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Pg 306
Curtis Aikens is from Conyers, Georgia (rural area). -
Pg 306
In the third grade he had a teachers conference. -
Pg 306
Teacher said ,he is a nice boy but he has a reading problem and needs to repeat third grade. -
Pg 307
Curtis decided to lie about not being able to read or write so people would not call him "dumb" or "stupid". -
Pg 307
He does not blame the school for not helping him but he is learning the skill to lie and not be questioned. -
Pg 307
"If you sound smart, people will think you are smart".
He watched TV /videos to get vocabulary to keep up with the scam. -
Pg 308
Heavy electives and light on academics for his schedule in high school. -
Pg 308
Star football player, student council member, and won a cooking competition. -
Pg 309
He got a scholarship for college. His family was happy. He was scared because he had to lie for four more years. -
Pg 309
Halfway through sophomore year (1.5 years ) he dropped out of college. -
Pg 309
He moved to California. -
Pg 310
He got a job at a grocery store but he got in trouble with his boss because he cannot read. -
Pg 310
He wanted to open his own produce ( fruits and vegetables) company. -
Pg 311
He would give blank checks to companies because he could not read the invoices. -
Pg 311
Curtis did not know that he had to lower his prices and he lost customers and his business failed. -
Pg 312
Curtis was traveling and could not read road signs or airport signs. -
Pg 312
Curtis saw a PSA for a program that helps people read with no judgment. -
Pg 313
He took literacy classes with Steve and Ginny. He felt happy to be honest about his problem. -
Pg 313
He does really well with the literacy program and now read a book a week. -
Pg 314
He goes back to Georgia and starts another produce company and eventually becomes a food colomist. -
Pg 314
He decided to be a celebrity and use his platform to reach out to the illiterate community. -
Pg 314
He called an old friend and confessed his past and the friend called news shows to share his story. -
Pg 314
Published his first cookbook. -
Pg 315
Curtis messed up on TV reading a telepromter and cried on National TV. -
Pg 315
People called the TV show looking for help with reading because of Curtis.