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Author Lee Smith (her latest book is Saving Grace) spends some
of each summer teaching in the adult literacy program in Hindman, Kentucky.
Smith writes that her work in Hindman "has helped me remember the enormous
sense of empowerment that comes with mastering written language." She
says that "helping people express themselves in writing for the first
time is like watching them fall in love."
One of the literacy program's graduates is a successful contractor named
Connel Polly from Vicco, Kentucky, who kept his inability to read a secret
for nearly 50 years. Only his wife knew. The Hindman school has published
a book of memories about his experience called "It's Like Coming Out
of a Deep Hole." Anyone who reads Mr. Polly's story will understand
what a terrible thing it is to allow any child to leave school unable to
read or write.
Coming out of a deep hole
"One time," Connel Polly writes in his book It's Like Coming
Out of a Deep Hole, "the mining company sent me to Canton, Ohio,
going after mine parts in a pickup truck. They had told me which roads to
take and what the exit was, and I was supposed to find this company that
was on Fifth Street.
"So I drove all around looking for a 5, and I couldn't find it. That's
when I realized 'Fifth' was a word, and I couldn't read it. I couldn't find
it. That's the only time I ever cried in my life. I just pulled off the
road and sat there and cried. I was 8 hours away from home and it was getting
dark. That was pitiful.
"Finally I had to ask somebody, and it turned out I was sitting right
at it. I could see it. I felt so bad I didn't even stay the night. After
I did my business I drove on back, and I was down all the way home. I was
so blue. I felt the worst I've ever felt. There I was -- a grown man --
trying to make a living in that shape!"
Then he learned to write.
"I didn't know learning to read would change my life so much. It has
made me have more confidence in myself. Before, I even had a fear of going
into a public restroom. I had fear of being embarrassed by someone handing
me something to read. I stayed away from places such as banks, post offices
and doctors' offices. The first visit to a new doctor was hardest because
you had to fill out forms. I always had my wife with me.
"Now, I'll go anywhere. Also, me and my wife leave notes for each other.
Now that's something!"
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