The Frost King

[3] In Sullivan's account of the incident, addressed to John Hitz of the Volta Bureau, she had investigated to see who could have read the story to Helen or even owned a copy of the book.

It seemed her own mentor, Sophia Hopkins, had taken charge of the then eight-year-old Keller while Sullivan was on vacation, and had read the book to her through finger spelling.

However, Keller further discussed the matter with one of the Perkins teachers and, as she remembered it, "something I said made her think she detected in my words a confession" that she had knowingly plagiarized the story.

[11] Joseph Lash describes it as an analysis of The Story of My Life, probably written by David Prescott Hall in 1906 just after the death of Michael Anagnos.

Lash believes the author of the document was trying to prove Sullivan, not Hopkins, had read Birdie and his Fairy Friends to Keller and had done so the same autumn, not four years previously.

[12] Mark Twain, after reading about this incident from a copy of the biography Helen had given him, was inspired to write his famous "St Patrick's Day 1903" letter to her in which he described the controversy as "owlishly idiotic and grotesque.