Jack Paar stuttered badly in his early years and in his youth he copied Demosthenes' method of putting pebbles in his mouth by placing buttons in his mouth. He would have "make believe" radio shows of his own in his room. In fact, after high school he got a job sweeping floors at a radio station in the hope of one day being on the radio. More than one person told him to forget about a career in radio, but he persevered and still practiced with the Demosthenes method on occasion until he became a great radio star, and then made the transition into film and television.
The article mentioned that Demosthenes was very wealthy early in his life. Stuttering does not discriminate and affects all segments of society equally. 1% of all adults stutter in addition to 4% of children at some point during their developing years. With its population of 13.7 million, there are no doubt many people who stutter in Zimbabwe!
A non-profit charity called The Stuttering Foundation (www.stutteringhelp.com) has a great website that can help people in other countries as it provides many free resources for adults, children and parents. There are streaming videos and downloadable literature such as books and brochures on a wide range of topics. I hope that people who stutter in Zimbabwe and other African countries can be helped by these free resources. – LAURA PALMER, Houston, Texas, USA
Post published in: Letters to the Editor