Retired lobsterman, Jim Henry, now 98, was illiterate until two years ago. Not only did he learn to read and write, he became a published author. In a Fisherman’s Language: An autobiography was released late last year by the local Fowler Road Press, and became a best seller in Henry’s home town of Mystic, CT, outselling Steve Jobs’ book. Sales are about to get a boost; the book is featured in new issue of People (March 5).

Henry is getting used to media attention; his story was covered late last year by the local CBS News station, USA Today, CNN and even The Daily Mail in the UK.

Amazon has republished the book in a Kindle edition. In hardcover, it is still available through In a Fisherman’s Language web site. The first printings sold out, but a new shipment has arrived yesterday, just in time for this new round of publicity.

Henry says he was insipred by George Dawson, who learned to read at 98 and wrote a book called Life Is So Good at the age of 101.

Life Is So Good: One Man’s Extraordinary Journey through the 20th Century and How he Learned to Read at Age 98 George Dawson, Richard Glaubman Retail Price: $15.00 Paperback: 260 pages Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) – (2001-06-01) ISBN / EAN: 0141001682 / 9780141001685

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 23rd, 2012 at 11:52 am and is filed under Memoirs, Nonfiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.