@gannet Thanks for a great thread. I admit to irritation, at times, at the assumption that visual imagery is the sum total of imagination that seems to underlie some discussions I've been part of. My mental world is incredibly rich in sensory and spatial terms. To suggest, even by inference, that I lack imagination because I simply don't visualize is... pretty ignorant.
As for reading: I notice that some writers over-rely on visual description. It flattens the reading experience for me.