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

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Page very attentive to new ideas, to new possibilities, to new suggestions. He was curious about any novelty he was never attached to old ideas. Even with his own work he was ready to criticize, to find that it didn't work anymore. It is really extremely rare to find something like that, even in a young person. It's an incredible advantage that Bill has, an advantage that has benefitted his research and the field in general" 11
Stokoe has never lost his youthful idealism. Leon Auerbach, a deaf Gallaudet professor, recalls an incident in which
Bill was, as always, a great friend of deaf people. I got an invitation to speak on the topic of teaching mathematics to Deaf children at a convention sponsored by an oral group called, I think, the Bell Speech Association of New York City. I
replied saying that I would be happy to read a paper at the convention provided I could do it in sign language since my speech is virtually nonexistent. Soon afterwards, I received a letter withdrawing the invitation Meanwhile, I had mentioned the matter to Bill Stokoe.
Shortly thereafter, the same group invited him to read a paper on the same topic. "Given the circumstances of your treatment of Professor Leon Auerbach," he replied, "I decline the invitation" I really appreciated his support.12
But Stokoe had his detractors as well. One former colleague found it amusing that Stokoe had stopped calling himself an
English professor and became a self-described "linguist" Former Gallaudet president Edward Merrill, a fellow member of the prestigious Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, noted that Stokoe listed himself in the club's directory as an anthropologist.
Merrill was convinced that Stokoe made life much harder than necessary for himself and for those around him "He was narrow in his understanding and grasp of the complexities of an entire system in its political setting. He was not an easy person to work with."13
This criticism cannot be discounted entirely. Even Stokoe's good friends and supporters saw his confrontational style as sometimes counterproductive in relation to his work. To all appearances, Stokoe simply did not care whether people liked or approved of him he tended to perceive criticism of him or his work as evidence of a defect in the critic. At the same time,

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