The My Hero Project - Helen Adams Keller

Celebrate the best of humanity.

A HERO's POEM

I found this poem taped to a cash register.
I don't know who put this photo together
but it gives me a sense of wonder.
A stranger gave it to me.
I want to share it with you.
Jeanne Meyers, MY HERO staff

WRITER HERO:

HELEN ADAMS KELLER

FACING FATE

Security is mostly a superstition.
It does not exist in nature,
nor do the children of men
as a whole experience it.
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run
than outright exposure.
Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.
To keep our faces toward change and
behave like free spirits
in the presence of fate
is strength undefeatable.

by Helen Keller
Let Us Have Faith (1940)

Last changed on: 2/27/2003 11:55:26 AM

Helen Keller Photographs Visit the American Foundation for the Blind's collection of Helen Keller Photographs.

The Life of Helen Keller Royal National Institute for the Blind

Helen Keller is also a Literary Hero on MY HERO.
Read Nicole's from Vancouver, Canada, essay about her hero.

Helen Keller (American Women of Achievement Series) by Dennis Wepman, Matina S. Horner (Introduction)	Helen Keller, Rebellious Spirit: The Life and Times of Helen Keller by Laurie Lawlor	Helen Keller: From Tragedy to Triumph (Childhood of Famous Americans Series) by Katherine E. Wilkie	The Story of My Life : The Restored Edition by Helen Keller
To Love This Life : Quotations by Helen Keller by Helen Keller

More Featured Writer Heroes


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Bruce Coville first wanted to become a writer when he was in the sixth grade.	Carl Sandburg wrote poems, stories and nonfiction about Americans and American life.	Christine Quintasket was the first published Native American woman author.	Daniel Pearl was a Wall Street Journal reporter who reported the news with courage, integrity, and intelligence.	Deborah Ellis donates royalties from her books to organizations helping women and children in Afghanistan.	Dith Pran let the world know of the genocide in Cambodia through his work as a reporter.

Dr. Seuss was an artist who also wrote charming, absurd rhymes.	Elizabeth Jane Cochrane (Nellie Bly) was a journalist who went around the world in 72 days.	Frances Ellen Watkins was a prolific author and poet who devoted her life to speaking out against slavery.	Gabriel Garcia Marquez received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his novels and short stories.	H.G. Wells wrote science fiction novels that made people interested in science and space.	Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin to expose the injustice and inhumanity of slavery.

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James Herriot inspired Sarah Cowan to become a veterinarian.	James Joyce was an Irish writer famous for his epic, Ulysses.	Jane Austen in her short life wrote several classic novels.	Joanne Kathleen Rowling is the writer of the Harry Potter books and has inspired children around the world to read.	Jorge Luis Borges : his fiction imagines alternative realities.	Josephine Ruffin served as the editor and publisher of the first newspaper published by and for African-American women.

Judy Blume : her novels depict life's problems with insight and gentle humor.	Jules Verne predicted the future of science.	Ken Saro Wiwa was a Nigerian writer, environmentalist and human rights activist.	Langston Hughes was nicknamed the Poet Laureate of Harlem.	Laura Ingalls Wilder offered young readers a glimpse of American life in the 1800s.	Leo Buscaglia wrote many inspirational books about his work in counseling.

Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, and many others.	Madeleine L'Engle , the award-winning author of A Wrinkle in Time inspired young people with her books.	Mark Twain was a prolific author and beloved American humorist.	Maya Angelou is a beloved female author and poet.	Michael Crichton is the father of the 'techno thriller.'	Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arab to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Nawal El Saadawi continued writing while in prison, her words could not be silenced.	Nikki Tate writes books for kids who like horses.	O. Henry stories are filled with humor and compassion.	Oriana Fallaci was an important Italian journalist.	Pearl S. Buck was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer founded the first international, inter-racial adoption agency.	Plato 's writings have influenced Western thought for almost 2500 years.

Pramoedya Ananta Toer wrote his Buru trilogy inside the walls of an Indonesian prison.	Ray Bradbury reaches out across time and space to touch readers.	Robert Penn Warren was the first Poet Laureate of the United States.	Sequoyah invented the Cherokee alphabet, which enabled Cherokees to record their history.	Stephen King is one of the best known horror writers	Studs Terkel The author who captured the stories of everyday people celebrates his 95th birthday.

Terry Goodkind is the author of the Sword of Truth Series.	Vaclav Havel despite censorship, wrote plays that helped keep the hope of freedom alive....	Willa Cather was Pulitzer Prize-winning author and a pioneer in the women's rights movement.	William Shakespeare wrote plays & poetry that continue to have a lasting effect on readers all over the world.