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The Stuttering Foundation Receives a Helping Hand

**Behind the scenes of some of our King's Speech media exposure**

Stuttering: The Heartless Enemy of Communication

By Ed Arrington

Many years ago when I was in the Air Force, stationed in San Antonio, Texas, I went through a traumatic, distressing, and humiliating experience.

The King's Speech

Reviewed by John M. Williams

I was very slow to see the movie The King’s Speech. I had wanted to see it for many months after I read my first review in late 2010. I am overjoyed with having seen it. It is a movie I will watch many times. I enjoyed it that much.

As I watched the movie, I drew many parallels between the sometimes despicable ways speech therapists and others treated the future King and me.

Stuttering Foundation Gets Starring Role on The King's Speech DVD

While the Oscar-winning movie The King’s Speech is universally treasured by the stuttering community, there is a hidden gem on the DVD and Blu-ray editions released in mid-April.

A Third Generation view of the King

By Jean Gruss

Editor’s Note: Jean Gruss, the author of this article, is the grandson of Stuttering Foundation founder Malcolm Fraser and Mark Logue is the grandson of Lionel Logue.

For decades, Lionel Logue’s name was an obscure footnote in biographies of British King George VI.

But thanks to his grandson and a blockbuster movie, he’s quickly become the most famous speech therapist in history.

Screenwriter Seidler Triumphed Over His Own Stutter

An Eloquently Golden Ride on the Red Carpet

"We have a voice. We have been heard."
David Seidler, while accepting his Oscar for The King's Speech

Stuttering Foundation Makes Headlines Around the World

Comments from Across the Globe

King's Speech Wins 13th Honor: The Stuttering Foundation Gives It 'A Hero's Welcome'

-From the Summer 2011 Newsletter

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CELEBRITY FOCUS

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.

Mel Tillis

Mel Tillis, born Lonnie Melvin Tillis, was an influential figure in country music, both as a songwriter and a performer. His journey to fame was marked by overcoming personal challenges, including a stutter that he turned into a defining part of his public persona.