Famous People With Disability

7/31/2019 Famous People With Disability

1/4

Mara McWilliams

Featured Poem:Label Me This....Biotch

Welcome to the home of Recovery Through Art by artistMara McWilliams. If you or

someone you love suffers from bipolar disorder or any other mental illness, you may findMara's work to be specially poignant for you. Mara is in active recovery from bipolar

disorder and openly shares her journey. Her ultimate goal is to educate our society that

through proper diagnosis, treatment, therapy, love, support, and understanding, recovery ispossible. As with any other illness, education is key.

Mara's two main outlets for artistic expression are throughpainting andpoetry. Mara wasintroduced to the benefits of art therapy in the late 90's and has found the rewards of

creative expression to be beyond her wildest expectations. The freedom and release she

finds in painting has been nearly as beneficial to her recovery as therapy.

If you are bipolar and newly diagnosed, please, take a deep breath and be KIND to

yourself. Accepting one has a mental illness is a process, but please remember that thereare countless others also diagnosed who will support your travels toward recovery.

If you are a family member or a friend of a bipolar individual, I strongly suggest joining a

support group and educating yourself as much as possible about the illness, treatments, andmedications.

ALFRED the Great,849-901?, (epilepsy)

West Saxon King and Scholar. Old English literary prose. King of the West Saxons in

Southwestern England. He saved his kingdom-Wessex from the Danish Vikings and laidthe basis for unification of England under the West Saxon Monarchy. He was such an

outstanding leader in war and peace that he is the only English king known as the Great{27,70,85}

BEETHOVEN Ludwig Von, 1770-1827, (bipolar depression) (hearing impairment),

Brilliant composer who experienced bipolar depression and lost his hearing in 1800.{35,85}

SHAW George Bernard, 1956-1950, (learning disability),British playwright, critic, and essayist. Became one of the most famous writers of the

1900s. Was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1925. Wrote 50 plays in a 70 year

career.

SOCRATES,470?-399BC, (epilepsy),Greek Philosopher and teacher. Viewed philosophy as necessary pursuit of all intelligent

men, teacher of Plato. Was one of the most original, influential and controversial figures in

ancient Greet philosophy and in the history of western thought.
http://bio.html/http://poem.php/?poemid=35http://poem.php/?poemid=35http://bio.html/http://bio.html/http://art.html/http://art.html/http://poetry.php/http://poem.php/?poemid=35http://bio.html/http://art.html/http://poetry.php/http://bio.html/


2/4

WOOLF Virginia, 1882-1941, (mental disorder),

British novelist who experienced bipolar depression characterized by feverish periods of

writing and weeks immersed in gloom.

MEHTA Ved, 1934-present, (visual impairment),Blind writer/journalist for New Yorker and wrote several books about his life.

MILTON John, 1608-1674, (visual impairment),

English poet who wrote in four different languages. Known for his master piece written

after losing his eyesight, Paradise Lost 1667. He wrote one of the greatest eulogys ever

Lycidas.

ONEILL Eugene, 1888-1953, (mental disorder),Famous playwright, author of Long Days Journey Into the Night. Suffered from clinical

depression. In 1936 he received the Noble Prize for Literature.{15,85}

PLATH Sylvia, 1932-1963, (mental disorder),

Poet and novelist ended her lifelong struggle with clinical depression by taking her ownlife.

HEMINGWAY Ernest, 1899-1961, (mental disorder),Novelist who suffered with suicidal depression. He suffered physical and mental illness

and committed suicide in 1961.

JOYCE James, 1882-1941, (visual impairment),

Irish novelist who revolutionized the treatment of plot and characterization in fiction.Suffered painful eye disease for most of his adult life and became almost blind despite

many operations.

{85}

KEATS John, 1795-1821, (mental disorder),

Renowned English poet of the romantic period

KELLER Helen, 1880-1968, (visual impairment) (hearing impairment),

Author,activist, lecturer and renowned humanitarian who lived an active physical life. She

wrote 14 books and innumerable magazine articles, gave lectures, hobnobbed withpresidents, traveled the globe on behalf of the blind, and became one of the most admired

women in America if not the world. She traveled around the world to bring a message of

hope and goodwill to millions of disabled people.

