EDITORS' EYES HELP MAKE HISTORY LAST.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

This book of life they've co-written - ``Sharing Memories'' - will never make any best-seller list or turn a dime of profit. But the 15 fledgling authors gathered Friday at the Braille Institute for a book signing party couldn't have cared less.

They've got more important things on their minds than fame and fortune, or finding shelf space at Barnes & Noble.

Time is their motivation. It's running out on these seniors, and before it goes - like most or all of their eyesight already has - they want to put their memories on paper. That way, their descendants will know something about the lives of the faces they'll see in the yellowing family photo album 50 years from now.

So Loyola Merkens, 85, of Sunland holds a magnifying glass up to her computer screen, which displays her story, of how it was to be young and pregnant, widowed by World War II, and left to raise two sons alone.

And 91-year-old Chick Dahlften writes how a young Nebraska farm boy finds his way to Hollywood in 1941 to play the trombone for the ``Burns and Allen Show.''

And Frieda Lipp of Canoga Park looks for the humor in her life and recalls Missy - a horse she owned that was so cranky and wild, everybody called her the Wicked Witch of the West Valley.

Flesh and blood stories to add to those old pictures in the family photo album 50 years from now.

His name was Mack Riley, and you can't tell this story without giving Mack his due. He started this personal history-writing class at the Braille Institute in Los Angeles.

When he died of cancer last November, the class almost died with him.

``Mack was totally blind himself, and when he died we were devastated,'' Loyola Merkens says. ``A lot of us weren't sure we wanted to continue.''

But they weren't finished telling their stories yet, and Mack surely would have wanted them to keep writing. So, they called Vince Cefalu, and asked him to come back.

``When Mack died I was sure the class was over, so when the students called and asked me to take it over, I was kind of shocked,'' said Cefalu, an actor who volunteers at the Braille Institute, and was Mack's eyes in editing and reading his students' stories.

``I told them I wasn't a teacher or a writer, but they didn't care,'' Vince said. ``They just wanted someone to be their eyes and help them to keep on writing.''

Before long, Vince brought along a good friend, writer David Lewis, to help with the class.

``These two young men are so special,'' said Frieda, who lost her sight in 1985. ``They inspire you, and make you feel so comfortable about what you're writing about.''

Chick agrees.

``I'm a professional musician, and never considered myself a writer, but these two young men have done an amazing job of helping me open up, and get the stories out.

``We can't thank them enough for what they're doing for us,'' he said.

But it's he and Dave who should be thanking the class, Vince says.

``The truth is, we're getting a heck of a lot more out of this class than we're putting in,'' he said. ``So many of their stories are so beautiful and poignant that we decided to put them together in a book.''

And that's why 15 legally blind seniors looking to add some flesh and blood to their family photo albums were gathered in a back room at the Braille Institute.

Having a book-signing party with family and friends. Autographing 100 copies of ``Sharing Memories'' - a book that will never make the best-seller list or turn a dime of profit.

But it will be the best read book in their families for generations to come.

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Photo:

Author Loyola Merkens, far left, instructor Vince Cefalu, back left, author Chick Dahlften, front center, and instructor David Lewis have compiled a book of poems and personal history.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer