WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.147 (Suzanne Stecker) 00:00:02.147 --> 00:00:05.620 Our next presenter is Emily McCully 00:00:05.620 --> 00:00:08.596 and she's actually going to 00:00:08.596 --> 00:00:10.836 tell us her experience 00:00:10.836 --> 00:00:17.194 of going through the process 00:00:17.194 --> 00:00:20.637 of writing her book, "My Heart Glow." 00:00:20.637 --> 00:00:26.514 She received the F. Scott Medal. 00:00:26.968 --> 00:00:33.496 Emily? 00:00:33.496 --> 00:00:34.901 (Male Interpreter) 00:00:34.932 --> 00:00:41.026 Correction of the interpretation: She was awarded the Caldecott Award for her work. 00:00:41.026 --> 00:00:42.681 (Emily McCully, voice raspy) 00:00:42.681 --> 00:00:44.336 Thank you so much. 00:00:44.336 --> 00:00:47.286 I'm going to try to be heard 00:00:47.286 --> 00:00:49.921 so that I can be interpreted. 00:00:49.921 --> 00:00:52.253 I obviously need to be interpreted today. 00:00:52.253 --> 00:00:54.469 I'm very, very happy to be here 00:00:54.469 --> 00:00:56.720 and I've learned an enormous amount 00:00:56.720 --> 00:00:59.656 in the first half of the program. 00:00:59.656 --> 00:01:03.656 I wish I had known all of the things that I heard this afternoon 00:01:03.656 --> 00:01:06.140 when I wrote this book. 00:01:06.140 --> 00:01:11.074 I am a representative of the hearing community. 00:01:11.074 --> 00:01:13.889 I tried to be a bridge 00:01:13.889 --> 00:01:16.590 between the deaf community and the hearing community NOTE Paragraph 00:01:16.590 --> 00:01:19.222 in creating this story. 00:01:19.222 --> 00:01:23.106 I was just telling that unfortunately 00:01:23.106 --> 00:01:27.705 some of the reviewers of the book in the hearing community 00:01:27.705 --> 00:01:30.475 were a little confused by it. NOTE Paragraph 00:01:30.475 --> 00:01:34.756 And so, I think a lot more work has to be done 00:01:34.756 --> 00:01:38.789 to make ASL and Deaf Culture 00:01:38.789 --> 00:01:42.140 understood in the hearing community. 00:01:42.140 --> 00:01:44.574 Now, the reason that I told the story 00:01:44.574 --> 00:01:46.907 of Alice Cogswell and Thomas Gallaudet 00:01:46.907 --> 00:01:50.289 is that my son told me I should do it, 00:01:50.289 --> 00:01:52.906 and I listened to him. 00:01:52.906 --> 00:01:58.105 He is a linguist. He is fluent in Japanese--works in Japanese. 00:01:58.105 --> 00:02:04.105 He speaks Russian, French, a little bit of other languages, a little Chinese. 00:02:04.105 --> 00:02:07.425 And he got interested in American Sign Language 00:02:07.425 --> 00:02:09.657 and took a course. 00:02:09.657 --> 00:02:11.838 He practices it a lot. 00:02:11.838 --> 00:02:15.191 I have to say, he goes to bars to practice it 00:02:15.191 --> 00:02:19.492 with fluent ASL people 00:02:19.492 --> 00:02:23.656 and has met very, very wonderful people that way. 00:02:23.656 --> 00:02:27.240 He's been fascinated by Deaf History, 00:02:27.240 --> 00:02:30.657 and he knew that in making children's books, 00:02:30.657 --> 00:02:35.806 I always try to find a gripping story out of history 00:02:35.806 --> 00:02:38.423 and they often have involved girls and women 00:02:38.423 --> 00:02:43.356 whose stories are little known or else I invent them sometimes. 00:02:43.356 --> 00:02:49.256 But I want to tell the stories of underdogs, basically, 00:02:49.256 --> 00:02:52.889 because I think they have the most drama. 00:02:52.889 --> 00:02:56.324 And when he told me that American Sign Language 00:02:56.324 --> 00:02:59.706 and the very first school for the deaf in this country 00:02:59.706 --> 00:03:04.721 were created because a young man met a young deaf girl, 00:03:04.721 --> 00:03:07.773 I thought well, this is it, there's got to be a great story here. 00:03:07.773 --> 00:03:10.273 And I think it is a great story. 00:03:10.273 --> 00:03:13.673 Alice Cogswell was about two-- 00:03:13.673 --> 00:03:15.857 she lived in Connecticut, 00:03:15.857 --> 00:03:20.106 she was the youngest child of a wealthy family. 00:03:20.106 --> 00:03:23.522 Her father was a doctor 00:03:23.522 --> 00:03:26.689 and quite a famous man in Connecticut. 