Reflections on Biographical Research and Writing

Good morning. I am very happy to be here with you at this conference. I look forward to sharing a few personal experiences in narrating Deaf lives. Through these experiences in biographical writing I have seen how such work can inspire young deaf people, entertain, open minds, educate, and make a difference in the quality of our lives today. I have only about thirty minutes to summarize thirty years of research and writing, however, so the main purposes of this presentation will be to show the excitement of conducting this kind of research and to tell you how rewarding it can be.

First, let me briefly describe the kind of biographical work I have done. Writing each book has been a uniquely different experience. As I will show, there are various approaches to narrating Deaf lives and a variety of challenges in publishing this work. For each book I wrote, a balance had to be struck between my purpose in writing and the publisher's purpose in marketing. Along the way to publication there were many sacrifices and surprises.

My first book, Silence of the Spheres: The Deaf Experience in the History of Science, began as an ambitious project to narrate the lives of deaf scientists, mathematicians, inventors, engineers, and physicians. I sought to add a new dimension to the field of Deaf studies in describing the barriers these men and women faced, as well as to emphasize their very worthy contributions. I first signed a contract with a university press in the Midwest. They saw the potential of this book but requested that I write it from the perspective of an "angry" scientist. That is, I should rewrite the book with a focus on the mistreatment of deaf men and women in the history of science.

I refused. First, I am not an angry person. I recognize the issues of medicalization of deafness and recognize that some authors choose to focus on victimization. I am aware of how deaf people have been marginalized in history, but I am more interested in how Deaf men and women have found ways to live in both the hearing and deaf worlds and contribute meaningfully to their fields. Narrating Deaf lives, to me, has been a process of focusing on inspiring a new generation of Deaf leaders. Thus, the teacher in me has greatly influenced my "writing voice." I have experienced success with this positive approach to what I do.

The editor for the university press liked my book and was not happy when the board would not publish it. She personally suggested another publisher well known for reference books, especially biographical dictionaries. I sent the manuscript to this publisher and waited out the review process again.

This experience shows that, as authors, we can choose different approaches to narrating Deaf lives. The message in our books can be shaped by our personal views on deafness. Perhaps this is why it is important to have the variety of biographical materials that we see today.

Now, however, I was faced with a completely different situation. The second publisher liked the biographies I had written of the deaf scientists, but they asked me to expand the book to include other fields. They were less interested in my general analyses of barriers such as prejudice, eugenics, and communication. That is, they wanted a dictionary.

I agreed to expand the biographies only if they would publish a separate book related to the barriers. They agreed to this proposal. This left me with the daunting challenge of finishing two books instead of one.

In publishing Silence of the Spheres, I embedded the narration of Deaf lives in the analyses of the barriers. I found parallels in the lives of hundreds of men and women who lived at different times in history and in different countries and who contributed to different fields, including astronomy, physics, chemistry, engineering, and medicine. Their collective impact on these and other areas was certainly deserving of inclusion in Deaf studies. My goal had been met.

Meanwhile, my wife, Bonnie Meath-Lang, has great interest in theater and the...