Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 29, 1992 TAG: 9201290123
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MELANIE S. HATTER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Long
SHARING THE GIFT OF BOOKS
When Arnold Hinkley and his brother-in-law, Woodrow Yopp, quit school around the fourth grade more than 50 years ago, no one thought anything of it.That was how it was back then.
Hinkley and Yopp, both 64, came from large families and had to get jobs to help them survive.
But times have changed and they decided to catch up on what they had missed at school. They joined the Literacy Volunteers of America's New River Valley reading program and have done so well that they spend time sharing their experiences with others.
Both men are retired and some might ask why they bothered going back to school, but it's never too late, they say.
"For the first time in my life I am actually learning to read and write. After 62 years of somehow getting by with just my signature, I decided it was time to open myself up to a `new world' of learning," Yopp wrote in an essay published in the first Share and Learn booklet. Share and Learn is a support group for the students and their families.
Yopp "jumped on" the reading program five years ago after a neighbor told him about it. He encouraged Hinkley to join, and he did about three years ago.
They both had spent the years hiding their inability to read and write, using television to keep up with current events.
Yopp said he bought groceries according to the pictures on the labels or read road numbers instead of street signs.
"My wife never knew I couldn't read or write when we married," he said. He had married Hinkley's sister, Kathleen, in 1948 and had two sons - one graduated from Radford University with a degree in social work.
He was determined that his children finish school because, unlike the 1930s and '40s, a high school diploma is required for even the most basic jobs now, he said.
"I knew they would have to get an education and put money back to put them through school," Yopp said. Watching them learn something he couldn't do "didn't worry me. I was working seven days a week to feed them."
Hinkley hid his inability to read from his seven children for as long as he could, he said. His excuses included saying he didn't have his glasses on to read; or he'd take a job application home and have his wife, Louise, fill it out.
Yopp retired from the Radford Army Ammunition Plant in 1989 after 38 years, but in the last few years there, he realized it was for his own good that he should be able to read new regula- Yopp tions and hazardous material labels on supplies, he said.
"I could really count. That's how I done so good in my job," Yopp said.
Over the years, he had simply learned what to do from others showing him. Now, "I've learned to read and write more. It's made me feel much better," he said. And he's encouraging others to get involved.
Like Yopp, Hinkley learned from watching others. He could watch something done once and was able to repeat it again the next day, he said. Even now, he can take a washing machine apart, fix it and put it back together again, he said.
Hinkley could spell out words, but it took him a long time, he said. When he quit school in Radford he started out on a paper route for the Radford Evening Star, then moved up to printing and casting.
In those days, "you didn't require an education," because most men worked as laborers. Yopp, who was the oldest boy of eight with three older sisters, dropped out of school in Parrott and started work on a farm.
Even after serving in World War II, an education didn't make any difference, Hinkley said. He went to work for the city of Radford and, using picks and shovels, helped lay the sidewalks around Radford University, he said.
He had several jobs over the years doing "a little bit of everything," and finally retired from the Lynchburg Foundry in 1982 after triple bypass surgery, he said.
As they realized the need to read and write, there were either no available programs or not enough time to invest in learning, they said.
However, being retired gives them all the time they need to meet twice a week with a tutor. They also attended the annual national conference in Orlando, Fla., where they participated in workshops and shared their experiences with others from across the country.
They also help raise money for the United Way, which partially funds the literacy program. Annette Clark, executive director of the Montgomery County-Radford United Way, said, "They really helped with our 1992 fund-raising. . . . They told people in their very own words what it means not to be able to read. And many people were very touched."
Hinkley's tutor, Brenda Aylesworth, uses a series of six books (Hinkley is on the last one) for his tutoring sessions, but it's not always on reading, she said. Lessons include check-writing and general survival skills, but at 64 Hinkley "could probably teach me some," she said.
Hinkley's main reason for wanting to read was so he could read his Bible. To aid his learning he is working through a 219-page puzzle book, where he has to find the words in a page of letters. He's on page 54 and he never looks at the answers in the back, he said.
The New River Valley chapter of Literacy Volunteers of America will hold its annual readathon Feb. 8 from 1 until 5 p.m. at public libraries. All ages are encouraged to participate by having people pledge money for the time they\ spend reading. Sponsor sheets are available at the libraries.
Money raised helps the chapter tutor adults who cannot read above a fifth-grade level or those who are learning to speak English as a second language.
Donations used for tutor and student supplies, also are being accepted by\ mail. P.O. Box 96, Christiansburg 24073. Call 382-7262.