Bloodstein Presented with Prestigious Malcolm Fraser Award

The 1999 Malcolm Faser Award, which honors excellence in the field of fluency, has been presnted by the Stuttering Founation of America to Oliver Bloodstein, a speech-language pathologist. Bloodstein is a Professor Emeritus of Speech at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York and has served on the school's faculty for almost 50 years. Bloodstein received a plaque and the $2,000 award at the sixth Annual Division 4: Fluency and Fluency Disorders in San Diego on June 5, 1999.

Said Dr. Nan Berstein Ratner, "Professor Bloodstein has had an indelible effect on my life as a researcher. I would not be in the field today if it were not for his studies in the early 1970's."

In addition to his long career at CUNY's Brooklyn College, Bloodstein has published almost 40 articles and book chapters, and three books — the research works that shaped our modern view of stuttering.

His best-known contribution to the filed was A Handbook of Stuttering, first published in 1969 and considered a lardmark text. The most recent edition was published in 1995 and Bloodstein's continued updating and publication of this comprehensive, objective, and insightful work has been a significant accompishment. The Handbook continues to be one of the most important works for researchers, teachers, therapists, and ultimately to the many stutterers and their families who benefited from it.

Dr. C. Woodruff Starkweather, who nominated Bloodstein for the award, remarked, "His person-to-person encouragement of young reseachers was certainly his most characteristic contribution. That encouragement was motivated by a pure desire to see research into stuttering advance."

Bloostein, an ASHA Fellow, received the Honors of the Association in 1989. The New York State Speech-Language Hearing Association, which Bloodstein helped found, awarded him its Honors in 1970 and a Professional Achievement Award in 1984. Bloodstein has also served the field in administrative positions and on editorial boards, on ASHA's Clinical Certification Committee and as a Legislative Councilor-at-Large.

The Malcolm Fraser award has been presented annually by the SFA since 1997, honoring excellence in the field of fluency through service delivery, research, support for persons who stutter, or professional training or development of clinicians. The organization was started in 1947 by the late Fraser, a philanthropist and business leader who learned to cope effectively with his own significant stuttering problem. Said Jane Fraser, current SFA president who is Malcolm Fraser's daughter, "There is no one more deserving of this award than Dr. Bloodstein. He is such an outstanding scholar and a gentleman in the finest sense of the word."

From the Fall 1999 Newsletter

CELEBRITY FOCUS

Marilyn Monroe

From Edward S. Herrington's letter to Southcoasttoday.com

I am writing in response to "The importance of voice" (May 29), which mentioned that famous actor James Earl Jones struggled with stuttering. Another famous voice that you cited was the trademark breathy voice of Marilyn Monroe; however, you did not make mention of the fact that Marilyn Monroe also struggled with stuttering at various points in her life, sometimes very painfully.

Bill Withers

While Bill Withers has long been on the Stuttering Foundation's list of Famous People Who Stutter, many people probably didn’t realize he stuttered. He passed away on March 30, 2020.

Born in 1938 in Slab Fork, W.V., Withers was the youngest of six children. When his father died when Withers was small, he was raised by his mother and grandmother, both of whom worked as domestics.

Frank Wolf

This Virginian congressman has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981. The longtime supporter of the Stuttering Foundation drew national attention to childhood stuttering in 2006 when he submitted an article about Tiger Woods from the SFA newsletter to the Congressional Record. The congressman is featured in the Stuttering Foundation's Famous People Who Stutter brochure.

John Melendez

He is a talented musician, actor, and comedian. Listen to a podcast.

Ken Venturi

As much of the nation watches the U.S. Open Golf Championship, it is impossible not to think about our late friend Ken Venturi. Ken overcame many challenges to win the Open at Congressional in 1964 and go on to become the voice of golf for more than three decades.

However, Ken faced no bigger obstacle than stuttering. Ken Venturi was a champion to those who stutter, going out of his way to share his personal experience when consulted by a colleague, friend, or child who stutters.