Other editions of book STORY OF MY LIFE WITH FOREWORD BY ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

A serious illness destroyed Helen Keller's sight and hearing before she reached the age of two. At seven, she was introduced to Ann Sullivan, the beloved teacher and friend who helped Helen to make contact with her world. Through sheer determination and resolve, Helen learned to speak, read, and write, and prepared herself for entry into prep school by the age of 16. She later enrolled at Radcliffe and graduated with honors. Her motto: "There are no handicaps, only challenges."

A classic of American autobiography—the remarkable story of Helen Keller’s early life and education At nineteen months old, Helen Keller was stricken with a mysterious illness that left her deaf and blind. For the next five years, she was trapped in the silent dark, her only means of communication a few dozen rudimentary signs. Her inability to express herself was a great source of frustration, and as she grew older, Helen became prone to angry outbursts and fits of despair. Her family sought help, and in March of 1887, twenty-year-old Anne Sullivan arrived from the Perkins Institution for the Blind. One month later, teacher and student made the first of many incredible breakthroughs. By placing one of Helen’s hands under cool running water and tracing the letters w-a-t-e-r on her other hand, Anne was able to convey the great mystery of language: that every object has a name. As Helen would later write in The Story of My Life, “That living word awakened my soul.” Covering the first twenty-two years of Helen Keller’s life, from that miraculous moment at the water pump to her acceptance into Radcliffe College, The Story of My Life is one of the most beloved and inspiring autobiographies ever written. The basis for The Miracle Worker, the Tony Award–winning play and Academy Award–winning film, its heartening message has touched millions of lives and torn down countless barriers the world over. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.

When she was 19 months old, Helen Keller (1880–1968) suffered a severe illness that left her blind and deaf. Not long after, she also became mute. Her tenacious struggle to overcome these handicaps-with the help of her inspired teacher, Anne Sullivan-is one of the great stories of human courage and dedication. In this classic autobiography, first published in 1903, Miss Keller recounts the first 22 years of her life, including the magical moment at the water pump when, recognizing the connection between the word "water" and the cold liquid flowing over her hand, she realized that objects had names. Subsequent experiences were equally noteworthy: her joy at eventually learning to speak, her friendships with Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edward Everett Hale and other notables, her education at Radcliffe (from which she graduated cum laude), and-underlying all-her extraordinary relationship with Miss Sullivan, who showed a remarkable genius for communicating with her eager and quick-to-learn pupil. These and many other aspects of Helen Keller's life are presented here in clear, straightforward prose full of wonderful descriptions and imagery that would do credit to a sighted writer. Completely devoid of self-pity, yet full of love and compassion for others, this deeply moving memoir offers an unforgettable portrait of one of the outstanding women of the twentieth century.

The Story of My Life may be the most extraordinary autobiography ever written. Its author was only 22 when it was published, in 1903, but her life to that point had already been most uncommon: she had been rendered deaf, blind, and later mute by an illness at the age of 19 months, and only years later learned to read, speak, and understand others through the dedication of a teacher extraordinary in her own right. American author and activist HELEN ADAMS KELLER (1880-1968) became famous thanks to The Story of My Life, which was later adapted for stage and screen in various incarnations under the title The Miracle Worker, a reference to that special teacher, Annie Sullivan. Here, in her own words, is Keller's firsthand experience of the dawning of enlightenment on the severely isolated child she was, and her evolution into the educated and erudite young woman she became.

The Story of My Lifeis Helen Keller's celebrated autobiography. It was published with the help of Anne Sullivan, Keller's famous teacher and Sullivan's husband, John Macy when Keller was merely 22 years of age. The book recounts the story of her life up to age 21 and was written during her time in college. It details her early life, struggles with her disability and her challenging learning experiences. Portions of it were adapted by William Gibson for a 1957 Playhouse 90 production, a 1959 Broadway play, a 1962 Hollywood feature film, and the Indian film Black. The book is dedicated to inventor Alexander Graham Bell. The dedication reads, "To Alexander Graham Bell who has taught the deaf to speak and enabled the listening ear to hear speech from the Atlantic to the Rockies, I dedicate this Story of My Life."

The Story Of My Life - The Autobiography of Helen Keller - First published in 1903 - The book was the basis for the well-known movie "The Miracle Worker" by William Gibson. - 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 dicult 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.

Helen Keller's triumph over her blindness and deafness has become one of the most inspiring stories of our time. Here, in a book first published when she was young woman, is Helen Keller's own story—complex, poignant, and filled with love.With unforgettable immediacy, Helen’s own words reveal the heart of an exceptional woman, her struggles and joys, including that memorable moment when she finally understands that Anne’s finger-spelled letters w-a-t-e-r mean the fluid rushing over her hand. Helen Keller was always a compassionate and witty advocate for the handicapped, and her sincere and eloquent memoir is deeply moving for the sighted and the blind, the deaf and the hearing. “Her spirit will endure,” said Senator Lister Hill at her funeral, “as long as man can read and stories can be told of the woman who showed the world there are no boundaries to courage and faith.” Through movies and plays, most notably The Miracle Worker, which portrayed her relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan, Keller’s life has become an emblem of hope for people everywhere. With an Introduction by Jim Knipfel and an Afterword by Marlee MatlinThis Signet Classic edition includes a facsimile of the Braille alphabet, a sign-language alphabet, and a full selection of Helen Keller’s letters.

Helen Keller, American author, political activist, and lecturer, was the first deaf-blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. Born in 1880 she fell ill at an early age with an illness, possibly scarlet fever or meningitis, which did not last very long yet unfortunately left her both deaf and blind. When Helen was six years old her mother, having been inspired by an account in Charles Dickens’s 'American Notes' of the successful education of another deaf and blind woman, sought the assistance of the 'Perkins Institute for the Blind' for help in getting Helen to deal with her handicap and receive an education. The Institute asked former student Anne Sullivan, herself visually impaired, to become Keller’s instructor. The Story of My Life is Helen Keller’s autobiography, the tale of a young woman’s struggle to deal with and overcome a great physical handicap.