On Tuesday, July 8, “Blind Logic,” a documentary about part-time Wawasee resident and blind inventor Ralph Teeter, will premiere on cable and streaming services. Photo provided by Blind Logic Productions.
SYRACUSE — SDG Releasing and Blind Logic Productions announced the official release of the acclaimed documentary “Blind Logic: The Ralph R. Teetor Story” on Tuesday, July 8.
The film will be available across major digital platforms, including Amazon, iTunes, AppleTV, Google Play, Microsoft, and Hoopla — as well as On-Demand cable providers, such as Charter, Cox, Xfinity, Spectrum and others.
Emmy award winners Mike Rowe and Jeff Daniels bring this story to life. “Blind Logic” tells the untold story of Ralph Teetor, the blind inventor of Cruise Control and one of America’s automotive visionaries.
Teetor’s legacy goes far beyond his automotive inventions. He was a pioneering engineer, balanced turbine rotors in World War I, a champion for workers’ rights, and a philanthropist.
Teetor lived his life as a sighted person and has been inducted into both the Automotive Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Teetor and his family resided in Hagerstown, but first came to Syracuse in 1915.
Seeking a more convenient place to keep their speedboat, it wasn’t long before his parents bought a cottage on Lake Wawasee, beginning more than a century of the family summering on the lake. His great-grandchildren still inhabit the property today.
Between college graduation in 1912 and his marriage in 1922, Teetor pursued a hobby of building motorboats. In 1914, Teetor tested his first boat on Lake Wawasee — a 22-foot speedboat with a four-cylinder Teetor-Hartley engine.
Several years later, he bought a 22-foot racing boat named “Miss Detroit II” whose hull was built by Chris and Jan Smith, founders of Chris Craft Boat Company, for Garfield “Gar” Wood. Teetor and the Smiths became good friends, engineering boat engines for speed and smooth performance.
On Lake Wawasee “Miss Detroit II” achieved speeds exceeding 70 miles an hour. The next year, Teetor built a 30 foot boat named “Siren” powered by two 6-cylinder engines.
During this time, the Teetor family had been staying at the Sargent Hotel on Lake Wawasee. Teetor convinced his father they needed better facilities for keeping boats on the lake, so his parents bought a cottage in the early 1920s.
The film has received early acclaim for its message of perseverance, innovation, and legacy. As Cary Solomon, co-founder of SDG Releasing stated, “This documentary is a remarkable Americana story from the heartland that will resonate with audiences across the country.”
The voice cast includes Emmy Award nominated Barry Corbin of Killers of the Flower Moon and Yellowstone, Rick Zieff of Mississippi Burning and Terminator 3, Ben Good, Andy Rothstein, John Matthew, and others.
As Rowe commented, “I narrated this film because Ralph Teetor epitomizes the work ethic, which we value at our Mikeworks Foundation.”
Rick Zieff also stated to filmmaker Jack Teetor, “As I discovered more about Ralph Teetor, I was astounded by his remarkable courage to persevere through his life of blindness with such grace.”
This documentary features appearances by prominent industry figures such as Lyn St. James, race car driver; Franz von Holzhausen, the chief designer at Tesla, Inc.; Sarah Cook, president of the Automotive Hall of Fame; and Leslie Mark Kendall, chief historian at the Petersen Automotive Museum.
Family insight comes from Ralph Teetor’s nephew Tom Teetor and four grandchildren, Ralph Meyer, Lucy Meyer Kropp, Jennifer Bloniarz and Ruthie Jones.
Jack Teetor, Ralph’s great nephew, wrote, directed, and produced “Blind Logic.” Based on the book, “One Man’s Vision — The Life of Automotive Pioneer Ralph R. Teetor,” the film features an award-winning production team of editor Derek Tow, Composer Jim Andron, photo editor Daniel Teetor, and sound editing and design by Darren King, Nikola Simikic, and Amanda Roy.
Look for Mike Rowe’s “The Way I Heard It” podcast with guest Jack Teetor later in July on YouTube or AppleTV.
See the award-winning trailer at:
blindlogicproductions.com/video
.
