In 2004, Jerry Pinkney stood at the podium and began “I am dyslexic.” I was in the audience of more than 300 librarians, teachers, and children’s book lovers to hear his acceptance speech for the University of Southern Mississippi Medallion for his contributions to children’s literature at the Kaigler Book Festival. The rest of his speech was marvelous, but the impact of his first words touched home since my grandson Hayden was in the throes of dealing with dyslexia. He had once described words on a page as “looking like tigers fighting.”
When the group broke as Jerry finished speaking, an unseen magnet formed a line that snaked around the room filled with those book lovers just wanting to have a brief word with him. There was no chance of my making it anywhere near him. However, I glanced over and saw his wife Gloria talking to a friend of mine. I joined them and thanked her for his speech and said, “His comment will be in an email to my grandson tonight who shares both dyslexia and artistic talent with Jerry.”
She asked, “Where is your grandson?” I told her he lived in DC. Seeing that I was about to leave, she said, “Wait a minute.”
She took me around that long snaking line right up to Jerry and let him finish with the person he was greeting. She got his attention, told him my story, and asked, “What is the name of that school in DC that works with dyslexia?”
He said, “The Lab School.” He went on to say he had done some work with them and that they had a residency program but also tutoring possibilities. He said if he could be of any help to Hayden, to let him know. My email that night had a recommendation for help as well as the commonality between Hayden and Jerry struggling with words while finding success and joy in art, both starting with pencil and paper.
The Lab School evaluated Hayden and recommended tutoring. Dyslexia doesn’t have easy solutions, but good results came with the recommended tutor, Hayden’s strong work ethic, and school adjustments. When he got to a high school that valued the arts, he fulfilled all the required courses and crammed art classes into the rest of his schedule. At graduation time, I asked if he had rather we come to his senior art show or graduation. He answered quickly, “The art show.” He let me choose which one of his pieces I would like to take home. I chose the one hanging on my living room wall since it takes me back to watching him when he was a small child with that pencil and paper bringing life to the idea in his head.
Jerry Pinkney has won more honors than I can list here but they pale beside his concern for the individual children under his influence. It did not surprise me to read in his obituary, “In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Dyslexia Foundation (dyslexiafoundation.org) or the Teatown Lake Reservation Preserve and Education Center (teatown.org).”