"While at a banquet in New York City to receive the Ben Hogan award, Joe Lazaro sat next to comedian Bob Hope. During a ​light moment Hope invited Lazaro to play a round of golf with him sometime. Lazaro retorted quickly,” I'll be glad to play ​against you . . . how about meeting me on the first tee at midnight?”

"Mr. Lazaro achieved national attention by annexing the National Blind Golf Championship in 1962 and, since then, he ​repeated as the country's top blind golfer in 1967, 1968, 1969, and 1971. This past summer the Waltham, Massachusetts Lions ​Club sponsored the First Annual Joe Lazaro Celebrity Golf Tournament at the Marlboro Country Club. Waltham Lions ​promoted the event in order to raise funds for the blind and the retarded-blind in the city. Mr. Lazaro gave all his support to ​the benefit and his mere presence attracted many sports celebrities to play in the one-day tourney.

"The amiable blind golfer has been an inspiration not only to the sightless but to all persons since national attention was ​beamed on him. The mere fact that so many pro athletes volunteered to play in the Lazaro Tourney this year attests to that.

"Ken `Hawk' Harrelson, who quit baseball to take up golf this year, was one of the many celebrities who made a special effort ​to play in the Lions tournament. He said of Joe, “He probably gives more effort than a professional athlete.”

"Almost two years ago Joe was named by the Golf Writers Association of America to receive the Hogan award for the golfer ​who best exemplifies the kind of courage Hogan displayed in coming back after his near-fatal auto accident."

Tommy Nevell, Waltham News Tribune 1972

Joe Lazaro is fifty-four years old and a life-long resident of Waltham, Massachusetts. He has a wife he calls "Skip", two ​daughters, Lynne who works as a stewardess for American Airlines and Joan, a secretary with Polaroid in Waltham. His ​fifteen-year-old son, Joey, attends Waltham Public Schools. Joe is employed by Raytheon's Waltham plant, where he ​dismantles defective radar tubes for salvage and reuse. In 1972 he will be celebrating his 25th year with Raytheon.

Joe has been playing blind golf for about twenty-five years, entering the National Tournament every year. In addition to the ​five National Championships, he has won two International Championships in Canada, his lowest score as a blind golfer being ​a 77.

An active man, Joe is a member of the Lions Club and has many public speaking engagements throughout the year. He loves ​to "bat the breeze" with friends, plays bridge, honeymoon whist, and poker (with braille cards). He recently joined Vincent's ​Health Spa in Waltham "to keep active in the winter months."

Born January 8, 1918, Joe went to local schools and played basketball and track. As a golf caddy at thirteen, he earned a dime ​per game and eventually worked his way up to a Class A Caddy at 80 cents per round. The following is a conversation with ​him on some of the important things that have happened in his life between his Class A caddy job and his current status as ​National Champion.

PEOPLE: Now that the readers generally know your background, let's talk about Joe Lazaro the person. Why don't you start with ​how you got into the service during World War II?

LAZARO: I was playing poker with some friends when it came over the radio that Pearl Harbor was bombed. I tried to enlist in the ​Seabees, but the waiting list was too long. I was drafted by the Army and I kind of enjoyed it. I was away from home for the first ​time; I learned how to depend more on myself for things. I was assigned as a truck driver with the combat engineers, also acting as a ​machine gunner and mine detector man.

PEOPLE: Joe, can you tell us about the day you lost your sight?

LAZARO: We were making a crossing in the Po Valley, which is in the northern part of Italy. My job at that time was to stand watch, ​while the mine detector team moved ahead. The team moved out into the mine field and a re-con jeep came by. The jeep was no ​more than fifteen feet between the team and me. This stands out quite vividly in my mind. I figured they were going up for ​supplies; it was just a secondary road. There were a few Italians in the area and as I was looking at this jeep, I saw this Italian ​peasant just behind the jeep. I can see him today as I saw him then, an old Italian man with an unshaven white beard, a short, ​vested jacket. This is the last thing I remember seeing.

PEOPLE: What kind of expression did he have on his face?

LAZARO: He had no expression, just a solemn Italian wondering what happened to his homeland.

