Left-Handers Day celebrates creative minority
( 2001-08-14 10:45 ) (7 )

What do tennis player Goran Ivanisevic and songwriter Paul McCartney have in common with Fidel Castro?

Along with 10 percent of the world's population they are left-handed, according to Lauren Milsom, organiser of Monday's Left-Handers Day 2001.

"It is well-known that a lot of creative people were left-handed," Milsom said. Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Jimi Hendrix and Pablo Picasso are all among them, she added.

But Left-Handers Day was not merely a celebration of the creative superiority of lefties, she added. It also aimed at raising awareness of the difficulties presented by a right-handed world.

"It is not a disability, but most things are so tailored to the right hand. A lot of companies are not interested -- they say it's a minority market and not commercially viable, but it's a big minority," Milsom said from her stall, which sells left-handed corkscrews, tin-openers and scissors.

Left-Handers Day, featuring a recital by a left-handed concert pianist on his left-handed piano, also served to highlight the dangers left-handers faced when using power tools in the home, Milsom said.