IN the basement of the mansion that houses the Essex chapter of
the American Red Cross of Northern New Jersey, on the corner of
Washington Street and Park Avenue, two large rooms were abuzz
with activity. Leona Coon, bent in concentration, was
manipulating a device reminiscent of a waffle iron, impressing a
text into a sheet of plastic. Elsewhere, computers were spewing
out pages, soon to be spiral bound and added to a pile of album-
size books on a table. What made the books special was that
their pages were covered with raised dots rather than type. Work
Piles Up in April At first glance, the Red Cross chapter's
Braille department suggests a small-scale, esoteric underground
press. In fact, it is a crucial component in a service that
extends not only throughout New Jersey but also to other states.
Its mission is to produce Braille textbooks for children who are
visually impaired to a degree that prevents reading. April is
the month when the orders start piling up in anticipation of the
next school year. The