also gonna have some fun, even though these days fun and politics seems like an oxymoron. But we'll do that thanks to some of my friends

like Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr. and Charlamagne the God. We're gonna take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Power to the podcast for the people. So whether you're obsessed with the news to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Power to the podcast for the people. So whether you're obsessed with the news or just trying to figure out what's going on, this season of Next Question is for you. Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Arnold Schwarzenegger is many things, actor, bodybuilder, governor.

But did you know that he was once the director and that the only film he has ever directed is a 1992 made for TV remake of the 1945 Christmas Classic, Christmas in Connecticut. These things don't happen. Nobody calls the biggest star in the world and says, hey, they want to direct your TV movie. On our Revisionist History Christmas special this year, we are telling for the very first time

the absolutely wild, really very funny story behind the making of the most improbable Christmas movie of all time. The first thing out of his mouth is, so what have you guys been doing since Commando? Clearly not going to the gym. Along the way, we're going to meet outlaw country singers, Cary Grant's ex-wife, the best-selling author of Tuesdays with Maury, all of them weeding in a very bizarre twist to billions of dollars in tax implications. You can hear it starting December 18th

on the Revisionist History podcast. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everything okay? Yes, I'm fine. Honey. Hey, I'm here for you. Tell me about school today. When kids can't find the right words, music can help them sound it out. Talk to the kids in your life about their emotional well-being.

Find tools and resources at soundedouttogether.org. Brought to you by the Ad Council and Pivotal Ventures. Skipping ahead to chapter 16, this one was really interesting to me. Fanny Crosby. Oh yes, my gosh, you know I love talking about Fanny Crosby on the lecture circuit and when I do that I start out by saying something like, how many presidents do you think the record-holder met? A person who met more American presidents than any other living or dead man or woman in American history. If you'd have said that, I would have said either a general who may be of work form, or possibly a journalist like maybe

Walter Cronkite or somebody like that. That would have been my guess. Yep, and even then if you said five presidents that they met, that would be extraordinary. Five would be extraordinary because that's at least 30 years if you count, you know, two, yeah. And just to have been alive and active long enough to meet 30 presidents. So, it'd be extraordinary. Yeah. Well, Fannie Crosby lived to the age of 95. She was born in 1820, died in 1915, but she met 21 American presidents. I mean, that's almost half of all the people who've served in that office. Now, some of them she met after they were president, like John Quincy Adams. Now, some of them she met after they were president, like John Quincy Adams. He was president in the 1820s and he later served for 17 years in the US House as a representative from Massachusetts. So he was an old man and a former president when he met Fannie Crosby.

But still, to meet every president from John Quincy Adams through and including Woodrow Wilson. 21 raises the question, well, why was she given such access? What was it about her that so many presidents wanted to know more or wanted to meet her? Well, she had done some remarkable things in New York City during a cholera epidemic in the 1840s. When thousands left the city, she stayed behind and ministered and nursed the sick, contracted cholera herself, but recovered. That would have earned her at least a footnote in New

York City history. She also was the first woman to address the United States Congress, so that suggests, wow, she must have done something else rather famous. It turns out she still holds the record for having written the lyrics to more songs than any other man or woman living or dead. Some 3,000 hymns? 9,000. Nine? 9,000 hymns. And most Americans say- Here I am, Harold and you for writing this book in a year.

You ain't nothing on Fanny Crosby. Exactly, yeah. Well she wrote 9,000 hymns and many of them are being sung to this day. You have heard, I'm sure, To God Be the Glory, Blessed Assurance. Those are Fanny Crosby hymns. But still, I haven't told you the... I'm going to be in church thumbing through my hymnal next Sunday because my church hymnal at the top right hand corner has the composer of the hymns, right?

I'm going to be looking for Crosby, F. Crosby, F. Crosby. You'll see it. I'm sure. I think I'll find some. I think you will. But the most remarkable thing about her is that Fanny Crosby never had any memory of having seen anything. And I say that because from the age of six months as a baby, she was blinded in both

eyes from a botched operation. She never saw anything. And you know, during her lifetime, so many people would say, even after she became so famous for the hymns she was writing, they would say things like, Oh, Miss Crosby, so sorry for your handicap. It must be awful to have dealt with this for so long. Things like that, that people would naturally say. And her response every time was the most optimistic, uplifting thing you can imagine.

