Description

James Morrison Heady (July 19, 1829 - December 19, 1915) was an American deafblind author. Heady published multiple volumes of children's books and poetry and was frequently referred to by the contemporary press as the "Blind Bard of Kentucky". He was one of the first advocates for books for the blind in the United States and he invented several devices to facilitate communication and improve quality of life for deaf and blind people. After losing his sight at sixteen, Heady attended the Kentucky School for the Blind for a year, then attended the Ohio State School for the Blind for another fourteen months. He learned to read embossed print and invented a "talking glove", a cotton glove with the letters of the alphabet printed at multiple places on the hand, using this tactile spelling to communicate with friends.