00:03:26.689 --> 00:03:30.689 When she was two, which would have been, lets see, 00:03:30.689 --> 00:03:33.439 about 1805 I think-- 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:35.606 or no, she was born in 1805-- 00:03:35.606 --> 00:03:40.241 1807, she came down with probably scarlet fever, but we're not sure, 00:03:40.241 --> 00:03:43.407 and became profoundly deaf. 00:03:43.407 --> 00:03:46.873 She recalled that when she woke up one morning, 00:03:46.873 --> 00:03:49.624 she could no longer hear the church bells. 00:03:49.624 --> 00:03:52.338 She couldn't hear the sound of-- 00:03:52.338 --> 00:03:55.474 she could see a carriage draw up to the door 00:03:55.474 --> 00:03:57.341 outside her family's house 00:03:57.341 --> 00:03:59.622 and couldn't hear any of the sounds that it was making. 00:03:59.622 --> 00:04:01.691 They subjected her to radical treatment. 00:04:01.691 --> 00:04:05.706 They poured horrible substances into her ears 00:04:05.706 --> 00:04:08.773 through ear trumpets. 00:04:08.773 --> 00:04:11.906 It was very painful. Nothing could be done. 00:04:11.906 --> 00:04:16.589 Her family feared that she was doomed, 00:04:16.589 --> 00:04:19.306 that she wouldn't go to heaven when she died 00:04:19.306 --> 00:04:23.723 because they couldn't teach her about the Bible. 00:04:23.723 --> 00:04:26.555 And in those days, that's what they thought-- 00:04:26.555 --> 00:04:29.123 that her soul was lost. 00:04:29.123 --> 00:04:33.356 So, they loved her and they cherished her, 00:04:33.356 --> 00:04:36.472 but they didn't know what to do. 00:04:36.472 --> 00:04:38.940 And there were no schools for the deaf. 00:04:38.940 --> 00:04:42.055 Deaf people had absolutely no way to communicate 00:04:42.055 --> 00:04:44.456 with the rest of the world. 00:04:44.456 --> 00:04:49.306 I am sure that they spoke with what was called "home sign" then. 00:04:49.306 --> 00:04:51.471 And we heard this morning about the people 00:04:51.471 --> 00:04:56.017 of Martha's Vineyard, most of whom came 00:04:56.017 --> 00:05:00.273 in the 17th Century from one part of England, 00:05:00.273 --> 00:05:03.441 where almost everybody was deaf. 00:05:03.441 --> 00:05:05.790 So this was a case of genetic deafness. 00:05:05.790 --> 00:05:08.656 And those people settled in Martha's Vineyard. 00:05:08.656 --> 00:05:11.273 They had their own sign language, 00:05:11.273 --> 00:05:14.522 and the rest of Martha's Vineyard learned it. 00:05:14.522 --> 00:05:18.523 Everybody on the island, from the late 17th Century 00:05:18.523 --> 00:05:22.064 through the early 20th Century, 00:05:22.064 --> 00:05:26.756 spoke a sign language that was developed there. 00:05:26.756 --> 00:05:30.283 And of course deaf people were considered perfectly normal 00:05:30.283 --> 00:05:33.006 unlike what was the case 00:05:33.006 --> 00:05:35.190 in the rest of the country. 00:05:35.190 --> 00:05:40.923 Alice Cogswell and her sisters and brothers 00:05:40.923 --> 00:05:44.623 used a kind of home sign, but she wasn't taught to read 00:05:44.623 --> 00:05:47.423 she wasn't taught anything else. 00:05:47.423 --> 00:05:51.043 And when Thomas Gallaudet, 00:05:51.043 --> 00:05:54.689 who was in his early 20's when he met Alice-- 00:05:54.689 --> 00:05:57.356 he had cast about for what to do with his life 00:05:57.356 --> 00:06:00.906 and finally he decided to go to theological seminary. 00:06:00.906 --> 00:06:04.189 And he wanted to minister to Indian tribes, 00:06:04.189 --> 00:06:06.606 which meant that he would learn 00:06:06.606 --> 00:06:09.623 a kind of sign language because Indians did. 00:06:09.623 --> 00:06:13.189 He graduated and came home to visit his parents in Hartford. 00:06:13.189 --> 00:06:16.673 They lived next door to the Cogswells 00:06:16.673 --> 00:06:21.140 and he saw Alice one day. And he felt terribly sorry for her 00:06:21.140 --> 00:06:23.941 because she was sitting by herself 00:06:23.941 --> 00:06:27.273 while her brothers and sisters played, 00:06:27.273 --> 00:06:30.272 and she couldn't join in the games. 00:06:30.272 --> 00:06:32.124 And he thought he would see, 00:06:32.124 --> 00:06:35.074 since she looked so intelligent and appealing NOTE Paragraph 00:06:35.074 --> 00:06:36.824 and of course she was aware of him 00:06:36.824 --> 00:06:40.774 because her other senses were very highly developed. 