Just in: our Louis Braille Bicentennial Website is online!

NBP is planning to party hearty in honor of Louis Braille's 200th birthday this coming January 4th, 2009. We have a unique opportunity - once this century! - to inform the world about the genius of Louis Braille. Most people are unaware that "braille" refers to a real person; that Louis was French; or even the time period in which he lived.

We asked Boston artist Judith Krimski to create an icon of Louis that would illustrate Braille's vitality today, while also respecting his place in history. We think she captured both (click here for a detailed description). Now and throughout 2009, we will be offering our customers a Braille Boutique of Bicentennial items, such as lapel pins and note cards; coming soon, we'll also offer classroom posters, print/braille Bicentennial bookmarks, a tactile Louis plaque, keychains, even a Louis Braille Traveling Picture Show - all displaying this vibrant design.

Let the world know: Braille is ready to take his place in history.

The $20,000 Louis Braille Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation seeks to identify and inspire future innovation - to identify a person or group who display the same entrepreneurial spirit that Louis Braille exhibited. The 2008 winner will be announced in September. The 2007 Prize winners, Karen Gourgey and Steven Landau, will join Edward Bell, Frances Mary D'Andrea, Tom Magnanti, and Paul Parravano in judging this year's applicants.

The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation is offered by National Braille Press, with support from The Gibney Family Foundation. The Prize will be formally awarded on October 24 at Hands On! To learn more go to www.nbp.org/ic/nbp/braille/louisbrailleprize.html.

We celebrated another birthday this month: Syndicated Columnists Weekly - our popular 36-page braille weekly newspaper - was launched a quarter-century ago. It featured such notables as Art Buchwald, Ann Landers, Ellen Goodman, and Erma Bombeck. Twenty-five years later, we're still scanning the editorial pages of the most respected newspapers and online publications to offer the very best opinions, essays and articles from the Wall St. Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Salon.com, and more.

Try a sample issue right now - click here to download a recent issue for free!

Or call us at 800-548-7323 and we'll send you a few to try. It still costs only $.46/week.