Blind academic who Introduced guide dogs to Australia.
Arnold Cook was born in Narrogin to Charles Ernest Stanley Cook and his wife Grace née Bell. A year later his only sibling was stillborn. His parents marriage seems to have broken up before he was seven. His mother remarried. He lived with his father in Geraldton where was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of 15. He became totally blind by the age of 18.
Realising that the blue collar jobs of his forbears were not available to him, Arnold pursued an education. In 1947 he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Economics with first-class honours. While at University he met fellow student Enid Doreen Fuller, one of the few female students at that time. They were married in December 1946.
After winning a UWA Hackett Research Studentship for study abroad, Arnold studied at the London School of Economics, graduating in 1950. His wife assisted in this endeavour by acting as his reader. While in England, Arnold contacted the Royal Guide Dogs association. His initial pairing with a German Shepard was not a success but he found a successful partner in a black Labrador named Dreena.
On being offered a position as a lecturer at UWA, Arnold returned with wife and Dreena to Perth. He became a well known figure in Perth, commuting every day on public transport between his home in Belmont and the university campus in Nedlands.
Shortly afterwards, Cook helped establish the first guide dog school in Australia in Perth as part of the local Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. In 1957 the organisation expanded into Victoria and ultimately became Guide Dogs Australia. In other philanthropic work, he became the foundation president of the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation of Western Australia, and patron and foundation president of the Western Australian Guild of Blind Citizens.
He and Enid had a family. A son died as a toddler, but three daughters lived to adulthood.
In 1957 he gained a PhD from Harvard University, started while on sabbatical there. He was later promoted to Senior Lecturer at UWA.
He died of a heart attack at home in Nedlands in 1981. His is memorialised by several statues in public spaces, one in Kings Park and the other in Victoria Park, both commissioned by organisations for the blind that he was involved with. Both depict him with Dreena.
Arnold Cook was born in Narrogin to Charles Ernest Stanley Cook and his wife Grace née Bell. A year later his only sibling was stillborn. His parents marriage seems to have broken up before he was seven. His mother remarried. He lived with his father in Geraldton where was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of 15. He became totally blind by the age of 18.
Realising that the blue collar jobs of his forbears were not available to him, Arnold pursued an education. In 1947 he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Economics with first-class honours. While at University he met fellow student Enid Doreen Fuller, one of the few female students at that time. They were married in December 1946.
After winning a UWA Hackett Research Studentship for study abroad, Arnold studied at the London School of Economics, graduating in 1950. His wife assisted in this endeavour by acting as his reader. While in England, Arnold contacted the Royal Guide Dogs association. His initial pairing with a German Shepard was not a success but he found a successful partner in a black Labrador named Dreena.
On being offered a position as a lecturer at UWA, Arnold returned with wife and Dreena to Perth. He became a well known figure in Perth, commuting every day on public transport between his home in Belmont and the university campus in Nedlands.
Shortly afterwards, Cook helped establish the first guide dog school in Australia in Perth as part of the local Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. In 1957 the organisation expanded into Victoria and ultimately became Guide Dogs Australia. In other philanthropic work, he became the foundation president of the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation of Western Australia, and patron and foundation president of the Western Australian Guild of Blind Citizens.
He and Enid had a family. A son died as a toddler, but three daughters lived to adulthood.
In 1957 he gained a PhD from Harvard University, started while on sabbatical there. He was later promoted to Senior Lecturer at UWA.
He died of a heart attack at home in Nedlands in 1981. His is memorialised by several statues in public spaces, one in Kings Park and the other in Victoria Park, both commissioned by organisations for the blind that he was involved with. Both depict him with Dreena.
Blind academic who Introduced guide dogs to Australia.
Arnold Cook was born in Narrogin to Charles Ernest Stanley Cook and his wife Grace née Bell. A year later his only sibling was stillborn. His parents marriage seems to have broken up before he was seven. His mother remarried. He lived with his father in Geraldton where was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of 15. He became totally blind by the age of 18.
Realising that the blue collar jobs of his forbears were not available to him, Arnold pursued an education. In 1947 he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Economics with first-class honours. While at University he met fellow student Enid Doreen Fuller, one of the few female students at that time. They were married in December 1946.
After winning a UWA Hackett Research Studentship for study abroad, Arnold studied at the London School of Economics, graduating in 1950. His wife assisted in this endeavour by acting as his reader. While in England, Arnold contacted the Royal Guide Dogs association. His initial pairing with a German Shepard was not a success but he found a successful partner in a black Labrador named Dreena.
On being offered a position as a lecturer at UWA, Arnold returned with wife and Dreena to Perth. He became a well known figure in Perth, commuting every day on public transport between his home in Belmont and the university campus in Nedlands.
Shortly afterwards, Cook helped establish the first guide dog school in Australia in Perth as part of the local Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. In 1957 the organisation expanded into Victoria and ultimately became Guide Dogs Australia. In other philanthropic work, he became the foundation president of the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation of Western Australia, and patron and foundation president of the Western Australian Guild of Blind Citizens.
He and Enid had a family. A son died as a toddler, but three daughters lived to adulthood.
In 1957 he gained a PhD from Harvard University, started while on sabbatical there. He was later promoted to Senior Lecturer at UWA.
He died of a heart attack at home in Nedlands in 1981. His is memorialised by several statues in public spaces, one in Kings Park and the other in Victoria Park, both commissioned by organisations for the blind that he was involved with. Both depict him with Dreena.
Arnold Cook was born in Narrogin to Charles Ernest Stanley Cook and his wife Grace née Bell. A year later his only sibling was stillborn. His parents marriage seems to have broken up before he was seven. His mother remarried. He lived with his father in Geraldton where was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at the age of 15. He became totally blind by the age of 18.
Realising that the blue collar jobs of his forbears were not available to him, Arnold pursued an education. In 1947 he graduated from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Economics with first-class honours. While at University he met fellow student Enid Doreen Fuller, one of the few female students at that time. They were married in December 1946.
After winning a UWA Hackett Research Studentship for study abroad, Arnold studied at the London School of Economics, graduating in 1950. His wife assisted in this endeavour by acting as his reader. While in England, Arnold contacted the Royal Guide Dogs association. His initial pairing with a German Shepard was not a success but he found a successful partner in a black Labrador named Dreena.
On being offered a position as a lecturer at UWA, Arnold returned with wife and Dreena to Perth. He became a well known figure in Perth, commuting every day on public transport between his home in Belmont and the university campus in Nedlands.
Shortly afterwards, Cook helped establish the first guide dog school in Australia in Perth as part of the local Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. In 1957 the organisation expanded into Victoria and ultimately became Guide Dogs Australia. In other philanthropic work, he became the foundation president of the Retinitis Pigmentosa Foundation of Western Australia, and patron and foundation president of the Western Australian Guild of Blind Citizens.
He and Enid had a family. A son died as a toddler, but three daughters lived to adulthood.
In 1957 he gained a PhD from Harvard University, started while on sabbatical there. He was later promoted to Senior Lecturer at UWA.
He died of a heart attack at home in Nedlands in 1981. His is memorialised by several statues in public spaces, one in Kings Park and the other in Victoria Park, both commissioned by organisations for the blind that he was involved with. Both depict him with Dreena.
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