More than 30,000 people, from tiny kindergarteners to college graduate students, began classes this month in Vigo County.
Many would recognize Henry Winkler as Fonzie from reruns of “Happy Days,” his roles in other TV shows such as “Arrested Development” and “Children’s Hospital,” or his appearances in movies such as Adam Sandler’s “Waterboy.”
Some may dream of being like Fonzie. None, though, would want to hear the words directed at Winkler as a youngster coping with dyslexia.
“The story really is, I was told I would never achieve,” Winkler said by cellphone Wednesday from Burbank, Calif., “and here I am talking to you.”
Since then, the 68-year-old Winkler has worn many titles — actor, director, producer, author, bachelor of arts from Emerson College, master of fine arts from Yale School of Drama, husband (of 36 years to wife, Stacey) and father. The leather jacket he wore as The Fonz hangs in the Smithsonian. The Queen of England presented him with the Order of the British Empire honor. A bronze sculpture of Winkler stands in Milwaukee, the setting for “Happy Days.”
Clearly, he’s achieved much. And is still doing so.
Winkler will carry that story into Terre Haute next month. He’ll speak at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 9, in Tilson Auditorium to open the 2014-15 season of the Indiana State University Speakers Series. Admission is free. His message is universal. He speaks to little kids, high schoolers, collegians and adults. “And everybody gets it in a different way,” he said.
The difficulty of learning and living with a learning disability is captured in the series of children’s books written by Winkler and co-author Lin Oliver. They began the “Hank Zipzer” series in 2003 and recently completed its 27th installment, Winkler explained, with a note of pride in his voice. The books follow the life of Hank, a fourth-grader with dyslexia, labeled “the world’s greatest underachiever.”
Winkler, like millions of the books’ readers, connects with Hank. Winkler took and retook the same geometry course four times in high school. The speeches he makes to young people would’ve helped him in those days in the early 1960s. “I wish that there was somebody who talked to me when I was starting out, and it all looked gray, and I was looking for the entry door to the rest of my life,” Winkler said.
That clashes with the America’s memories of The Fonz, aka Arthur Fonzarelli, the smooth, street-wise mechanic who mesmerized high schoolers Richie Cunningham, Potsy Weber and Ralph Malph, solving problems and summoning girls with a snap of his fingers. These days, when Winkler speaks to actual school students, they realize he shared some of their problems.
”From kindergartners to 12th-graders, they want a hug — the coolest guy and the youngest guy,” Winkler said.
Dyslexia affected Winkler even during “Happy Days.” The cast and crew witnessed it. “They certainly perceived it every Monday when we would read through the script of ‘Happy Days,’ for 10 years,” he recalled, “and I would stumble over my lines in front of the writers.” He felt “embarrassment.”
The takeaway of Winkler’s story, though, is that even though he still deals with dyslexia daily, he refuses to let it prevent him from pursuing goals, working and enjoying a full life. “Every day of my life, I am challenged in following directions. It’s just the way my brain works,” he said.
He brims with enthusiasm over the latest release in his children’s book series, “Here’s Hank.” Winkler relishes talking about his long, diverse acting resume and the assortment of stars he’s worked alongside. Asked to summarize a handful with a few words, Winkler obliged, calling “Waterboy” star Adam Sandler “a genius,” movie director and “Happy Days” co-star Ron Howard “a teacher, solid, limitless” and director-actress and “Laverne & Shirley” star Penny Marshall simply “funny.”
His theatrical skills are better than ever, in his view.
”Absolutely, I am a better actor because I have learned to relax and be, rather than trying to impress,” Winkler said, pausing for a moment in the cellphone interview to shake hands with folks in a Burbank building. Then, thinking of what he’d just said, Winkler quipped, “That was an amazing sentence.”
He sees being recognized as Fonzie, even decades after “Happy Days” ended its run on ABC from 1974-84, as a blessing.
”I am so grateful to have played The Fonz and for the people I met,” he said, without hesitation. “It put a roof over my head, put my kids through college and now, 40 years later, the people still come up to me — a gift from heaven.”
Finding such peace is an achievement.