| Show and the markers were situated at points corresponding to those years in the growth of the tree I was told that if I'd read all I could whenever I found something notably historic then that could become another marker in my slice of tree From then on I read every book I could handle along with my grandpa's newspapers for black people which came by mail Today I absolutely believe that the reading inspired by the tree slice greatly influenced my becoming an author It is also why I like most of all to write about historical subjects 0 BUICK THE ONLY AMERICAN CARLINE To RANK IN THE TOP 10 IN INITIAL QUALITY Those questions I had in mind about Joseph Rivera continued to tug at me and finally I returned to the supermarket I wanted to know more about how he had reached adulthood actually unable to read and what his life had been like as a result We went to breakfast with his wife and baby daughter As I listened during our breakfast Rivera told me the story of illiteracy far more vividly than all the statistics I'd read ' PARADE MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 2 1990 PAGE 29 4 A it L 0 tstMcolkilAn''xivN 1 Aut 111-1A- h 1 oRisti IAPNNI mtaKKAnit - Ifyais i Joseph Rivera was born in New Orleans on Oct 26 1961 one of four sons of a Puerto Rican father who could neither read nor write English "but he could repair any washing machine ever made" Rivera said "and he could assemble an automobile's engine from its parts" "My mind was on hustling for some spending money when I started school" Rivera said "I'd stick a book up before my face or make pencil marks on a tablet to look like I was reading or writing and when I got too big to be in that class the teachers would pass me on "All the time I was learning many ways to bluff it so nobody would know I couldn't read or write One good result was I learned to listen very closely to what other people said because that fed me with clues to help me cover up if somebody asked me something Maybe it might involve something printed on paper Well I'd glance at it real fast before I'd say 'Yeah right!' By this time I'd learned I had to be real careful whom I'd let know I couldn't read because plenty of people reacted as if you were afflicted with some catching disease "But by now I'd learned to fake For example if I took a date to a restaurant always I'd order for myself something I knew they had like maybe the original New Orleans Po' Boy sandwich which is fried oysters between French bread "Working in a warehouse if somebody handed me an order list well at least I knew my ABCs enough that I could carefully compare the letters on the list and match them up with the letter on a box in the warehouse "I mean I could do just about anything I wanted to do except to read" It was around age 22 that he and Angela got married Rivera said She was from Knoxville she worked for a music company she could read like a whiz and she thought he was teasing when he told her he couldn't read "Then I took a job at the Schwegmann supermarket" he went on "After a while I rose to assistant floor supervisor Then they next offered me a chance to train to be a store manager Man I could taste AD ' mEIAGE 2 GEtlIkAts1 - ' - r - tg1?kx‘Ilz 3 ' ' 0 -- ' it fc))(pJk 4 itift0111 ' 06 5 BIJICK 4US e ' I ' ' V1014Dk 7 - :' ‘ :- 7 NISS1 : : - oht4 - 111rw - ! 48 e ' ' 6 - otviwinti gt3pilit ' " 0' : ' ' 9 4 ANN ' : -- - 16ippdi : a - iow2Eltk - BUT THEN QUALITY HAS NEVER BEEN FOREIGN To BUICK Year after year Buick's reputation for quality during the first 90 days of ownership Buick ranked ahead of imports like Acura grows stronger and stronger The latest measure of Buick quality is the 'Honda Quality Survey!m This is an independent based on owner-reporte- d new-ca-r trouble-fre- e BUICK The New Symbol For 0 W Quality In America rt k together—buckle up Let's ©1990 GM Com All tights resented for the American canine For world-clas- s quality that's made in America see buyers problems and Mazda And second year in a row Buick is the most ID Power and Associates 1990 Initial survey of over 26000 BMW Nissan your Buick dealer Call |
