I bought a tiny little hand made book yesterday at the Carnegie Library Book sale, and came home to do research on it's maker. Joan E. Popovich was born deaf and placed by her parents in a home for the retarded at the age of 3 1/2. Her mis-diagnosis was discovered when she was almost 9 as a result of caregivers noticing her artistic aptitude and she went on to earn a masters of fine arts degree and an international reputation as a printmaker. This small limited edition (20 copies) hand printed and bound of hand-made paper with original lithographs is an autobiographical work describing her escape from institution to artistic freedom. Her story can be found on-line Here. Would it surprise anyone to discover that her escape was through the creativity and wisdom of her hands? The lithograph shown in the photo above is entitled "Silence."