About the author
Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the Great Depression, Ruth was a child with normal hearing, but she was born to Deaf parents. Her first task was to learn her parents' silent signed language. At that time, there were no trained sign language interpreters, so, by the age of five, Ruth was interpreting for her parents and for all their Deaf friends, as well. She became their connection with the Hearing World, dedicating her activities to educating the hearing population about the nature of deafness and teaching sign language classes to encourage communication with the Deaf. She asserts that the teaching ability she acquired in that early role equipped her for her future role as a professional teacher.
After marrying and raising two children, Ruth taught in the elementary school grades of suburban Chicago public schools for twenty-four years. During those years, she taught over two-thousand elementary school children, counseled their parents, trained student teachers, designed curriculums, and was nominated for "National Teacher of the Year" by her school's Parent-Teacher Association.
A widow since 2019, Ruth now lives in Asheville, North Carolina.