AZ alumni and Auburn University graduate James Patterson, an
agricultural economist and diplomat, meets Irish agricultural economist
and humanitarian Tom Arnold, at the Helen Keller International 9th annual
Spirit of Helen Keller Gala in New York, May 20. Arnold was recipient of
the Helen Keller Humanitarian Award for his international relief work. Arnold
currently serves as Director General of the Institute of International and
European Affairs in Dublin.
Patterson, a resident of East Central Alabama, has a
lifelong admiration of Helen Keller, born with multiple disabilities
including blindness and deafness in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She became an
international advocate for the disabled and President John F. Kennedy awarded
her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Keller, who died in 1968, founded Helen
Keller International in 1915 to prevent blindness and reduce
malnutrition. The play and film "The Miracle Worker" is based
on Keller's life of challenge and and international accomplishment. For
more information on Helen Keller International, see HKI.org. (Photo courtesy
Helen Keller International.)