January 2014 - Nancy Sharpless - Bee's Knees

Nancy Sharpless

Nansi Sharpless was born on October 11, 1932.  When she was 14 years old she came down with meningitis which caused her to become deaf.  She attended Oberlin College where she struggled, but she had a friend that took notes for her.  She graduated with her bachelor's degree in Zoology in 1954.  She continued her education at Wayne State University where she got her doctoral degree.  She started working at Albert Einstein's College of Medicine where she studied the chemicals of the brain and mental disorders.  Sharpless wanted to help people with mental disorder.  She worked in The Department of Psychiatry at Albert Einstein's College of Medicine on October 9, 1987.  She was remembered in the scientific community because she was deaf.

The Drink:

Bee's Knees

1 1/2 oz. gin
1 tsp. honey
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice

No notes, as it was the last drink, and we've had this one before.  HERE

From the "Deaf Women" theme hosted by

January 2014 - Annie Cannon - Harvard

Annie Jump Cannon

Annie Jump Cannon was born in Dover, Delaware on December 11, 1863.  At a young age Cannon became ill and progressively became deaf.  Annie Jump Cannon sees herself as a deaf woman who primarily uses English for communication.  Cannon's love for astronomy grew at a young age because of her mother who taught her the constellations, would practice with Cannon.  As a young woman Cannon attended Wellesley College where she pursued her interests as a physics major since astronomy was not provided at the time.  She later studied at Harvard College Observatory where she worked on classifying stars and discovering variable stars and novae.  Cannon created the mnemonic device, "Oh! Be A Fine Girl - Kiss Me!" which is still used by astronomers today to classify stars.  Outside of the lab Cannon led a very exciting life full of travel and advocacy.  Cannon was part of the National Women's party and was a major advocate for women's suffrage.  Academic awards and honors were common occurrences in Cannon's life:  she received the Draper Award by the National Academy of Sciences, awards from Oxford, the Nova Medal by the American Association of Variable Stars Observers, and was voted one of the 12 greatest living women in America in 1923.  Annie Cannon became the world's expert in stellar classification and the Annie Jump Cannon award is given annually to new astronomers by the American Association of University Women.

The Drink:

Harvard

1 1/2 oz brandy
1 oz sweet vermouth
2 or 3 dashes Angostura bitters

Drinkability:  4
Drunkability:  3
Taxic Diversity:  2.5
Accessibility:  4
Priority for Conservation:  5

Comments:  "brandy, something sweet, and something non-sweet."

From "Deaf Women" hosted by 

January 2014 - Ruth Benedict - Girl Talk

Ruth Benedict

"The trouble with life isn't that there is no answers, it's that there are so many answers." - Ruth Benedict

Ruth Benedict was an anthropologist born in New York on June, 5 1887.  She became partially deaf due to an illness in early childhood.  She was not diagnosed until she attended Norwich Public School in 1895.  Due to her partial deafness, Ruth became a very quiet and shy person.  This did not stop her from dominating, as a woman in a field that was predominantly men.  She was a humanist scientist, a feminist, and a poet.  She wrote several books but the most widely read, Patterns of Culture, was translated into 12 different languages.  Ruth's father died before she was three and her mother, a school teacher, struggled to provide for her and her younger sister.  Even though Ruth was a shy person, students of hers claimed that they were surprised by how soft-spoken she was.  Because Ruth liked to travel she eventually moved to Los Angeles.  She met her future husband, Stanley Benedict in Los Angeles.  They eventually moved back to New York in 1914 and bought a house in Long Island where Ruth entered Columbia University.  That is were Ruth met Margaret Mead, her lifelong friend whom she shared an intimate relationship after separating from her husband in 1930.

The Drink:

Girl Talk:

(awaiting recipe)


Drinkability:  3.5
Drunkability:  2
Taxic Diversity:  2
Accessibility:  3 / 4
Priority for Conservation:  2

Comments:  you have to like grapefruit juice, if you don't, you won't like it.  Basically grapefruit and tequila. 

From "Deaf Women" hosted by 

January 2014 - Juliette Low - Club Cocktail

Juliette Gordon Low

Juliette Gordon Low, the creator of Girl Scouts of America, was born in Savannah, Georgia on October 31, 1860.

In her early adulthood, Low suffered from chronic ear infections in one of her ears, causing her to lose hearing in that ear.  Low became completely deaf on her wedding day, December 21, 1886, when a piece of good-luck rice that was thrown at the reception got lodged in her ear, punctured her ear drum, caused an infection, and ultimately left her deaf in the second ear.

Low founded the Girl Scouts of America in 1912.  She had spent most of her adult life looking for a way to make a difference in the lives of young people.  Girl Scouts of America started with 18 young women in Savannah, Georgia and has now grown to over 3 million members nationwide.

The Drink:

Club Cocktail:

2 oz brandy
1/2 oz maraschino liqueur
1/2 oz pineapple juice
2 dashes Peychaud's bitters

Drinkability: 4
Drunkability: 4
Taxic Diversity: 4
Accessibility: 2
Priority for Conservation: 3.5

Comments:  We really should drink brandy more often.

From "Deaf Women" theme hosted by Bandit Queen

January 2014 - Laura Redded - Journalist

Laura Catherine Redded

Laura Catherine Redden was born to Littleton John Redden and Wilhelmina Waller Redden in 1840.  In 1851, she lost her hearing at age 11 due to the illness spinal meningitis.  In 1855, she enrolled in the Missouri School for the Deaf (MSD) in Fulton, Missouri.  She learned sign language and the American Manual Alphabet from 1857-1858, Redden submitted poems to Harper's Magazine.  In 1858, Redden's first published essay appeared in the American Annals of the Deaf.  The topics of the essay were deafness, sign language, and writing.  In 1858, Redden graduated from the Missouri School for the Deaf.  Upon graduation, she was offered a teaching position at MSD which she declined.  In 1859, the St. Louis Presbyterian hired her as a columnist and assistant editor.  In 1860, she became an editorialist for the St. Louis Republican.  At this time, Laura Cathering Redden officially adopted the pseudonym Howard Glyndon.  In 1861, she was sent by the St. Louis Republican to Washington D.C. to cover and document the American Civil War.  She was a pro-Union loyalist and wrote poems about the experiences and human interests of the battle field.  She also wrote to Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant during the war.  After the war, 1865- 69, she traveled to Europe to become a correspondent for the New York Times.  By 1870, she returned to New York and Boston and was a staff writer for the New York Evening Mail and contributed to Galaxy, Harper's Magazine, and the Tribune.

The Cocktail:

Journalist:

1 1/2 tsp sweet vermouth
1 1/2 tsp dry vermouth
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 tsp triple sec
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 dash bitters


Drinkability:  3
Drunkability:  4
Taxic Diversity:  2
Accessibility:  3
Priority for Conservation:  3

Comments:  high ratings for gin drink that tastes like gin, but low for general drinks (used  Hendrick's Gin, good gin makes all the difference)

From "Deaf Women" theme hosted by  Bandit Queen