New Memoir Takes Us on a Road Trip from Young Crime Victim to MacArthur Genius

Beyond Chron

5th May 2025

New Memoir Takes Us on a Road Trip from Young Crime Victim to MacArthur Genius

by Lainey Feingold

Berkeley resident Josh Miele “connects the dots” of his fascinating life.

When Joshua Miele was four years old a troubled neighbor rang the bell at his family’s home in 1970s Brooklyn.  Josh knew the neighbor.  He didn’t know that what came next would change the course of his life.

The neighbor threw acid on Josh’ face, scarring him forever and leaving him blind.  Telling you this is not a spoiler alert for his highly engaging new memoir, Connecting Dots: A Blind Life because Josh dispenses with the facts of the crime in the first few pages. He gets it out of the way early because the cause of his blindness and burnt face is not the whole story, or even a significant part of it.  The book does a beautiful job explaining just why that is.

https://beyondchron.org/new-memoir-takes-us-on-a-road-trip-from-young-crime-victim-to-macarthur-genius/