Helen Keller (1880-1968) was born in northwest Alabama, with full sight and hearing. At nineteen months she suffered a mysterious illness that left her both blind and deaf and interrupted her speech development. She graduated from college in 1904, the first deaf-blind person to attend an institution of higher learning. In subsequent years, Helen Keller joined the Socialist Party and embarked on a career as a public lecturer. She has written several books, including The Story of My Life and Teacher and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. Roger Shattuck is the author of The Banquet Years, The Innocent Eye, Forbidden Knowledge: From Prometheus to Pornography, Candor and Perversion, and Proust's Way.