As a writer, I am constantly looking for sources of inspiration. I recently performed a search for a previous column for blind heroes in the field of mathematics. When this search actually yielded results, it got me thinking about the possibility of other blind writers like me. Thus began my search for established writers who had lost at least part of their sight; it was a search that yielded some surprising names.
The first name on my list took me farther back in time than I might have expected. If the reader is willing to believe in legends, the ancient Greek poet Homer (born somewhere between the 12th and 8th century B.C.) is believed by many to have struggled with blindness. He went on to write the epic poems The Iliad, The Odyssey and a series of lesser poems now known as the “Homeric Hymns.” But, as the broad range applied to his possible date of birth might suggest, little is actually known about Homer’s life for certain. The legend of Homer’s possible blindness is based largely on Demodokos, a blind travelling poet character from The Odyssey.
English writer and political activist John Milton (1608-1674) is believed to have begun losing his sight in 1644. By the beginning of 1652, he had lost his sight completely. However, he would continue his work as a translator until 1659 when political pressure forced him out of work. This was also a full 15 years before his most famous epic, Paradise Lost, would first be published in 1667.
Louis Braille was born in Coupvray, France, outside of Paris, in 1809. An accident in his father’s workshop caused him to lose his sight when he was three years old. He was able to obtain a scholarship to the Royal Institution for Blind Youth in Paris at age 10 but grew frustrated at teachers who mostly just talked at students and a library with only 14 oversized books with raised letters that he still found difficult to read. Then, when he was 12, a French soldier by the name of Charles Barbier introduced him to “night writing,” a system he had invented that used patterns of 12 raised dots to simulate letters so soldiers could communicate across battles in secret. Braille refined this system to six-dot patterns by the time he was 15 and first published his Braille Code in 1829. He also went on to add symbols to the code for math and music. Braille Code, however, did not receive international attention until 1868, a full 16 years after Braille’s death.
Lastly, most of us are probably familiar with Helen Keller, the deaf and blind girl born in Tuscumbia, Alabama in June, 1880, and how she learned to communicate when her teacher Anne Sullivan walked her to the family well. What you may not be aware of is Keller’s adult life, when she became an author and a political activist. She wrote a number of books and short essays throughout her career including The Story of My Life (1903), Out of the Dark (1913) and Teacher (1955). She also spent many years raising money for the American Foundation for the Blind in the hopes of improving the living conditions of blind individuals up until her death in 1968.
I hope you have enjoyed this retrospective. I know it was certainly a unique experience for me. Prior to my research, I had no idea that I belonged to such an elite and accomplished group of individuals.
Michael P. Hill is a native of Elysburg and currently lives in Exeter. He has an Associate’s Degree in Specialized Business and a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Due to the difficulty that people with visual impairments have finding employment, Michael is currently working in a sheltered workshop alongside people who are living with multiple physical and mental disabilities.
