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on the spot:

FEEDBACK FRIDAY

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Dear Editors:

I read the review of Blind Rage with interest. I'm glad it mentioned at least that Helen Keller did use sign before Anne Sullivan came along.

However, it didn't mention anything about Martha Washington, Helen's playmate who signed with Helen but nobody knows much about her. I first read about her in Wikipedia:

"At that time, she was able to communicate somewhat with Martha Washington, the six-year-old daughter of the family cook, who understood her signs; by the age of seven, she had over sixty home signs to communicate with her family. According to Soviet blind-deaf psychologist A. Meshcheryakov, Martha's friendship and teaching was crucial for Helen's later developments."

I tried to find out more about this Martha Washington. She was of African-American heritage. Helen Keller writes about her in her autobiography and admitts dominance over her. I also read about the harsh racism that people of Martha's race experienced. Helen Keller's father was reluctant to let Helen give Martha and her mother a gift. Anne Sullivan agreed 'to inclurage charity' but the gift could have been more one of gratitude as Martha was there first.

It's a pity that Martha's name had been lost while Anne Sullivan got all the glory. I wonder if the signing had been more apreciated then, whether other deafblind children wouldn't have been exposed more to it. Instead of the assumsion that Helen's makeshift signs were just 'primative'.

Helene Ryles, England

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Dear Editors:

I enjoyed Kathi Wolfe's poems on Helen Keller. The poems are barbed yet simple, colorful yet scorching.

Mary J. Thornley

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