john corcoran was one of those. he's the author of the bridge to literary. he was a schoolteacher and real estate developer who did not learn to read until he was 48. welcome to the program nice to see you. a very compelling story you were illiterate to the age of 48. you were a public- school teacher and a real-estate developer. how was it a you get to the part of your life with the ability to read and a second grade level. about 30 percent of the population and learn how to read like birds fly about 30 percent of the population has difficulty acquiring language skills. america has a secret. i lived in the shadows of that secret and we have not been taking all of our people how to read write and spell. we have an illiteracy epidemic in this country and we are now putting back to get birth our economic system one of the critical components to putting it back together is to deal with the fact that 30 percent of our kids are dropping out of school and if you're hispanic or black it says is many as 50% there is the dominant language for success in school is a w