Self-Esteem & Stress Management
Henry Franklin Winkler (born October 30, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, author, executive producer, and director. Initially rising to fame as Arthur “Fonzie” Fonzarelli on the American television series Happy Days. In 2003, he drew upon his childhood struggles with dyslexia to co-write the Hank Zipzer series of children’s books with children’s literature author Lin Oliver.
“I would study my words. I would know them cold. I would know them backwards and forwards. I would go to class. I would pray that I had retained them. Then I would get the test and spend a lot of time thinking about where the hell those words went. I knew them. The must have fallen out of my head. Did I lose them on the street? Did I lose them in the stairwell? Did I lose them walking through the classroom doorway? I didn’t have the slightest idea of how to spell the words that I knew a block and a half away in my apartment the night before.”
Winkler has been honored both for his role as “The Fonz”, and for his work with dyslexia through the Hank Zipzer series.
View a video interview with Lin Oliver and Henry Winkler on our sister site, ReadingRocket.org.