David L. Simpson, 63, blind musician and writer
He helped other blind people master computers
DAVE SIMPSON kind of liked the idea that he was 70 feet tall.
Take a look at the mural outside Hahnemann University Hospital and you will find Dave Simpson, in plaid shirt and blue jeans, looming over the other folks depicted in the painting. All are disabled, and all contributed to their communities in different ways.
Dave was blind and never saw the mural, but his twin brother, Daniel, who is also blind, said Dave loved the idea that he was so tall. And, of course, he loved the fact that handicapped people were being recognized for overcoming their disabilities to reach out to others.
David L. Simpson, a musician, poet, singer, dancer and playwright, who helped make computers available to the blind and helped blind teenagers read and write music, died Dec. 1, 2015, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. He was 63 and lived in Glenside.
From 1982 to 2003, Dave served as a computer programmer, database administrator, and mainframe database designer for Bell Atlantic/Verizon. He had to master a variety of technologies for making computers accessible to blind users.
After leaving Verizon, Dave worked as a contractor for Dancing Dots Inc. and the Braille Music Institute, teaching blind teenagers to use adaptive software to read and write music.
Dave was a member of the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia, with which he sang for 20 years. In the mid-90s, he recruited his brother and another blind friend to join the chorus. They worked to produce braille scores of newly commissioned work.
As a result of this work, many visually impaired folks started showing up at Mendelssohn concerts, which offered braille copies of the concert programs.
In addition to singing in the chorus, Dave enjoyed dancing in Urban ECHO: Circle Told, a collaboration between the Mendelssohn Club and the Leah Stein Dance Company.
Dave and his brother were born blind to Miriam Dell in Williamsport, Pa. She and her husband, David, moved to Berwyn in Chester County so the boys could spend weekends at home while attending the Overbrook School for the Blind.
The twins attended Overbrook until 1966, when they were mainstreamed in the Great Valley School District. They graduated from Great Valley High in 1970.
Dave went on to Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pa., from which he received a bachelor's degree in Spanish and music. He and his brother then attended the Westminster Choir College in Princeton, graduating with degrees in organ performance.
They then traveled to France, where they studied with a world-renowned organist, Andre Marchal. Back in the United States, Dave worked for a time as a church organist before joining Bell Atlantic.
Dave's first love was writing. While working at Verizon, he earned a master's degree in creative writing at New York University, studying with some of the eminent poets of the day.
His poetry appeared in various journals, and he read it at such venues as the Free Library of Philadelphia, Philadelphia's First-Person Festival, and WXPN World Cafe.
In 2007, he was named poet laureate of Montgomery County, and received other honors. His poetry collection, The Way Love Comes to Me, was published by Mutual Muse Press in 2014.
The National Braille Press offers it, along with brother Dan's collection, School for the Blind, in a single braille volume.
Last June, Dave created an autobiographical one-person play called Crossing the Threshold Into the House of Bach, which was performed at local churches.
It tells the story of a blind man named Dave struggling to learn a difficult Bach organ chorale while wrestling with questions about religion, art, and death.
Dave had hoped to play the character, but the progress of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, made it impossible. But Dave was able to attend the performances.
Besides his brother, he is survived by his wife, Emily Andrews; stepdaughter, Charlotte Smith; his mother and stepfather; and sisters Kathleen Kiggins and Connie Hovis.
A memorial gathering will be planned for March or April.
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