The Way He Sees It:
Jesse Smith Is Living His Best Life By Julie Farthing
J
esse Smith, who lives in the quaint town of Crossnore, has roots that run deep. His great aunt and uncle, Drs. Henry and Mary Martin Sloop, were instrumental in bringing healthcare to the isolated mountain community. Mary Martin Sloop, also seeing education as a top priority, founded Crossnore School. Jesse’s father, Dr. E. H. Smith, dedicated his life to healthcare in Crossnore for over 54 years. Jesse, himself, has served the Crossnore community in various capacities; he’s a current town council member and former mayor. Jesse is passionate about music and astronomy. He takes part in the Bear Race at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, leads a weekly community jam session, and enjoys kayaking on Lake Norman. While all this sounds like many other outdoor enthusiasts and musical aficionados, Jesse Smith has an eye disease called Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) and is legally blind. “Interesting story about how I found out I had RP,” says Jesse. “I was working at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and this radio ad came on with Telly Savalas talking about this eye disease with tunnel vision and night blindness, and how it can cause total blindness. I heard that ad and I thought, that sounds familiar. I was having the same symptoms. So, I went to the National Eye Institute and was diagnosed with Retinitis Pigmentosa. My eye doctor said I had a 50/50 chance I would go blind. And I thought, ‘Now I can plan my life.’” By the age of 27, Jesse was totally blind. But the story doesn’t end there. The story was just beginning. Jesse didn’t quit enjoying all the things he loved before he lost his sight, instead he discovered new adventures. Music has been front and center in Jesse’s life since he was a young boy. “I have always sung. I learned how to sing in church and ‘pop’ tunes on the radio. When I was a senior at Davidson College, I went to hear a band called ‘Pure Prairie League.’ I was on the second row, and right then I
promised myself I would learn to play the guitar.” Blindness has only strengthened Jesse’s love of music. Every Tuesday at 1 p.m., you will find him at the Crossnore Jam at the Meeting House located in the center of town. He also leads jam sessions the first Friday of each month from 10:30 a.m.12:30 p.m. “You can come to listen, or play. We have a blast all year round!” says Jesse. “I have been really fortunate to hang out with people that encourage me to be positive. My jam buddies are an inspiration to me.” When he’s not playing music, Jesse is recording it. His recent project involves studio recording software on his Mac computer, which uses a screen reader. “It’s a recording studio in a backpack so you can carry it around and do multitrack recording anywhere,” explains Jessie. While working with computers and instruments is not new to the visually impaired, there is a formidable feat that even sighted persons strive to accomplish, and that is The Bear Race, a challenging 5-mile race up to the top of Grandfather Mountain during the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games. Jesse, with the help of his son, Nathan, has done just that. During the race, Nathan is his sighted guide. “I have a white cane that we collapse halfway,” says Jessie. “Nathan holds one side of the cane with his left hand and I hold the other side with my right, and we run side by side. Somehow we navigate through 800 people up to the top of Grandfather Mountain!” Another summer adventure takes place at Camp Dogwood, a destination for the visually impaired and blind, located on Lake Norman in Catawba County, NC. The camp is owned and operated by the NC Lions Inc. “It is an amazing camp,” says Jesse. “I try stuff out there before I try things in the real world. I learn about mobility and using a cane, about exploring.” His explorations included learning to kayak on the lake. “They have kayaks, and of course I’m totally blind, so I can’t tell
which way I’m going and I can stray really fast,” Jesse says of his new water sport. “The counselor had a waterproof Bluetooth speaker. By listening to the speaker, I could paddle around the other kayakers and knew which direction I was going.” Here at home, Jesse attends a blind support group called New Horizons that meets in Spruce Pine each month. “I like the philosophy of getting together and sharing how a blind person uses different techniques to be better adaptive and live a normal life,” says Jesse of the group that recently took a day trip to Altapass Orchard. “That was a super trip! There was also a beehive there and a worker was explaining what was going on in the hive. I put my hand beside the hive and I could feel the tiny vibrations of the bees!” For Jesse, opportunities to explore seem boundless. He loves to be among the stars and meets with a group who shares his passion. “I know it sounds weird, but as a blind guy, I’m really into astronomy. We have even had blind stargazing,” says Jesse. “A sighted gentleman, Bob Hampton, attends and describes things amazingly. Blind stargazing is magical.” Of course, Jesse’s main happiness comes from spending time with his wife and family. “You ask yourself every now and again ‘what do you want out of life?’ I feel very blessed and fortunate to be able to do what I do and have what I have.” CAROLINA MOUNTAIN LIFE Spring 2022 —
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