Cover next page > title: Seeing Language in Sign : The Work of William C. Stokoe author

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Page bent figure in bib overalls hobbling along the porch. All Dad said was, "The poor old guy" I felt very small after that. I
had thought it was a funny example of rural poverty, but there wasn't anything funny about it, and my father knew that.
That incident made me far more sensitive to human suffering, more sympathetic with the sufferer and less prone to find amusement in the externals. It certainly gives me pain whenever I think of it, that I may not be living up to my father's standard of judging people and circumstances. 12
Stokoe's colleagues still remember with awe his ability to work for hours and hours without seeming tired. Edward Hall, who was an anthropology professor at Northwestern University while Stokoe taught at Gallaudet, describes Stokoe's work as "a gargantuan task. There aren't many Bill Stokoes in this world people who are willing to spend the thousands of hours it takes to analyze a human communication system, and then record that analysis so that others can make use of it."13
But not even genius, curiosity, sensitivity, and energy fully explain why Stokoe persisted in defending and refining his theories.
I. King Jordan expresses amazement at Stokoe's ability even to remain at Gallaudet under the circumstances, much less proceed with his research. Jordan's comments suggest a more fundamental reason for Stokoe's persistence. "Hes really somebody who knows what he wants to do, "Jordan says. "Hes somebody who knows when he's on target, on track. No matter what the reaction is, he decides . . . what he's going to do and he does it. He just ignored the criticism and scorn and went ahead and did what he had to do."14
Jordan was referring to Stokoe's research on American Sign Language, but people who know Stokoe say he is that way about everything he does and always has been. His classmates in high school nicknamed him "Stubborn Stokoe" and "the Professor"
because he would argue with the teachers if they thought he had given a wrong answer in class or on a test. If in fact his answer had been wrong, Stokoe would comeback the next day explaining why he had been wrong and knowing more than the teacher about the correct answer. Stokoe says he still disagrees with Mr.

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