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Helen Keller's Wedding Engagement.

Published on Fri, Aug 6th 2010 Entertainment Rectangular SD

Helen Keller's Wedding Engagement. The music is Waltz in C# minor, by Frederic Chopin. TRANSCRIPT: By World War 1, Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan were well known celebrities around the world. Helen and Anne were involved in many promotional activities for a wide range of charitable and social causes. In 1916, Anne Sullivan went to Puerto Rico to rest and recuperate. Polly Thomson, Helen's secretary and companion, went to Scotland. Peter Fagan, a young political writer was hired as Helen's temporary private secretary. The following picture is a rare photo of Peter Fagan. Sorry for the poor quality. Helen and Peter fell deeply in love. They spent long hours talking, holding hands and going for long walks etc... Peter was the first person that ever told Helen that she was beautiful. They decided to marry, and they applied for a wedding license. They worried how Helen's mother Kate, and Anne Sullivan would react. Before they could tell Helen's mother about the engagement, The Boston newspapers discovered the marriage license application. The publicity was intense, and Helen's family disapproved of the engagement. Peter Fagan was immediately fired. Helen's brother in-law warned Peter at gunpoint to stay away from Helen. She was taken (kidnapped?) on a midnight train to her sister's house in Alabama. The young couple decided to run away and get married. Friends helped them to smuggle letters to each other. On the day that Helen and Peter were supposed to elope, Helen managed to sneak out of the house with her bags packed. But Peter never showed up. Helen was left waiting. She had no idea what had happened. She was very heartbroken. She later came to believe that perhaps it was for the best. But she always recalled that "His love was a bright Sun that shone upon my helplessness and isolation." She always referred to this time of love as her "Little island of joy, in a sea of darkness". NOTE : Peter Fagan later married and had children. His daughter is still alive at the time of this writing. She is past 90, and is still a practicing attorney.