LINDSAY Vachel, 1879-1931, (epilepsy),

American poet. Believed poetry should be performed rather than simply read. Some of his


3/4

poems, such as The Congo 1914 included stage directions. His poems feature strong

rhythm and vivid images.

LORDE Audre, 1934-1992, (visual impairment)

She was very nearsighted and loved to write poetry as a child. In 1960 she received hermasters degree in Library Science. Her first book of poetry was published in 1968 The

First Cities. In 1978 she published The Black Unicorn. Following a mastectomy Andre

examined many issues in American health care. In her book, The Cancer Journals, sheexplores both the emotional and political aspects of having cancer.

ANDERSON Hans Christian, 1805-1875, (learning disability),Denmark's most famous author(writer). His fairy tales are among the most widely read

works in world literature.

ARISTOLE,384-322 BC, (epilepsy),Greek philosopher/scientist. Aristotle was a student of Plato. In 343 BC he began tutoringthe young Alexander the Great. In 334 BC he lectured at a public gymnasium called the

Lyceum. He is considered one of the two great philosophers of antiquity along with Plato.

He wrote on many subjects from biology to astronomy to rhetoric and literary criticism.

BORGES Jorge Luis, 1899-1986, (visual impairment)

He was an Argentine man of letters. He won international acclaim for his distinctivefictions and short stories. He was a librarian too.

BROWN Christy, 1932-1981, (physical impairment),Author born in Dublin Ireland. At birth he lacked oxygen for a few minutes causing him to

have a condition called athetoid cerebral palsy. Christy learned to read by age 7 and writeby holding a chalk or pencil with his left foot. He wrote his autobiography My Left Foot.

BYRON Lord, 1788-1824, (epilepsy),He was the most colorful of the English poets. He inherited the (George Gordon Byron)

title Lord Byron at the age of 10 upon the death of his great uncle.

BUTLER Beverly, 1932-present, (visual impairment),

Born with cataracts in both eyes and later developed glaucoma. Her first book was a youngadult novel called Song of the Voyageurs 1955. In 1964 her most popular book was

published and entitled Light a Single Candle. She continues to write historical novels for

young adult fiction readers.{43}

CHRISTIE Agatha, 1890-1976, (mental illness)

English mystery writer Queen of Crimes. Play Mousetrap longest running in British


4/4

history. Created detectives Miss Marple, Hercule Poirot, mysteries sold over 100 million

copies

CONDON Richard, 1915-1996, (speech impairment),

American author who wrote The Manchurian Candidate 1959, Prizzi's Honor 1982.

CORNWELL Patricia, 1956-present, (bipolar),

American novelist, wrote award winning novel Postmortem 1990, best sellers Body ofEvidence 1991, Cause of Death 1996.

DANTE [Dante Alighieri], 1265-1321, (epilepsy),Italian author was one of the greatest poets of the middle ages. His epic poem The Divine

Comedy ranks among the finest works in world literature. He was considered a great

thinker and one of the most learned writers.

DICKENS Charles, 1812-1870, (mental disorder) (epilepsy),British author who suffered from clinical depression. Also known for writing A Christmas

Carol which depicted a disabled child Tiny Tim.

DOSTOYEVSKI Fyodor, 1821-1881, (epilepsy),

Russian author. Had three convulsive seizures as a child and complex partial seizures in

adolescence. His seizures began with a feeling of ecstasy, followed by anguish, thenconvulsions. His characters had epilepsy in some of his writing. Wrote novels which were

published after his death Crime and Punishment 1886, The Idiot 1887, Brothers Karamazov

1912.

DUBUS Andre, 1936-1999, (mental disorder),Wrote several books (short stories). 1996 - Rea Award for short fiction 1997 - finalist for

the National Book Circle Award - Dancing After Hours. Due to an accident he lost a leg in

1986.

Documents

Famous People With Disability