Song Without Words (Merloyd Lawrence Book)

Much has been written about the profoundly deaf, but the lives of the nearly 30 million partially deaf people in the United States today remain hidden. Gerald Sheas witty and candid memoir of how he compensated—through sheer determination and an amazing ability to translate the melody of vowels—brings fascinating new insight into the nature and significance of language, the meaning of deafness, the fierce controversy between advocates of signing versus those who favor oral education, and the longing for full communication that unites us all.

At age 34, Gerald Shea discovered that he had been deaf since childhood despite somehow maintaining a prestigious legal career

Gerald Shea was born in New York City and has lived most of his life in New York and in Paris. He practiced law in both cities for many years with Debevoise and Plimpton as a member of the New York and Paris bars. He is a graduate of Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, Yale University and Columbia Law School.