3 Chapter 10 All Grown Up

Chapter 10 All Grown Up Helen was asked to give a public speech. Helen gave her first speech in Montclair, New Jersey. Annie was with her. Still, Helen was scared. What if no one understood her? Helen spoke about her life. Her voice was not clear, but no one seemed to care. The audience loved her. Helen was asked to give more speeches.

So Helen and Annie went on a lecture tour. They toured different cities in the United States in 1913. She spoke about her life and her feelings and how she accomplished what she did. Annie introduced Helen and then spoke again at the end.

Warm and heartfelt applause greeted Helen wherever she went. Helen was so successful on stage that some people invited her to make a movie about her life and her feelings. Helen and Annie went to Hollywood and made the silent film Deliverance. Annie and Helen dreamed of the money they'd make from the film. They hoped to become rich and famous like movie stars. But the movie was not a success. Disappointed, Helen and Annie returned to Wrentham. And now they had a new problem. Annie's eyesight was failing. And Annie and John had separated. Annie was hurt over the failure of her marriage. And she feared she would go blind. The two rested. Helen answered the many letters that she received. Helen was famous, but they were broke. Helen had to think of a way to earn money. Then an offer came. New York vaudeville agents met with Helen and Annie. Vaudeville was a stage show made up of a series of different acts. The agents discussed whether the two women might do a twenty-minute act about Helen and her teacher. Annie and Helen's friends did not like the idea. Helen's

mother hated the idea. People would come just to see a blind and deaf woman. But Helen didn't care. She thought that it would be fun. And, as always, once Helen decided to do something, there was no changing her mind. The first performance was on February 24, 1920, at the Palace Theater in New York City. Teacher opened the act. In her Irish brogue, she told how she had first taught Helen. Music then filled the theater. Helen parted the curtains and walked on stage. Then they told of the "miracle," the day when Annie spelled the word water and Helen realized what it meant. At the end of their act, the audience exploded with applause. Helen had charmed them completely. Soon Helen and Annie were among

the highest paid performers. They earned up to $2,500 per week. Annie began to worry that people came to see if Helen would fall off the stage or make some other mistake. Maybe some did. But most did not. They came because they admired Helen. And Helen loved vaudeville. She liked "talking" to the other performers. She loved the smells backstage. Helen said that she felt like part of a family. In 1924, Helen started a new job, one that was to last the rest of her life. The American Foundation for the Blind asked Helen to work for them. She would meet people, talk about the blind, and raise funds. Helen accepted. She felt that here was a way to help the blind everywhere. And so Helen became the ambassador for the blind. She met kings, queens, and presidents. Annie went with her.

In 1925, Helen took a year off to write another book. Helen had been asked to write about the most recent years of her life. She wrote about her last years at Radcliffe, the Foundation for the Blind, and the people in her life.