st 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