00:06:40.774 --> 00:06:46.790 And he came over to her, and the story is 00:06:46.790 --> 00:06:51.073 that he scratched the letters H-A-T on the dirt 00:06:51.073 --> 00:06:54.390 and then put his hat on top of them and her face lit up. 00:06:54.390 --> 00:06:56.806 She was already understanding 00:06:56.806 --> 00:06:59.505 what reading would lead her to. 00:06:59.505 --> 00:07:01.824 And he began working with her 00:07:01.824 --> 00:07:03.826 trying to teach her to read. 00:07:03.826 --> 00:07:07.390 And she was very, very receptive 00:07:07.390 --> 00:07:09.090 and delighted. 00:07:09.090 --> 00:07:13.706 And at this point, Dr. Cogswell thought that 00:07:13.706 --> 00:07:17.307 he must reach not only Alice, but other deaf children 00:07:17.307 --> 00:07:20.956 and found a school for them. 00:07:20.956 --> 00:07:24.357 So he asked Thomas if he would go to Europe 00:07:24.357 --> 00:07:27.307 and learn how to teach the deaf. 00:07:27.307 --> 00:07:29.241 And Thomas agreed to do this. 00:07:29.241 --> 00:07:33.173 The Cogswells raised enough money to send him 00:07:33.173 --> 00:07:35.472 to England, where he knew that there was a school 00:07:35.472 --> 00:07:37.956 in London and another one in Scotland, 00:07:37.956 --> 00:07:41.473 operated by a family called Braidwood. 00:07:41.473 --> 00:07:45.590 Gallaudet left Alice behind 00:07:45.590 --> 00:07:48.723 but first he said Alice really should go to school 00:07:48.723 --> 00:07:51.022 with her siblings. 00:07:51.022 --> 00:07:52.973 So this was arranged. 00:07:52.973 --> 00:07:55.074 The teacher at this school 00:07:55.074 --> 00:07:57.291 was named Lydia Huntley. 00:07:57.291 --> 00:08:00.522 She was later married to Mr. Sigourney. 00:08:00.522 --> 00:08:03.457 So she became Lydia Huntley Sigourney, 00:08:03.457 --> 00:08:07.339 a rather famous poetess of the day, 00:08:07.339 --> 00:08:10.023 but at this time she was a young teacher. 00:08:10.023 --> 00:08:12.927 Alice joined this little school 00:08:12.927 --> 00:08:15.340 and everybody in the school learned to fingerspell -- 00:08:15.340 --> 00:08:20.321 that is, they had signs for each of the letters of the alphabet 00:08:20.321 --> 00:08:23.673 and they would painstakingly spell out words. 00:08:23.673 --> 00:08:26.856 So Alice learned a little bit more. 00:08:26.856 --> 00:08:28.540 She learned to read 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:30.540 and she learned a little bit of history 00:08:30.540 --> 00:08:32.873 and a little bit of geography and so on, 00:08:32.873 --> 00:08:36.406 but she was not learning a language. 00:08:36.406 --> 00:08:39.491 Meanwhile in London, Thomas was having a hard time. 00:08:39.491 --> 00:08:43.156 The Braidwood family insisted on 00:08:43.156 --> 00:08:47.722 teaching deaf people to talk. 00:08:47.722 --> 00:08:49.790 There was no sign language used -- in fact, it was forbidden. 00:08:49.790 --> 00:08:56.471 The Braidwoods told Thomas that they would teach him 00:08:56.471 --> 00:08:59.023 their method, but he would have to stay in England 00:08:59.023 --> 00:09:01.540 for two years and it would cost a lot more money 00:09:01.540 --> 00:09:04.756 than they had raised for Thomas's trip. 00:09:04.756 --> 00:09:07.423 So, something wonderful happened -- 00:09:07.423 --> 00:09:09.824 completely unexpected: 00:09:09.824 --> 00:09:12.839 Thomas met an Abbot from Paris 00:09:12.839 --> 00:09:16.157 and his young assistant who was deaf. 00:09:16.157 --> 00:09:19.856 And the Abbot's name was Abbé Sicard 00:09:19.856 --> 00:09:23.256 and his assistant was Laurent Clerc. 00:09:23.256 --> 00:09:27.456 And Laurent Clerc, of couse, was deaf 00:09:27.456 --> 00:09:31.123 and a fine teacher at a school in Paris 00:09:31.123 --> 00:09:35.105 where they used sign language to teach the deaf children. 00:09:35.105 --> 00:09:38.557 And Gallaudet went to Paris 00:09:38.557 --> 00:09:43.207 and was taught how to use this method, 00:09:43.207 --> 00:09:46.023 but he was getting terribly homesick 00:09:46.023 --> 00:09:48.140 and he was running out of money. 00:09:48.140 --> 00:09:50.190 So, he knew he had to go back to Hartford, 00:09:50.190 --> 00:09:52.456 but in order to teach and to start a school 00:09:52.456 --> 00:09:54.542 and teach deaf children in America, 00:09:54.542 --> 00:09:56.742 he was going to need help. 00:09:56.742 --> 00:09:58.574 So he persuaded Laurent Clerc 00:09:58.574 --> 00:10:00.056 to come with him, 00:10:00.056 --> 00:10:02.606 and this was extrordinary. 00:10:02.606 --> 00:10:05.540 Clerc had to leave his parents behind. 