[Reading-hall-of-fame] Re: Dick and Jane

[Ken Goodman]

Gray was the principle author of Scott Foresman's series and set the form
for all those controlled vocabulary reading programs.
I started school in Chicago in 1932 and may have been among the first
users. When dick and Jane were put out to retirement in the 70's theere was
alot of news coverage, I joined the team of authors of reading unlimated
which moved away from controlled vocabulary and became literature based.
Sometime later I got a call from a Vermont teacher who  identified hersellf
as Sally. Her father was the artist who did the illustrations. SHe was the
model for baby Sally. SHe had become a whole language teacher.

Remember that this was an era of Freudian views that kids needed strong
role models so the children were well behaved . Father wore a suit, Mother
was shown in her kitchen wearing an apron and it was several decades late
that Dick andJane were shown in play clothes.
The suburban setting was to give kids something to admire and aspire to.

I don't doubt that someone was designated to monitor how the children were
dressed and that they were correctly proper.
Incidentally the major four figure royalties were largely from the work
books which were printed several hundred thousand at atime several times a
year,

No authors were on royalty while was an author, We each got a set amount.
None of authors wrote any of the material in the program.
Ken Goodman

On Thu, Nov 22, 2012 at 5:26 PM, <tsticht at znet.com> wrote:

> Greetings folks! I came across the following statement about the Dick and
> Jane series:
>
> quote:"Miss Zerna Sharp, known as the "Mother of Dick and Jane" was a
> beautiful and highly intelligent woman and deserves credit in the creation
> of Dick and Jane. Without Zerna, her thoughts, her beliefs, and fabulous
> skills, this series would never have been born." end quote
>
> I'm wondering if some of you know if this is accurate. I'd also like to
> know
> if it is accurate to refer to Willam S. Gray as "the Father of Dick and
> Jane"?
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Tom Sticht
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Reading-hall-of-fame mailing list
> Reading-hall-of-fame at lists.nottingham.ac.uk
> http://lists.nottingham.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/reading-hall-of-fame
> This message and any attachment are intended solely for the addressee and
> may contain confidential information. If you have received this message in
> error, please send it back to me, and immediately delete it.   Please do
> not use, copy or disclose the information contained in this message or in
> any attachment.  Any views or opinions expressed by the author of this
> email do not necessarily reflect the views of the University of Nottingham.
>
> This message has been checked for viruses but the contents of an attachment
> may still contain software viruses which could damage your computer system:
> you are advised to perform your own checks. Email communications with the
> University of Nottingham may be monitored as permitted by UK legislation.
>



-- 
Ken Goodman
7814 South Galileo Lane
Tucson, Az 85747
520-745-6895

Use Google to see :
Ken Goodman's Morning post