Helen And Teacher: The Story Of Helen Keller And Anne Sullivan Macy (Radcliffe Biography Series) [Paperback]

Joseph P. Lash (Author), Trude Lash (Author)

Book Description

Series: Radcliffe Biography Series | Publication Date: April 2, 1997

At the heart of this wonderful biography is the relationship between two great American women whose lives were bound together for all time. Joseph P. Lash, author of Eleanor and Franklin, follows this gifted, passionate, and humanly flawed pair for 100 years, from Annie’s childhood in an almshouse in the 1860s, through decades of international fame, to Helen’s death in 1968. Among the vivid characters associated with their lives are Alexander Graham Bell, Mark Twain, Andrew Carnegie, Charlie Chaplin, and Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Lash takes a different route in this dual biography by addressing such subjects as Sullivan's incredible possessiveness toward Keller and whether Sullivan's famous association with her student came at a high personal price. Considering the women's ongoing inspirational nature, this remains "engrossing" (LJ
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Scientific American

Joseph P. Lash understands that the story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan Macy is the story of a marriage and he has written it accordingly. His sensitivity to the yearnings of his two subjects is acute.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 832 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0201694689
• ISBN-13: 978-0201694680
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #857,837 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP, November 12, 2000

By 

BeatleBangs1964 (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Helen And Teacher: The Story Of Helen Keller And Anne Sullivan Macy (Radcliffe Biography Series) (Paperback)

The lives of Helen Keller and her teacher, Ann Sullivan Macy are eternally intertwined. Helen Keller, blind and deaf since infancy depended on Annie since the age of 6 when the latter was hired to teach her.

This comprehensive, fascinating and completely riviting biography does an excellent job of separating the two women's lives and analyzing each woman in her own right. Helen takes giant steps beyond the water pump where Annie first impressed upon her the concept of language. It is to this author's credit that the reader does not languish at that water pump, but follows these women throughout their lives.

The true symbiosis is fully described when other teachers as well as Helen's own mother Kate, try to separate her from Annie. Feeling that her maternal authority had been usurped, Kate understandably wanted to wean Helen from Annie. Each attempt by any person to effect such a change resulted in disaster. Even Annie's marriage to a gifted editor named John Macy ended in an acrimonious split because he felt Helen took up too large a portion of their lives together. From all accounts, Macy seemed to feel that Annie used the same domineering methods she had used on the child Helen with him. He also described Annie as "manipulative and controlling," which certainly seem like apt descriptions of her approach. Resentful of Helen's constant presence and feeling like an odd member of an equally odd triadic relationship, John retreats further from the marriage.

When Annie dies, Helen is disconsolate; she feels she can't survive without her "Teacher," although she, by that point had been at Annie's side for nearly half a century. A bright, progressive woman named Polly assumes the role of "Teacher," and Helen flourishes under her gentle tutlage and interpretation. Polly is clearly accepting of Helen's challenges and appears to make a sincere effort to see that Helen is fully included in all conversations and activities which she [Polly] is part of. One does not get the sense that Polly is a martyr. One gets the impression that Polly is loyal and determined with no agenda of her own.

Helen's relationship with Polly does appear to be much healthier than her relationship with Annie. This book fully explores Helen's character, her life experiences and the types of relationships she forged in the post-Teacher years with intelligence and sensitivity.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable women with feet of clay, June 6, 2003

By 

Joan C. Frank (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Helen And Teacher: The Story Of Helen Keller And Anne Sullivan Macy (Radcliffe Biography Series) (Paperback)

This is the best biography about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller that I have read. Since I was a child I have been fascinated by them and have read everything that I could get my hands on. Lash goes beyond their heroism and describes Annie and Helen as real people with "feet of clay."

He relies heavily on voluminous correspondence to show the many facets of Helen and those in her life. Many of these details are not explained in other biographies. For example, Helen's father tried to shore up his finances with loans (often defaulted) from Helen's patrons. The "Frost King" incident caused many people to doubt Annie's veracity and credibility as a teacher for the rest of her life. Mr.Sandborn and Mr. Anagnos used the controversy to divert attention from Annie's role as Teacher to Helen and to re-focus attention on the role that the Perkins Institute played in her education. Lash also shows that John Macy had a complex relationship (for the good and the bad) with both Annie and with Helen. Helen was a radical Socialist and often risked her popularity and, therefore, their income by speaking out in support of Socialist leaders and causes. In the end the reader sees that Helen and many of those around her did great things, but they were not perfect. Insecurity, jealousy, money and a desire for love and fame caused all of them to act ugly sometimes.

The other point that was never clear to me before, is that Helen and Annie spent their lives marketing themselves in order to generate an income. Helen's father faced a serious financial downturn that prevented him from supporting them from Helen's young womanhood on. Therefore, to continue Helen's formal education and to maintain a home away from Alabama, they had to cultivate sponsors, write publishable material, and earn money speaking at a myriad of functions. In many ways, this was an uncertain life that dictated that they remain in good standing with public opinion at all times.

The other connection that Lash made for me concerns the complexity, the depth and the breadth of Annie and Helen's relationship. Because Annie suffered through a harrowing childhood, she desperately needed to create a loving family. Helen presented the perfect opportunity for Annie to be needed and to love and be loved unconditionally. While some people construed their relationship to be unhealthy or manipulative, it seems that it was a natural outgrowth of their particular situation. Once again, it was not perfect, but it served a huge need for them both.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to see a more realistic view of the lives of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The authoritative Bio. on two of America's greatest women, June 7, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Florence, Alabama (10 minutes from Ivy Green, the birthplace of Helen Keller)) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Helen And Teacher: The Story Of Helen Keller And Anne Sullivan Macy (Radcliffe Biography Series) (Paperback)

There is no need to read anything else on Helen Keller or Annie Sullivan Macy, because it is all included in this incredible biography. This in-depth look at these two remarkable women was both readable and throughly informative. Of all my research on Annie Sullivan, I have found nothing that is not mentioned in Mr. Lash's work; he has truly captured her spirit, along with her triumphant pupil.