Adult Literacy Leaders - literacy banquet speaker got tired of 'faking life'

literacy banquet speaker got tired of 'faking life'Clay Today: February 10, 2010 by Stephen Kindland

ORANGE PARK – Douglas Smith’s voice grows louder when he talks about a life void of written communication. He wants everyone who can’t read or write to hear his message.

“When you’re a grown man and can’t read, you have a mask on,” he said. “You go through life faking it. You learn to say things like, ‘I left my glasses at home’ when you’re asked to read, and you make up all kinds of other excuses because you’re ashamed.”

But it doesn’t have to be that way, Smith told about 75 people attending the 10th annual Clay County Literacy Coalition awards banquet on Thursday, Feb. 4.

“If an alcoholic never admits he’s an alcoholic, he’ll never get help,” he told his audience at Doctors Lake Elementary School. “I stand here humble but I also stand proud. Friends accepted me with open arms when they found out I couldn’t read.”

Smith said he grew tired of “faking life” by using his memory to make up for his inability to read, even though he had become a successful business owner in New York City after spending the first 15 years of his life as a sharecropper’s son on a South Carolina farm. Picking cotton with 17 brothers and sisters – only one of whom finished high school and went on to college -- was mandatory; attending the local segregated school was optional.

“But my mom instilled values in me even though I couldn’t read,” Smith said.

The retired baker, who now lives in Jacksonville, stepped into a new world four years ago after enrolling in the city’s Lean to Read program.

He is proud to say that at age 68, his reading skills have increased dramatically since they were measured at a second-grade level. But he’s sad to report that the program that opened his eyes has closed its doors for lack of funding. READ MORE !