Sir John Wilson

The castaway in Desert Island Discs this week is a man who has devoted his life to helping those who share his own disability - blindness. Sir John Wilson lost his sight at the age of 12 in an accident in his school chemistry laboratory. He'll be talking to Sue Lawley about how, undaunted, he went on to win a scholarship to Oxford, and then, at the age of 30, mortgaged his home and set up the Royal Commonwealth Society for the Blind. Since then, he has travelled an average of 50,000 miles a year, helping to restore or save the sight of millions of people the world over. Last year he was awarded the Albert Schweizer International Award for Medicine.

[Taken from the original programme material for this archive edition of Desert Island Discs]

Choices

1.

Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

Basin Street Blues

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2.

Johann Sebastian Bach

Jesu, joy of man's desiring (from Cantata No. 147)

Choir: The Choir Of St. John's College Cambridge

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3.

Franz Schubert

Symphony No. 6 in C Major

Orchestra: Academy of St Martin in the Fields

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4.

The Drummers of Burundi

Drummers Of Burundi

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5.

Anil Mohile

Indian Water Music

6.

Sir Adrian Boult

These Things Shall Be

Soloist: John Carol-Case Orchestra: The London Philharmonic Orchestra

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7.

The Trinidad Calypso Troubadors

Last Train To San Fernando

8.

Castaway's favourite

Johann Sebastian Bach

Mass in B minor - Sanctus

Orchestra: The New Philharmonic Orchestra Conductor: Otto Klemperer Choir: The BBC Singers

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Book

A chess strategy book (in brail) by

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Luxury item

A sonic probe

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