She would say, thank you, but I've often wondered how much I might have missed if God had given me the gift of sight. In other words, she made the best of a bad situation. She counted her blessings, not the other guys, in spite of this horrific handicap. And she made the best of a wonderful life. And when she talked to Congress, the first woman to do so, her message was not, oh, I have a handicap, where's my check? Her message was, we are all called, regardless of our circumstances,

to do whatever we can to inspire others and do what's right. And that's why when she died at the age of 95 in 1915, she was widely regarded as the most revered, most beloved woman in the United States. She was blind and stayed back in the city of New York to nurse the sick. She was blind. How do you even do that? I don't know how. She even taught for a time at the New York Institution for the Blind. She was a teacher of the blind as well as being blind herself. the blind. She was a teacher of the blind as well as being blind herself. That's how, by the way, one of the 21 presidents she met, she met him while he taught, not yet a president, while he taught at the New York Institution for the Blind, and that was Grover Cleveland. That's unbelievable. I also think about 9,000 hymns. She didn't just write the words, she wrote scale. Yeah, yeah, yeah. How in the world does a blind person write 9,000 hymns to musical scale? Well, it's often been said that when, and she noted this as well, that when someone

loses one of their senses, one or another sense or ability is magnified. And in Fanny's case, it seems that she developed an incredible memory. Biographers have written about how there was one instance where a music company had the music to about 40 songs, but they didn't have the lyrics. And they commissioned her to write the lyrics to these 40 pieces of music. She never wrote anything down. She wrote them in her head, went to the music place, and just recited those words from memory.

Just having heard the music, she wrote the words in her head, and memorized them. That's phenomenal. Unbelievable, yeah. And she came from meager beginnings, I believe. Oh, she sure did, and never lived in any lavish way. Even after 9,000 hymns, she was never a wealthy person. In the 19 teens, let's see, she was 90 when this happened, so it must have been about 1910,

she performed at age 90 at Carnegie Hall in New York City to a packed house. They sang Fanny Crosby Hymns with her on the stage for 30 minutes and she spoke. And there are just many stories of people who in New York City over the years would give her a carriage ride, she would get in a carriage to go someplace and then the driver would realize who it was and break down in tears. Amazing. Just because she was such an inspiration. She never let her handicap be anything but a reason to be inspired. And if a blind woman can do all of that, what possibilities await any of us who just want

to get involved in something positive? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. What an example. We have so few excuses to make about handicaps we may face when you learn what Fannie Crosby did in the face of hers. And thank you for joining us for this special series at Army of Normal Dead Folks. You're gonna laugh every time? I can't, it's funny. I just, it's so irreverent and horribly, horribly funny. An army of normal dead folks. We've got to respect the dead.

That's not my intention though. Well, I know. It's no disrespect, but it is irreverent. But it's funny and you know what? It is. They're dead folks and they're normal. If they were alive, we would try to get them on the show. And since we can't and they're dead, but they're an army of normal folks

We're highlighting them. So why aren't they an army? I don't know why I find it so humorous Do you know I hope everybody else finds it this humorous? All right. Well, anyway, thanks for joining us for the special series an army of normal dead folks Can't help it I really I'll just ring the bell to top it off. That's it. Here we go. Oh, you know what? Clarence says when a bell rings, somebody gets their wings.

It's a wonderful life. That's appropriate for dead folks, Army. All right. Where are we? Oh, if Fanny Crosby or any episodes have inspired you in general, or better yet, by taking action, by making your own stand in our time, buying Larry Reed's book,

Real Heroes, where the story came from, or if you have story ideas for this series, meaning if you know of someone who's dead, who if they were alive, we would want to put on the show. Well, that's what we're looking for. You really had to spell that out just for fun. Well, yeah, I mean, dead people. That's what we're looking for on this one.

Please let me know. I'd love to hear about it. You can write me anytime at Bill at NormalFolks.us and I promise I will respond. If you enjoyed this episode, share it with friends and on social, subscribe to the podcast. Y'all, subscribe to the podcast, please. Rate it, review it. Join the Army at normalfolks.us. Consider becoming a premium member there.

Any and all of these things that will help us grow, an Army of normal folks. Thanks to our producer, Iron Light Labs. I'm Bill Courtney. Alex is sitting on my left. Until next time, do what you can. Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch, right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's, to help me out, like Ezra Klein, Jen Psaki,

Estet Herndon. But we're also gonna have some fun, thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee and Charlemagne the God. We're gonna take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Arnold Schwarzenegger is many things. But did you know that he was once the director and that the only film he has ever directed is a 1992 made-for-TV remake of Christmas in Connecticut. Nobody calls the biggest star in the world and says, hey, they want to direct your TV movie.

On our Revisionist History Christmas special this year, we are telling the really very funny story behind the making of the most improbable Christmas movie of all time. The first thing out of his mouth is, so what have you guys been doing since commando? Clearly not going to the gym. You can hear it all right now on the Revisions History Podcast. Listen on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everything okay? Yes, I'm fine.

Honey... Hey, I'm here for you. Tell me about school today. When kids can't find the right words, music can help them sound it out. Talk to the kids in your life about their emotional well-being. Find tools and resources at Soundouttogether.org. Brought to you by the Ad Council and Pivotal Ventures. Had enough of this country?

Ever dreamt about starting your own? I planted the flag. This is mine. I own this. It's surprisingly easy. There are 55 gallons of water, 500 pounds of concrete. Or maybe not. No country willingly gives up their territory.

Oh my God. What is that? Bullets. Listen to Escape from Zakistan. That's escape from Z-A-Q-istan. Binge the whole season on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.