I saw him just beyond the jeep. I can't say that I saw any explosion, I just felt it. The mine went off. It was the equivalent of fifteen ​pounds of what the Germans call tolite, which is similar to our dynamite. I felt the explosion and I knew I was hit and on the ground. ​I didn't lose consciousness.

" He has overcome his handicaps, by not only showing himself as a champion, but by being a pro."

Karen McCarthy - 7th grade Warren Junior High fan

I couldn't see. I felt an intense heat in my face and a splattering of, I guess it was, sand. I knew I wasn't shot, but I was on the ​ground, and something was wrong; I couldn't see. I kept hollering for Doc Hume, our medic. Doc Hume yelled back, "Don't worry, ​Joe, I'll be right back for you, you're all right." Physically I knew I didn't lose any limbs, but then I couldn't see.

PEOPLE: Were you mentally alert at the time?

LAZARO: I was mentally alert, but I was kicking and tossing my body around trying to make myself see. Doc Hume gave me a ​shot of morphine which didn't put me out, but I felt numb and didn't care what happened. I laid on the ground for what seemed ​like hours before the ambulance came.

PEOPLE: What happened to the rest of the squad that was with you?

LAZARO: The fellas in the jeep got killed; they hit the mine. The squad that was probing did come back. They were injured but ​not bad enough so they couldn't attend to me.

Newly married - Joe and his wife Skip, April 1946.

PEOPLE: At the time, did you think you would get your sight back?

LAZARO: I didn't know what the problem was, but I had bandages on my face and I knew that was why I couldn't see. I had an ​alibi. My buddy told me that I couldn't see because I had bandages on my face. I was satisfied with that answer. They took me ​to the evacuation hospital where I stayed overnight. The next morning, I went by ambulance to Naples.

PEOPLE: Did you know by the fact that you were going to Naples that what happened to you was serious?

LAZARO: I knew I was going to the general hospital to be cared for, but for what reason I didn't know. I remember being ​admitted and sensing a different atmosphere. It smelled like a hospital — ether and things like that.

PEOPLE: Did you ask the doctor what was wrong with you?

LAZARO: When the first doctor attended me, I asked him what the trouble was. He took off the bandages and put a flashlight in ​my right eye and asked me if I could see it. He put the flashlight to my left eye and asked me again. I said I could see a blotch of ​light. Right away, he started to talk in medical terms. He wanted to get another doctor for consultation. They consulted and ​brought me to the operating room, and when I got back, I had bandages on my eyes again. They treated me for seven days with ​medication and then took off the bandages. I knew I was by a window, but I couldn't see it. They put the flashlight to my eyes, but ​I could only see a blotch of light and only in my left eye. I asked the doctor, “What do you think?” He said, "It is too early to tell ​yet."

PEOPLE: Did you, at the time, think that you might get your sight back?

LAZARO: The doctor said, "You'll be all right. You will get your sight back as soon as we get you back to the States."

PEOPLE: How old were you, Joe?

LAZARO: I was twenty-six. It all happened so quick I didn't have time to think. I didn't start to think about it until I got back to ​the States.

PEOPLE: Did you know Skip, your wife, before the accident?

LAZARO: Yes, I met her in England. Our unit was taking our training there. Our squad went into town to a Fish 'n' Chips joint. As ​we walked in, we saw these cute kids sitting down. I'll tell you one thing, to be frank, the first thing I noticed about Skip was that ​she had a hell of a set of teeth. It was the way she smiled. She wore her hair in a pageboy with a little curl on top. And this was ​attractive to me.

PEOPLE: Did you tell Skip what was happening to you?

LAZARO: I thought an awful lot about it and I made up my mind to tell her the facts. So, I wrote her a letter and told her I had ​lost my sight. I didn't know if I would be totally blind. I told her that there was no sense in coming over here to the United States ​and marrying a blind guy because she could probably have her pick over there. She wrote back that it didn't make any difference ​to her; she was coming over anyway. This was like an injection in the arm, it gave me a big boost. She did come over. We were ​married two weeks after my discharge, on April 30, 1946. It's sort of a great feeling to know that there is somebody special to ​care for you. I think the biggest blow was around the twelfth or thirteenth month when the doctor finally came to me and said, ​"Joe, we have tried everything." I wasn't really shaky or shocked because they made sure that I was physically and mentally in ​good shape before they told me. I recall the morning he came in to tell me. He said, "Joe, I'm afraid you won't be able to see for ​the rest of your life."

