Friday, November 28, 2008

Miracle Worker Author Dies

The man who wrote the play about Helen Keller called The Miracle Worker has died. William Gibson told the story of Helen Keller’s relationship with her teacher, Anne Sullivan. It won the 1960 Tony Award for best play and is still regularly performed around the country in community theaters. Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, played the stage roles of Sullivan and Keller, respectively. They went on to win Academy Awards when repeating the parts for the film version in 1962. Mr. Gibson was nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay. Twenty years later, he wrote a sequel about Sullivan called The Monday After the Miracle but it flopped on Broadway. Gibson died Tuesday at the age of 94 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.