Evening star., 1955-01-30
By cynthio Lowry
As.oeioted Pres. ssoff Writer

0y SYHtusB @oNsT
Assoeiofsd Pres, ssaff Writer
EASTON, Conn. Jan. 29.--
For most of US, aging is q
process associated with dim
ming vision, fading hearing.
graying hair. maybe ultimately
a wheelchair.
But ordinary rules don't
apply to Helen Keller. Blind
and deaf since she was 10
months old, loss of sight and
sound hold no terrors for her.
Even her well coiffed hair must
give her pleasant thoughts, for
in her special world where
fingers replace eyes the color
gray is "a soft shawl around
the shoulders"
AS for a wheelchair, an air.
plane seat would be more ap-
propriate. For next week, near
ing rs. a serene, happy and
still vigorous Helen Keller sets
of on a five-month flying
tour which will take her once
more around the world.
The 40,000-mile trip - on
which she will be accompanied
by Miss Polly Thomson. her
companion Of 40 years is
part of Miss Keller's job as
consultant to the American
Foundation for Overseas Blind.
She also is consultant to the
American Foundation for the
Blind. The posts take UP
about so per cent Of her time.
The Women Herself
So much has been written
Of the miracles" that Helen
Keller h as accomplished
through the years that the
woman herself is In danger Of
being lost through a welter of
superlatives.
Her world Of touch and
smell is unique. She can tell
much about a person from
his handshake. Hands I meet
are dumbly eloquent to me"
she once wrote. THE touch
of some hands is an imperti-
nence."
Perhaps it Is her relation
ship to color which best de-
scribes her private world. yell
low is like the sun" red
means warm sun and odors,"
green is GOODNESS. and pink Is
"like a baby's cheek or a soft,
southern breeze"
Friendly. gay, healthy and
hard working, Helen Keller
has crammed more exciting
experiences into her lifetime
than most people ever do. Wis
ting their home, Arcan Ridge.
few days ago, ] found Miss
Keller and Miss Thomson fly
ing around in the ordinary
dither Of list making, packing
and winding UP odds and ends
in connection with their trip.
First Home Burned
The handsome white clap
board, green-shuttered colo
nial house, sitting high above
a country road. is the second
built on the site. In 1947.
when Helen and Polly were in
Greece studying postwar con-
ditions among Europe's blind.
their home burned. With 1t
went furnishings, her priceless
Braille library and the manu-
script of a biography of Anne
Sullivan Macy. her brilliant
and patient childhood teacher.
Helen reacted with disn1ay
at the destruction of the gifts
and treasures from all over
the world and, of course, the
library. But about the manu-
script over which she had
worked for years, she shrugged.
'I'll just write 1t again." she
said. 1T was probably too SEN
timental anyway"
She has. too, and it's sched-
uled for fall publication.
The first Arcan Ridge was
the gift of friends. Friends also
built the new one, a 12-room,
two-story home which con-
tains not a single visible con-
cession to deafness and blind
ness except a cedar railing
running beside the garden
walks. She loves the outdoors
in any weather and is a dedi-
Gated walker and dirt gardener.
Inside, Arcan Ridge is bright
and light. furnished with
touches of warm yellow and
red. Upstairs Miss Keller has
a suite of connecting rooms. A
bedroom opens into a dressing
room and bathroom. Through
another door is her large,
sunny study with double expo
sure, It is lined with book
shelves holding Braille refer
ence books, poetry, the classics.
A special shelf contains the
Braille Bible. On her large
desk is an ordinary typewriter