PEOPLE: What were your first thoughts when the doctors told you this?

LAZARO: My first thoughts were, well, I was numb; I was speechless. I didn't say anything. The doctor just sort of walked off. ​He knew whether I would accept it or not from my reactions in the previous months. Then I really started thinking — what next? ​He came back to see me the next morning and said, "How do you feel?" I asked him twice, "Are you sure I'll be blind?" He said, ​"Yes."

PEOPLE: Did you get any sleep that night?

LAZARO: You don't really sleep. I mean, in a sense, sometimes when you can't see, you think you are sleeping and you are ​not. It's an odd way to put it. You don't see anything to begin with. You are trying to rest and even when you are sleeping, you ​are dreaming. You could be doing the same thing when you are awake, but you are sort of daydreaming. You have to accept it ​right away.

PEOPLE: When you finally did have a good night's sleep and you woke up in the morning, did you wake up some mornings ​feeling like a sighted person?

LAZARO: Yes, this happens to me even today. I will wake up in a semi-conscious state thinking I am a sighted person, but ​when I put my feet on the floor, I know. Sometimes, during the day when I get intensely involved in something, I feel this way. ​Sometimes I am so wrapped up in what I am doing, I make a quick movement and I may hit a post or something. It is the quick ​moves — you are not supposed to make quick moves.

PEOPLE: Do you create images when you are doing things?

LAZARO: Everything I do today, I visualize. I can make comparisons: Everything I saw before can be explained to me in a ​situation and I will understand. Let's say I am working on the car, putting on the muffler, which I can do. I know what they ​basically look like. To do this, you don't need sight. When you remove the old brackets, you know where the new ones go. ​People say, "How do you do it?" I visualize.

If you tell me what the Prudential Center looks like, I would compare it with the Empire State Building, which I have seen.

PEOPLE: What helped you to get through the first trying months. Were you a deeply religious person?

LAZARO: No, it is within yourself. It is just a mental effort. It is whether you accept being blind or not.

PEOPLE: Did the Army do a good job in rehabilitation for you?

LAZARO: They did a wonderful job. I wish I had paid attention and learned more. They helped me in all possible ways.

PEOPLE: Do your eyes get tired during the day when you are doing your job?

LAZARO: When you have lost your sight, your eyes do get tired just like anybody else.

PEOPLE: Do you watch television and what's your favorite program?

LAZARO: I get a lot out of television if they use a lot of dialogue. A variety show is too hard to follow, but something like a court ​case is good. One of my favorite programs is Dragnet because of the way they talk back and forth. Laugh-in is almost impossible ​to follow.

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PEOPLE: How about the program called Longstreet?

LAZARO: (Laughter). I'm glad you asked that question. I think it's ridiculous! I think there is a lot of misrepresentation in ​that show. For instance, he will walk down an unfamiliar street, up a staircase, as if he knows exactly where everything is in the ​room. He projects the idea that he senses where everything is. This is fine for sighted people looking at the T.V. program, but it ​just doesn't work that easy. Don't misunderstand me; all of those things that he does can be done, but you have to probe a lot ​and he doesn't probe. He does things too conspicuously. To me the program is disappointing, but to a sighted person, I guess ​it's okay. It's like watching John Wayne in a World War II movie. He makes it look easy, but things are just not done that way.

PEOPLE: Would you play in the PGA?

LAZARO: This could not happen at the present because the PGA does not grant handicaps. However, if they changed their ​rules in the future, I would be interested.

PEOPLE: As a profession, if you had your choice, what would you like to do?

LAZARO: Basically, I like to be in the public eye. I have a deep feeling for people. They are exciting and make everything ​worthwhile. I would love to be a public relations man, especially dealing with the youth of today. I like to act like a sighted ​person.

LAZARO: I have good days and bad days, just like everybody else. Sometimes I am irritable and sometimes I am ​happy. Usually, I try to be happy and keep a healthy mental attitude. If you have the right mental attitude, you ​can find fun in whatever you do.

Joe Lazaro 1918 - 2013