My father started selling newspapers back then, when he was about 12 years old.
Back then people had to go to work to help the family out because it was tough back in them days.
I wasn't around then, but the stories he used to tell us - they really had tough times.
His mother used to get up early in the morning, bake bread, make her own bread, My grandmother I knew; my grandfather died before I was born.
My father said he was a strong man, he stood about 6 foot 6, but he could polish away a gallon of wine a night but never, never missed work in all his life.
As the years went by my father ended up selling papers for 70 years.
But during that time, all my brothers had to contribute to work with him down city. Get up at 4 o'clock in the morning, every morning, at 9 years old for a few hours before we had to go to school. My older brother did it for a long time. I did for a long time.
My brother Richard used to get arguments, and then he'd leave. He didn't last too long. And my younger brother he was lazy anyway, so he never really held onto any job after that.
Then I ended up taking it over - all together I was there for about 30 years when I was young, til I got older.
It was a hard living. You made a decent pay - my father brought up 5 of us, but back then you had to come to the city to get papers, magazines.
People ask me, why aren't you still there - well, times change and everybody - gas stations, markets, drug stores - they sell papers and everything. Everybody travels - bigger businesses than me went under.
But it was a pleasure working there - I met all kinds of people from the richest to the homeless. I met professors, I met the average person, lawyers, doctors, I became acquainted with.
Reading wise - it was hard; but street smarts - I was a pretty smart person. And now I'm still sharp and street smart.
If I ever had the education of reading, I could have gone a far way. I even talked to professors from Brown and they never thought I had a problem like that. I could hold a pretty good conversation and be aware of what was going on in the world
I listened to a lot of radio, watched a lot of tv about what was going on in the world And so I tried to be pretty well-rounded about life. You learn something new every day.
I do miss what I've done. But I really had a good time at it. I'm glad my father stirred me to work, because I could have been a bum today, but my father was a hard worker, God bless him.
For not having that much school, he was pretty good - he could read and he took my mother, they went to Italy for three or four months. My father could speak very very very good. He was born in America. My grandfather for what reason - don't ask me why - he used to ship the family to Italy every time a new president came in.
My father came back at 8 years old, he couldn't speak English. He could only speak Italian. We thought that was unbelievable. He could speak from the poorest Italians to the Tuscans - they thought they were high and mighty - my father could hold a conversation with them too.
He went back to Italy - he still had relations back there. He could remember when his cousins went to pick him up, from all that time, he could remember how to get back to the house.
They thought it was luck - he told them what kind of tile floor they had - they were amazed. They thought he wanted the property - but he laughed, he just wanted to visit before he and his wife went to heaven.
Donald George lives in Providence, Rhode Island. He says, "I felt sorry for himself for never learning how to read. I had a lot of good opportunities but never took them because you really really have to know how to read and I wish I did this 30 years ago. I think if I did this 30 years ago and learned about reading even to the 7th grade level I could have really made something out of myself. I've learned a lot of things being out in the streets. Not knowing how to read is very hard. You can talk to a lot of people and really talk to them and they never know that you weren't really educated in reading. I met a lot of people while I was selling papers - lawyers, doctors and professors - and became friendly with a professor at Brown. We got talking one day and I'd look at the paper, but I couldn't read. I said to him, 'would you laugh at me ( I didn't use the word literacy - I didn't even know what literacy meant) - would you believe that I'm stupid, I don't know how to read?"
he said, "what?" I said, yes, that's true. He said, "let me tell you something young man, you're not stupid - I've been buying papers for many year and I would not have ever known that you did not know how to read for all the conversations we've had together. But it took my 30 years to realize that I wasn't the only unfortunate person that didn't know how to read.
One day many many years later I went to a literacy course on Elmwood Avenue and I met Eddie Tomasso. He had a business and people never knew that he had the same problem that I had. I just thank the people who can help people like us - now I know what literacy means. We're not dumb, we just take a little longer to learn things. Back then, when I went to school - if you tell a lot of teachers today it was an ungraded room - they don't know what an ungraded room is. But when you find out what it is - people call you dumb, kids call you dumb - it hurts. In your lifetime you shy away for a long time. but, I'm 60 now, and the teachers you meet today they don't make you feel stupid. They've learned a lot of things over the years themselves. I've been going to Brown with two young students - they don't get enough recognition - Cary and Belinda. When they left, they set me up with another teacher, Janet. I'm glad that Belinda and Cary still think about me and we keep in touch with each other. I'm glad they let me meet Janet - she does stick with me and she's making me feel a lot better about myself than I did.
Donald has three children and seven grandchildren - and they're all smart.
page created February 27, 2006