After the publication of his autobiography, Handy published a book on African-American musicians, "Unsung Americans Sung" (1944). He wrote three other books: "Blues: An Anthology: Complete Words and Music of 53 Great Songs", "Book of Negro Spirituals", and "Negro Authors and Composers of the United States". He lived on Strivers' Row in Harlem. He became blind after an accidental fall from a subway platform in 1943. After the death of his first wife, he remarried in 1954 when he was 80. His bride was his secretary, Irma Louise Logan, who he frequently said had become his eyes. In 1955, he suffered a stroke, after which he began to use a wheelchair. More than eight hundred attended his 84th birthday party at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.