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

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.

Darren Sproles

Darren Sproles, a former player for The Philadelphia Eagles, the New Orleans Saints and the San Diego Chargers, made history in 2007 when he became the first player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt for his first two NFL touchdowns in the same game. In 2021, he was selected to be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.

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 Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.