author
W. Percy Merrick
b. 1868
Best known for a lively travel memoir and for collecting traditional songs in Sussex, this English writer also helped bring Esperanto and braille work together in practical ways. His life joined music, language, and disability advocacy in a way that still feels unusual and memorable.
1 Audiobook
About the author
Born on November 2, 1868, William Percy Merrick was an English writer, song collector, and Esperantist. He is remembered today for A Blind Esperantist's Trip to Finland and Sweden, a firsthand account of travel as a blind attendee at an international Esperanto congress.
Merrick was active in the early folk-song revival and collected songs in Sussex, with some of his work published in Journal of the Folk-Song Society and in Folk-Songs from Sussex. Sources also describe him as a member of the Folk-Song Society and note his connection to early work on braille for phonetics.
He became involved with Esperanto in the early 1900s and was especially interested in making it useful for blind readers and travelers. That mix of practical idealism, musical curiosity, and personal determination gives his writing its special character.