Happy Monday, everyone! I’m very excited to share another Famously Unknown story with you! My hope is that these bio’s will serve as an inspiration for you. These iconic celebrities have not only achieved great things and become well known, but they’ve done it all while living with Epilepsy. And if they can climb to great heights, I know that we can too!
I hope you enjoy today’s Famously Unknown!
In 1854, Captain Frederick Boehmer and his wife Mary Ann West gave birth to their only daughter. After bearing four lively boys, Clara was a treasure to her parents. Soon however, disaster struck. In a matter of time Mary had lost both her husband in a riding accident and one of her boys to ill health. Strapped with the pressure of raising her other 4 children on her own, Mary sent her Clara to live with her sister Margaret. Since Margaret had married a wealthy American businessman, she was financially prepared to provide for Clara. And since she had no children of her own, she was honored to raise the bright little girl.
As time went on, Clara grew into a lovely young woman and eventually married American stockbroker Frederick Alvah Miller. They moved to Torquay, in the United Kingdom, and settled down together. Finally, good fortune seemed to be coming Clara’s way. They were blessed with good health and three children; the youngest of which was born on September 15, 1890. She was a curious young girl that often suffered “episodes”, leading her mother Clara to believe that her daughter was psychic. These episodes however, alienated her little girl from other children. (It was later determined by neurological experts that these “episodes” were Epileptic seizures). Noticing that her daughter spent much of her time alone, Clara encouraged her to spend as much time as she could reading books. As the girl grew, she not only devoured the written word, she also began to write her own stories and plays.
This talent for writing eventually became a career for Clara’s intelligent daughter; a woman that Guinness World Records deems the “Best Novelist of all time”. Her literary works are the 3rd most widely published written material in the world – behind only Shakespeare and the Bible. Today she also carries the title of most translated individual author, with her books & plays having been translated into 103 languages.
So, who is Clara’s daughter? This bright young girl who so craved friendship & mystery that she began creating stories of her own? None other than the talented Agatha Christie: Poet, Novelist, Screenwriter, and Playwright. One of the world’s most beloved authors; she was once just a little girl living with Epilepsy.
For reference to Agatha Christie click here!
Hello from Minnesota! I was diagnosed with Generalized Idiopathic Temporal Lobe Epilepsy in 2006. My goal is to create and contribute to a community for those living with Epilepsy & other neurological disorders, so that we can support each other, raise awareness, and share our hope for fewer seizures in the future!