Books with author Helen Kelly

The task of writing an autobiography is a difficult one. When I try to classify my earliest impressions I find that fact and fancy look alike across the years that link the past with the present. The woman paints the childs experiences in her own fantasy. A few impressions stand out vividly from the first years of my life; but the shadows of the prisonhouse are on the rest. Besides, many of the joys and sorrows of childhood have lost their poignancy; and many incidents of vital importance in my early education have been forgotten in the excitement of great discoveries. In order, therefore, not to be tedious I shall try to present in a series of sketches only the episodes that seem to me to be the most interesting and important. I was bom on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, a little town of northern A labama. The family on my fathers side is descended from Caspar Keller, a native of Switzerland, who settled in Maryland.(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)About the Publisher Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, History, Folklore and Mythology.Forgotten Books' Classic Reprint Series utilizes the latest technology to regenerate facsimiles of historically important writings. Careful attention has been made to accurately preserve the original format of each page whilst digitally enhancing the aged text. Read books online for free at

The Story of My Life I. THE STORY OF MY LIFE CHAPTER I It is with a kind of fear that I begin to write the history of my life. I have, as it were, a superstitious hesitation in lifting the veil that clings about my childhood like a golden mist. The task of writing an autobiography is a difficult one. When I try to classify my earliest impressions, I find that fact and fancy look alike across the years that link the past with the present. The woman paints the child's experiences in her own fantasy. A few impressions stand out vividly from the first years of my life; but "the shadows of the prison-house are on the rest." Besides, many of the joys and sorrows of childhood have lost their poignancy; and many incidents of vital importance in my early education have been forgotten in the excitement of great discoveries. In order, therefore, not to be tedious I shall try to present in a series of sketches only the episodes that seem to me to be the most interesting and important. I was born on June 27, 1880, in Tuscumbia, a little town of northern Alabama. The family on my father's side is descended from Caspar Keller, a native of Switzerland, who settled in Maryland. One of my Swiss ancestors was the first teacher of the deaf in Zurich and wrote a book on the subject of their education--rather a singular coincidence; though it is true that there is no king who has not had a slave among his ancestors, and no slave who has not had a king among his.

Helen Keller's autobiography, The Story of My Life, tells of her early life and of her experiences with Annie Sullivan, her teacher and companion. It was first published in 1903. Keller was the first deaf-blind person to attain a Bachelor of Arts degree, became well traveled and a prolific author, and was outspoken in her campaigning against war and for many other progressive causes. This story shows how Annie Sullivan helped Keller break through her isolation and absence of language to blossom and learn to live in the world of people.