Campaigner and author Jill Allen King receives OBE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) March 30, 2011 -- Jill, who is totally blind, was awarded the MBE in 1983, but was refused access for her guide dog Brandy - the photograph is featured on the front cover of her book "Just Jill".

Jill, who has been campaigning on all issues affecting the lives of blind and disabled people, for over 40 years, but especially on the issue of access for guide dogs, is pleased to know that
her present guide dog Amanda is going to be allowed to accompany her to the investiture.

Apex Publishing’s Chris Cowlin said: “We would all at Apex Publishing Ltd. like to congratulate Jill on achieving the OBE for her fine work on behalf of blind and partially sighted people. Just Jill is an important and inspirational moving account of one woman’s triumph over adversity and how she used her own experience of disability to benefit others. This book raises questions about what it means to have a disability in our society and how we can all learn from the work of Jill.

When she was growing up during the 1940s very few people were aware that Jill had lost an eye as a baby. However, when tragedy struck for the second time and Jill went completely blind on, what should have been, one of the happiest occasions of her life – her wedding day, she was rendered housebound. For seven years, Jill barely left the house, too scared to go outside unless she was taken by her husband and family. The birth of her daughter, Jacqueline, gave her renewed purpose but could not give her back the thing she desperately needed – her independence. It was only when Jill got her first guide dog that she began to rediscover the world outside of her front door and take those first giant steps towards regaining her freedom. It was a journey that would lead to a life of campaigning for reform and helping others.

Apex Publishing Ltd     Chris Cowlin     Jill Allen King     Just Jill     OBE