(Untitled)

[mariness]

Unbelievably out of it today -- so out of it that although I made coffee and poured it into a mug, I forgot to drink it; no, really -- but I did want to point Little House fans to the news that Mary Ingalls did not go blind from scarlet fever after all.From a writing point of view, I'm fascinated by the suggestion that Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose

Comments

[seawasp]

Well, the Pioneer Girl project is working publishing the original autobiography so many questions may be answered when that's released.

IIRC "Scarlet Fever" was blamed for MANY things. Wasn't that what they said had caused Helen Keller to go deaf and blind?

[mariness]

If Wikipedia is accurate Helen Keller may have had scarlet fever or meningitis? That's just Wikipedia, though, so take it for what it's worth.

I am looking forward to the Pioneer Girl autobiography, although from various biographies we already know bits of what's in it, including the facts that Wilder often softened the depictions of poverty in her books, while also presenting the places where she lived as more primitive than they often were. As I noted in an earlier entry, it can be difficult to remember while reading the Little House books that they are set during the Industrial Revolution, not colonial times. De Smet had a roller skating rink and several other amenities that Wilder never mentions, for instance, in part, I think, because that would have brought up the fact that Wilder often couldn't afford these amenities, which in turn would have focused attention on her father's financial failures, which was against the heart warming depiction of the loving, warm hearted adventurous yet respected man she wanted to portray

[mariness]

:: nods :: I think measles actually can cause blindness in some cases (don't quote me on this!) if the measles isn't treated properly, so it's possible that you took that knowledge and applied it to the memory of the Little House books?