00:10:05.540 --> 00:10:07.606 He had to get permission to go. 00:10:07.606 --> 00:10:11.506 Fortunately, he was a very adventurous young man 00:10:11.506 --> 00:10:15.977 and had always wanted to see more of the world. 00:10:15.977 --> 00:10:18.589 So they sailed to America. 00:10:18.589 --> 00:10:19.824 It took almost two months 00:10:19.824 --> 00:10:23.106 and during that time, 00:10:23.106 --> 00:10:25.992 Gallaudet taught Clerc English 00:10:25.992 --> 00:10:28.990 and Clerc taught Gallaudet 00:10:28.990 --> 00:10:32.373 more of the signs that they were using in the school. 00:10:32.373 --> 00:10:36.022 Now, that school in Paris 00:10:36.022 --> 00:10:40.973 had adapted a kind of home sign 00:10:40.973 --> 00:10:44.106 that French children naturally-- 00:10:44.106 --> 00:10:46.524 French deaf children--used with each other. 00:10:46.524 --> 00:10:52.023 The teachers at the school saw that sign language 00:10:52.023 --> 00:10:54.241 was being used by these children 00:10:54.241 --> 00:10:56.706 and they knew that it was a good method, 00:10:56.706 --> 00:10:59.056 but they thought that it needed help. 00:10:59.056 --> 00:11:01.439 They thought they needed to make it grammatical. 00:11:01.439 --> 00:11:04.941 They didn't realize that this natural sign language 00:11:04.941 --> 00:11:07.456 already had a grammar. 00:11:07.456 --> 00:11:10.022 So the kinds of misunderstandings 00:11:10.022 --> 00:11:11.722 that people have always had about ASL 00:11:11.722 --> 00:11:14.006 were there with its very founders. 00:11:14.006 --> 00:11:18.348 Thomas Gallaudet also didn't realize that 00:11:18.348 --> 00:11:25.005 home sign or methodical sign, it was called, 00:11:25.005 --> 00:11:27.505 already had a grammar. 00:11:27.505 --> 00:11:29.922 And as we heard earlier today, 00:11:29.922 --> 00:11:31.954 people didn't realize that 00:11:31.954 --> 00:11:34.554 until the 1960's, when American Sign Language 00:11:34.554 --> 00:11:37.155 was finally analyzed by linguists. 00:11:37.155 --> 00:11:41.654 It's this grammatical complexity-- 00:11:41.654 --> 00:11:45.506 this whole language aspect of ASL-- 00:11:45.506 --> 00:11:50.871 that is so important for hearing people to understand, 00:11:50.871 --> 00:11:54.305 and, of course, for deaf children to learn 00:11:54.305 --> 00:11:59.590 because it stimulates the language capacities 00:11:59.590 --> 00:12:01.304 of the brain. 00:12:01.304 --> 00:12:05.237 And if they learn ASL, they learn English much more easily. 00:12:05.237 --> 00:12:11.470 And, as we all know, ASL was suppressed 00:12:11.470 --> 00:12:13.772 for a long time all over the world. 00:12:13.772 --> 00:12:17.604 I believe the Milan Conference was mentioned 00:12:17.604 --> 00:12:21.422 this morning. I think that's where it happened. 00:12:21.422 --> 00:12:24.423 And so, for a long time, deaf children 00:12:24.423 --> 00:12:26.472 in their schools would sign to each other 00:12:26.472 --> 00:12:28.455 but it had to be secret. 00:12:28.455 --> 00:12:31.807 They weren't allowed to use ASL. 00:12:31.823 --> 00:12:34.687 I didn't put that in my book, 00:12:34.687 --> 00:12:36.972 but I think it's important that I knew it 00:12:36.972 --> 00:12:39.672 because it was part of the story. 00:12:39.672 --> 00:12:43.521 When you tell a story in any kind of book, 00:12:43.521 --> 00:12:46.422 you may not put everything about the story 00:12:46.422 --> 00:12:50.196 into the book, but you have to know it. 00:12:50.196 --> 00:12:55.017 And this bridge to the hearing community-- 00:12:55.017 --> 00:12:57.505 that's so important; 00:12:57.505 --> 00:13:00.438 and having enough materials in libraries 00:13:00.438 --> 00:13:04.496 for deaf children is terribly important. 00:13:04.496 --> 00:13:07.205 This book, "My Heart Glow," 00:13:07.205 --> 00:13:10.388 whose title was suggested by Harlan Lane, 00:13:10.388 --> 00:13:15.104 whose book I used in much of my research. 00:13:15.104 --> 00:13:18.489 And I contacted Harlan Lane 00:13:18.489 --> 00:13:21.239 at the suggestion of Gary Wait, 00:13:21.239 --> 00:13:23.321 who is the archivist 00:13:23.321 --> 00:13:25.755 at the School for the Deaf in Hartford-- 00:13:25.755 --> 00:13:29.121 a very wonderful man who was a tremendous help to me. 00:13:29.121 --> 00:13:33.304 And he also sent word about the book 00:13:33.304 --> 00:13:35.304 out through the community-- 00:13:35.304 --> 00:13:37.422 to Alice in particular, 00:13:37.422 --> 00:13:40.039 who was so good in making it known to people. 