Helen Keller had many friends, both famous and not-so-famous, who taught and helped her in life, and learned from her as well. A few of her notable friends were Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mark Twain, and Edward Everett Hale.
"Thus it is that my friends have made the story of my life. In a thousand ways they have turned my limitations into beautiful privileges, enabled me to walk serene and happy in the shades cast by my deprivation."
(p. 75) The Story of My Life by Helen Keller. Dover Publications, 1996. Originally published by Doubleday, 1903.