A daughter preserving a remarkable family legacy.
Mary Harper
Mary Harper, an avid reader since childhood, lives in Houston, TX with her rescue cat Lily, a mischievous but blind tuxedo cat. Nobody wanted the little blind kitten, but Mary didn’t hesitate.
Mary knows about blindness. She is the youngest of four sighted children raised by parents who were both totally blind.
In the forthcoming biography The Sound of Her Voice: My Blind Parents’ Story, Mary documents her parents’ remarkable lives from the time they fell in love at the Indiana School for the Blind through their challenges, determination, and successes.
Born in Muncie, Indiana and a graduate of the University of Virginia, Mary earned her Master’s in Social Work from the University of Houston. Perhaps as a legacy from helping her parents with everything from reading their mail to them to inspecting their clothing for spots, she has always been interested in helping others.
She became active in the Fibromyalgia Association of Houston after being diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1992 and served in leadership capacities, including newsletter editor of The Fibromyalgia Connection, and as president for fifteen years.
Mary has two adult children and loves being a grandmother. They are part of the legacy her husband, Jeff, left behind when he died after a short battle with cancer in 2012.
“My parents’ blindness was part of our life, but it was never the whole story.”
Family, home, travel, and the quiet joys that shape Mary’s world.
Mary’s life is rooted in family, curiosity, nature, and the memories she continues to preserve through writing.
Grandmotherhood
Mary has two adult children and loves being a grandmother. Family remains a living part of the legacy she writes about and carries forward.
Home & Everyday Joy
At home, Mary finds joy in ordinary moments: flowers, reading, family stories, and the small rituals that make memory feel alive.
Wanderlust
Mary and her partner, Tom, enjoy travel, nature photography, kayaking, and visiting America’s National Parks together.
Research, travel, nature, and the stories hidden in old newspapers.
Old newspapers bring history to life.
Mary loves to research her family on Newspapers.com. Millions of pages of old newspapers reveal details from the 1800s through the 2000s, including family stories, advice columns, everyday life during World War II, and the prices of food and clothing.
These details helped her understand what life was like for her parents during their early years of marriage.
National Parks, geology, photography, and kayaking.
Mary and Tom want to visit all 63 National Parks. They have already made a strong start, and Tom, a retired geologist, teaches her about geological formations as they travel.
They both enjoy nature photography and kayaking.
Lily, the Blind Wonder Cat.
Lily was abandoned at a shelter in Austin, TX when she was two weeks old. Her eyes were badly infected with herpes and despite loving care, her eyes had to be removed.
She was bottle fed by volunteers and fostered until old enough to be adopted. Mary learned of her on Facebook and drove to Austin to meet her. It was love at first sight.
Lily is just like Mary’s parents: loving, independent, and full of personality.
Discover the story that shaped Mary’s life.
The Sound of Her Voice is a daughter’s tribute to two remarkable blind parents whose love, courage, and independence continue to inspire.