00:13:40.039 --> 00:13:46.188 Gary Wait's resources at the School for the Deaf-- 00:13:46.188 --> 00:13:48.471 he has the library there, 00:13:48.471 --> 00:13:51.738 which is almost like a little museum of deaf history. 00:13:51.738 --> 00:13:54.654 It was so important to be there 00:13:54.654 --> 00:13:57.323 and see all that material. 00:13:57.492 --> 00:14:00.713 He told me that I should not include anything 00:14:00.713 --> 00:14:02.529 about the suppression of ASL-- 00:14:02.529 --> 00:14:06.079 that this story, "My Heart Glow," 00:14:06.079 --> 00:14:11.029 should be a story of triumph over nothing -- 00:14:11.029 --> 00:14:13.328 of the creation of something 00:14:13.328 --> 00:14:17.112 when there had been nothing. 00:14:17.112 --> 00:14:20.279 So, armed with the materials I learned from him, 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:23.796 with a lot of reading of what books there are 00:14:23.796 --> 00:14:25.696 about deaf history, 00:14:25.696 --> 00:14:27.879 with Harlan Lane's book in particular, 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:30.413 I wrote this story. 00:14:30.413 --> 00:14:32.296 It was published. 00:14:32.296 --> 00:14:35.179 It was acquired by an editor, who was fired 00:14:35.179 --> 00:14:37.545 about a few weeks later. 00:14:37.545 --> 00:14:40.779 So it was shepherded through the publishing process 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:43.029 without an advocate. 00:14:43.029 --> 00:14:46.729 It was published without any help at all 00:14:46.729 --> 00:14:49.414 by this company, that more or less ignored it. 00:14:49.414 --> 00:14:51.713 And then it was reviewed by hearing reviewers, 00:14:51.713 --> 00:14:54.480 many of whom were confused 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:57.596 by the syntax in Alice's letters, 00:14:57.596 --> 00:15:01.873 and I had read Alice's letters at Hartford, 00:15:01.873 --> 00:15:07.236 so I knew that the syntax was the product of her mind-- 00:15:07.282 --> 00:15:10.051 of the way she was thinking. 00:15:10.051 --> 00:15:12.596 They didn't understand that, 00:15:12.596 --> 00:15:14.347 even though I said so in the author's note. 00:15:14.347 --> 00:15:17.363 So there was some confusion, which was unfortunate. 00:15:17.363 --> 00:15:21.771 And I was so, so gratified--so happy--when I learned 00:15:21.771 --> 00:15:25.407 that the deaf community embraced the book. NOTE Paragraph 00:15:25.453 --> 00:15:29.754 And not only that--after it had gone out of print, 00:15:29.754 --> 00:15:37.945 I heard from ASL Tales that they wanted to do a DVD of it 00:15:37.945 --> 00:15:43.343 and try to get it back into the world with signing. 00:15:43.343 --> 00:15:46.293 And I thought it was a fabulous idea 00:15:46.293 --> 00:15:51.877 and Janice's work on this DVD is so brilliant, 00:15:51.877 --> 00:15:55.710 and of course, the quality of storytelling 00:15:55.710 --> 00:15:59.045 that is possible with ASL 00:15:59.122 --> 00:16:04.010 is just beyond anything else that's available to anyone. 00:16:04.010 --> 00:16:05.045 So, I think 00:16:05.045 --> 00:16:08.279 deaf children and hearing children will both 00:16:08.279 --> 00:16:12.602 benefit enormously from this kind of product 00:16:12.602 --> 00:16:15.877 and from all of the others that I hope 00:16:15.877 --> 00:16:20.783 are going to be available in libraries everywhere. 00:16:20.783 --> 00:16:24.206 Maybe there will be questions for me? 00:16:24.206 --> 00:16:26.484 I don't know. I think that's about all 00:16:26.484 --> 00:16:29.183 I can pump out of my throat today. 00:16:29.183 --> 00:16:32.100 I thank you so much for having me here 00:16:32.100 --> 00:16:36.883 and as I say, it's been extraondinarily illuminating for me, 00:16:36.883 --> 00:16:41.350 and I love being with you all today. 00:16:41.350 --> 00:16:44.116 Are there any questions? 00:16:44.116 --> 00:16:49.116 [applause] Thank you. 00:16:49.116 --> 00:16:50.915 No? Okay. 00:16:50.961 --> 00:17:00.988 Thank you again. 00:17:00.988 --> 00:17:02.455 (Female Audience Member) 00:17:02.455 --> 00:17:04.887 Hello there. I just wanted to tell you how delighted 00:17:04.887 --> 00:17:06.270 I am that you've made this book possible 00:17:08.393 --> 00:17:13.366 and many more works such as these. 