Lynda Richards as she received her training for the Speakers Bureau at the Saskatchewan Literacy Network

Great to Be Alive!

Lynda Richards of Swift Current, Saskatchewan is now the President of the Saskatchewan Literacy Network. She also holds down two jobs and does extensive volunteering. For many years she has been speaking out on the importance of literacy and learning. Here is her amazing story of success:

Two out of every five people in Saskatchewan ages 16-69 have difficulty with reading and writing and I am one of those people. I have always found learning hard. I couldn’t stay focused on what was going on. The other kids teased me and made fun of me. When I acted out, the teacher would put me in front of the class and make me read and the other kids laughed at me.

I was from a low-income family without a mom and an abusive father. My clothes weren’t always clean.We lived on a farm and I smelled like the barn lots of times. After a while, I didn’t care if I was in school, at home. I lived in a dream world and what really happened didn’t happen. After a while I didn’t really know reality from fiction. I hated everything in my life except for the relationship I had with my brother.

In 1970 my brother was killed in a car accident. After this, I ran away. I was going to find him and I ran around the country from the east coast to the west coast. I had reached the bottom and there was nowhere to go except to work my way back up the ladder.