When Alex rolls his chair up to the bar, a blond is among the customers in front of him. With drink in hand, she backs up and stumbles. Alex leans forward, catches her and places her in his lap, before she falls. From behind dark glasses, Donna thanks him and thus begins a friendship that blossoms into love. Her mother"s rejection of the veteran"s wheelchair is but one obstacle the college educated and blind pianist overcomes. Together, they compensate as Alex becomes Donna"s eyes, and she serves as his legs. He surprises her one Sunday when he takes her out on the Chesapeake Bay in his sailboat, and shows her how to cast off the lines, raise the sails, and steer the boat. This is more than the love story of two people who struggle to surmount barriers placed by family and friends. A number of subplots demonstrate how a small community college"s faculty, the local ministerium, high school teachers, a former nun, a state trooper among others, organize their efforts to declare war on the social ills which have disturbed the peace of this quiet county seat in southern Maryland. The action is fast-paced, a rapid page-turner. Dr. Noone portrays how a town-and-gown relationship between the hospital and college benefits all, including a student who helps a little girl with cerebral palsy, while another student learns how persons with visual handicaps cope.