00:17:13.366 --> 00:17:17.148 I'm inspired by the fact that this book is there. 00:17:19.210 --> 00:17:24.565 (Emily McCully) 00:17:24.565 --> 00:17:26.935 Thank you so much. 00:17:27.182 --> 00:17:28.539 (Female Audience Member) 00:17:28.539 --> 00:17:34.022 My question is how long did it take you to complete that book? 00:17:34.022 --> 00:17:35.467 (Emily McCully) 00:17:35.467 --> 00:17:39.819 Well, this one... of course there's the research 00:17:39.819 --> 00:17:43.487 and the reading process was several weeks, 00:17:43.487 --> 00:17:45.552 and I don't usually have an advisor. 00:17:45.552 --> 00:17:49.535 Gary Wait was my advisor on this one, 00:17:49.535 --> 00:17:52.652 so we communicated back and forth. 00:17:52.652 --> 00:17:55.019 And the trip to Hartford--that had to be scheduled, 00:17:55.019 --> 00:17:56.354 and so on. 00:17:56.354 --> 00:18:00.769 So, I would say two or three months for that. 00:18:00.769 --> 00:18:05.352 And then, sitting down and doing a picture book 00:18:05.352 --> 00:18:07.170 requires doing a "dummy," 00:18:07.170 --> 00:18:10.820 which means that I write the text 00:18:10.820 --> 00:18:13.719 at the same time that I'm creating a little pretend book. 00:18:13.719 --> 00:18:17.119 And the little pretend book is absolutely necessary 00:18:17.119 --> 00:18:20.553 because a picture book is unlike most other books 00:18:20.553 --> 00:18:23.235 in that it's like a little movie that's in my head, 00:18:23.235 --> 00:18:25.920 and I have to get the movie down on paper 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:30.219 The movie is not projected. It involves the reader. 00:18:30.219 --> 00:18:33.520 The book cannot be read 00:18:33.520 --> 00:18:35.802 unless the reader wants to turn the page, 00:18:35.802 --> 00:18:40.403 so I had to figure out how much material to put on a page. 00:18:40.403 --> 00:18:45.202 I put so much on...well, I'll do it with this. 00:18:45.202 --> 00:18:47.687 I make a dummy that looks sort of like this, 00:18:47.687 --> 00:18:49.770 but it's just black and white sketches. 00:18:49.770 --> 00:18:52.404 I put so much material on this page 00:18:52.404 --> 00:18:54.653 so that the reader will want to know what happens. 00:18:54.653 --> 00:18:57.403 The reader lifts the page, and for a few seconds 00:18:57.403 --> 00:18:59.836 anything can happen! 00:18:59.836 --> 00:19:03.884 Turns the page, more information--not too much, 00:19:03.884 --> 00:19:06.921 just enough to create enough tension 00:19:06.921 --> 00:19:09.452 so the reader wants to turn the page 00:19:09.452 --> 00:19:11.599 and advance the story. 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:15.233 So, it's a complete collaboration with the reader. 00:19:15.233 --> 00:19:17.315 And I have to figure out with the dummy-- 00:19:17.315 --> 00:19:20.283 I play with how much I put on this page and that page 00:19:20.283 --> 00:19:22.252 and I go back and forth. 00:19:22.252 --> 00:19:24.532 I tend to make little rough sketches 00:19:24.532 --> 00:19:27.733 and tape them down, or tape down the words 00:19:27.733 --> 00:19:29.415 with scotch tape 00:19:29.415 --> 00:19:31.501 and then lift them up and move them around 00:19:31.501 --> 00:19:33.550 if I have to. 00:19:33.550 --> 00:19:37.100 And that process takes, oh maybe two or three weeks. 00:19:37.100 --> 00:19:39.381 And then I send it to the publisher, 00:19:39.381 --> 00:19:43.815 and the editor figures out what else I have to do 00:19:43.815 --> 00:19:46.683 and what isn't working and what is working 00:19:46.683 --> 00:19:48.600 and tells me and sends it back. 00:19:48.600 --> 00:19:50.365 I make revisions-- 00:19:50.365 --> 00:19:54.700 that can take two or three more weeks-- 00:19:54.700 --> 00:19:56.834 when I finally get to the point 00:19:56.834 --> 00:19:58.417 where I do the finished work. 00:19:58.417 --> 00:20:01.800 And my emphasis in my books is 00:20:01.800 --> 00:20:06.033 I want everything to look as if something is happening-- 00:20:06.033 --> 00:20:09.482 I want it to have a sense of action-- 00:20:09.482 --> 00:20:13.183 so I, to try to make things look spontaneous, 00:20:13.183 --> 00:20:17.433 I make, for example, color choices as I'm painting. 