Why Isn't Helen Keller a Bigger Deal?

Photo: josie richards

My kids have never even heard of Helen Keller. Given the sort of topics that elementary schools emphasize these days (e.g., a few weeks back, it was national anti-bullying day; my 10-year-old has painstakingly spelled out “Save the Earth” on her bedroom door), shouldn’t Helen Keller be front and center in the curriculum?
I mean, think about it. She can neither see nor hear, yet somehow she graduates from Radcliffe, writes 22 books, and travels the globe giving public lectures (my father even saw her speak when he was in grade school).
She was a rabid socialist, but nobody’s perfect.
It doesn’t really even make sense to me how she pulled this off. The only thing that even brings it into the realm of plausibility is that she didn’t lose her sight and hearing until she was 19 months old, but still it is incredible. My graduate students can see and hear, but they can still barely give coherent public lectures. To their credit, at least they aren’t socialists.
Can anyone think of a single human’s accomplishment that is more remarkable than hers?
I think we need a modern adaptation of her life story on the big screen. If they can remake Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, why not The Miracle Worker?