*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