00:20:17.433 --> 00:20:19.282 I don't do color sketches, 00:20:19.282 --> 00:20:21.366 I wait until I'm doing the finished paintings 00:20:21.366 --> 00:20:24.616 and they take another six weeks. 00:20:24.616 --> 00:20:29.615 Then I send that off. My work is done. 00:20:29.615 --> 00:20:35.266 The book is separated. The colors are all separated 00:20:35.266 --> 00:20:38.933 and printed - each color separately. 00:20:38.933 --> 00:20:42.432 Probably these days in Asia. 00:20:42.432 --> 00:20:45.965 The book doesn't come out for a full year 00:20:45.965 --> 00:20:50.099 after I have finished my work. 00:20:50.099 --> 00:20:51.667 And by that time, in this case, 00:20:51.667 --> 00:20:53.882 the publisher had forgotten about it. 00:20:53.882 --> 00:20:57.515 So, that can happen-- 00:20:57.515 --> 00:21:00.682 that's not such a good story. 00:21:00.682 --> 00:21:08.016 So, I hope that this ASL Tales version has... 00:21:08.016 --> 00:21:11.100 I hope it's going to have a lot of momentum 00:21:11.100 --> 00:21:14.033 and will really reach as many people as it can. 00:21:14.033 --> 00:21:18.950 Once again, thank you so much, Deaf Community, 00:21:18.950 --> 00:21:24.334 for embracing it. 00:21:24.334 --> 00:21:46.974 More questions? 00:21:48.343 --> 00:21:50.477 (Male Audience Member) 00:21:50.477 --> 00:21:53.594 I'm curious if you've had the experience... 00:21:53.671 --> 00:21:55.833 oh sorry, one moment... 00:21:55.833 --> 00:21:59.327 I'm curious if your work on this book 00:21:59.465 --> 00:22:02.881 has made you inspired to learn more 00:22:02.881 --> 00:22:06.968 about the deaf community and deaf culture? 00:22:07.168 --> 00:22:13.119 (Emily McCully) Yes it has. Very much. 00:22:18.627 --> 00:22:21.375 (Female voice, offscreen) 00:22:21.375 --> 00:22:28.877 I believe we have two questions off to the side. 00:22:28.877 --> 00:22:31.406 (Alice Hagemeyer) 00:22:33.711 --> 00:22:34.917 Hello there. 00:22:34.917 --> 00:22:38.189 For some of you who may not know, 00:22:38.189 --> 00:22:40.993 her book is the very first book 00:22:40.993 --> 00:22:45.308 written for children that is talking about deaf history, 00:22:45.308 --> 00:22:47.425 and I applaud you for that. 00:22:47.425 --> 00:22:49.425 I'm not sure if even you knew that. 00:22:49.425 --> 00:22:50.843 Did you know that? 00:22:50.843 --> 00:22:52.444 (Emily McCully) 00:22:52.444 --> 00:22:54.692 No, I knew it was the first one about Alice and Thomas. 00:22:54.692 --> 00:22:56.925 I didn't know it was the first, period. 00:22:56.925 --> 00:22:59.058 That's amazing. That's terrible. 00:22:59.058 --> 00:23:00.292 (Alice Hagemeyer) 00:23:00.292 --> 00:23:02.525 Right, it's the first historical work for children-- 00:23:02.525 --> 00:23:04.909 first historical fiction book for children. 00:23:04.909 --> 00:23:09.996 And also, it's very fortunate, and I'd like everyone to know 00:23:10.010 --> 00:23:12.408 that the School for the Deaf has a museum, 00:23:12.408 --> 00:23:17.789 which in the past, people weren't really cherishing 00:23:17.789 --> 00:23:20.784 their heritage and the artifacts 00:23:20.784 --> 00:23:24.644 and so oftentimes, things weren't preserved well 00:23:24.644 --> 00:23:27.976 until Gary Wait, also a good friend of mine 00:23:27.976 --> 00:23:30.758 got involved with their museum program 00:23:30.758 --> 00:23:33.342 and made some drastic changes. 00:23:33.342 --> 00:23:35.509 And having that material preserved, 00:23:35.509 --> 00:23:37.626 made your research, I'm sure, much better, 00:23:37.626 --> 00:23:40.342 so our thanks also have to go out to Gary. 00:23:40.342 --> 00:23:42.909 Now, any of you who want to write 00:23:42.909 --> 00:23:44.793 something like this, 00:23:44.793 --> 00:23:46.976 I have to let you know about what wonderful resources 00:23:46.976 --> 00:23:49.027 these deaf archives are. 00:23:49.027 --> 00:23:51.026 Many places around the country don't have these 00:23:51.026 --> 00:23:53.826 kinds of resources available as well. 00:23:53.826 --> 00:23:56.292 And also I know deaf people are quite surprised 00:23:56.292 --> 00:23:58.560 that a hearing author has written this, 00:23:58.560 --> 00:24:00.691 rather than a deaf author. 00:24:00.691 --> 00:24:04.291 But, it brings to bear the point that we must all work together-- 00:24:04.291 --> 00:24:06.324 that our communities have to work together. 