Truly the truth to celebrate the 65 years of her own truth, survived first from diaspora and also diplopia…
Nadine Racine Gill’s story is a typical one in the annals of the Diaspora. She was born in Paris on April 6, 1933 to parents who had narrowly escaped Soviet communism in the 1920’s. In 1940, at the age of 7, she and her family found themselves fleeing again, this time from the Nazis. After a rough 16 day journey across the Atlantic on a ferry boat, Nadine and her family arrived in New York City in April of 1941, just a few days after her 8th birthday.
Nadine was born with diplopia, a condition which causes double vision. She had difficulty executing many tasks like reading, pouring water into a glass or playing ping pong and tennis.
This affliction has never been understood or even accepted. It was never addressed at home or at school, and as a result, Nadine was introverted, quiet, and considered to be a below average student.
One day, at the age of 12, Nadine lay sick in bed, surrounded by a heap of reading material, a pad and pencil. To avoid the challenges of reading, Nadine opted to experiment with the pad and pencil. In that very instant, Nadine discovered her true voice.
She has spent 65 years translating doubled visions, into single ones … rendering images that none of us can see into ones that we can.
Nadine Gill