00:24:06.324 --> 00:24:09.442 I thank you so much for getting this story out there 00:24:09.442 --> 00:24:12.441 and accessible to our deaf children. 00:24:12.441 --> 00:24:16.458 And also, I have to applaud Janice Cole and 00:24:16.458 --> 00:24:20.508 her company's work to put these in ASL versions. 00:24:20.508 --> 00:24:25.374 This is a story that will never be outdated. Never. 00:24:25.374 --> 00:24:28.008 (Emily McCully) 00:24:28.008 --> 00:24:30.092 Thank you very, very much. 00:24:30.092 --> 00:24:32.176 Yes, I meant to say earlier 00:24:32.176 --> 00:24:35.108 that history is absolutely vital for everyone. 00:24:35.108 --> 00:24:38.398 If you don't have a context for your life in the present, 00:24:38.398 --> 00:24:41.717 you really don't have anything to stand on. 00:24:41.717 --> 00:24:45.041 Often, when I'm talking to school kids, 00:24:45.041 --> 00:24:47.476 I quote Cicero, who said, 00:24:47.476 --> 00:24:52.259 "To not know what happened before one was born 00:24:52.259 --> 00:24:54.953 is to always be a child." 00:24:55.123 --> 00:24:58.125 So you know, in order to grow up, 00:24:58.125 --> 00:24:59.959 children have to know history. 00:24:59.959 --> 00:25:02.144 Especially their own history. 00:25:02.144 --> 00:25:05.617 So, yeah, there has to be more of it. 00:25:05.617 --> 00:25:07.292 Thank you. 00:25:07.323 --> 00:25:08.704 (Margie English) 00:25:08.781 --> 00:25:11.951 I have one small question if I may? 00:25:11.954 --> 00:25:13.438 (Emily McCully) 00:25:13.438 --> 00:25:15.433 You're entitled. 00:25:15.433 --> 00:25:17.152 (Margie English) 00:25:17.152 --> 00:25:20.983 As a person who has published a number of works 00:25:20.983 --> 00:25:25.633 and illustrations. With this text, "My Heart Glow," 00:25:25.633 --> 00:25:29.918 and that one has not been widely marketed 00:25:29.918 --> 00:25:32.916 and you said the reviewers weren't sure 00:25:32.916 --> 00:25:36.650 quite how to take the book and the use of syntax by a deaf person 00:25:36.650 --> 00:25:39.800 in the expression of the deaf person's thinking process. 00:25:39.800 --> 00:25:42.733 Now in terms of future publishers of deaf works 00:25:42.733 --> 00:25:45.183 by deaf authors, what would you say 00:25:45.183 --> 00:25:47.680 to those future publishers 00:25:47.680 --> 00:25:50.118 and these future authors, 00:25:50.118 --> 00:25:52.633 that they could do to improve this process 00:25:52.633 --> 00:25:55.402 so that it's more readily accepted? 00:25:55.402 --> 00:25:57.483 And educate those reviewers as well, 00:25:57.483 --> 00:26:00.299 so that it would be more appropriately received? 00:26:00.299 --> 00:26:02.050 (Emily McCully) 00:26:02.050 --> 00:26:05.500 Well, I think my publisher should have 00:26:05.500 --> 00:26:08.683 provided something, I think, for reviewers 00:26:08.683 --> 00:26:10.933 but they did not. 00:26:10.933 --> 00:26:13.916 I thought and I hoped that the author's note 00:26:13.916 --> 00:26:17.279 would suffice, but apparently it didn't. 00:26:17.325 --> 00:26:20.983 Now, I'm saying only one or two people did this, 00:26:20.983 --> 00:26:25.385 but it was significant that they didn't understand. 00:26:25.385 --> 00:26:29.251 So, yeah, there has to be support of the book. 00:26:29.309 --> 00:26:34.650 In the storytelling process, I didn't want to interrupt the story 00:26:34.650 --> 00:26:39.267 with editorial comments or, you know, references to facts 00:26:39.267 --> 00:26:42.169 or anything like that. 00:26:42.169 --> 00:26:45.968 I wanted the story to flow, as a story must. 00:26:45.968 --> 00:26:48.933 So it was up to the publisher, I think, 00:26:48.933 --> 00:26:51.300 to provide the support material 00:26:51.300 --> 00:26:53.733 that reviewers needed. 00:26:53.733 --> 00:26:55.733 You know, adult books are often published 00:26:55.733 --> 00:27:02.234 with reader's guides, guides for book clubs and so on. 00:27:02.234 --> 00:27:05.200 So that kind of thing 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:07.500 that goes along with the book 00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:09.333 but doesn't have to be part of the story 00:27:09.333 --> 00:27:12.518 would be very helpful. 00:27:12.518 --> 99:59:59.999 Thank you Janice. NOTE Paragraph 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 [end of segment 4. go to segment 5]