John Corcoran Foundation

10/20/2026

I'm about to turn 89 years old on December 5th, married to my wife Kathleen for 61 years. Looking back over this long, improbable journey, I sat down to write out some of my deepest reflections on human nature, love, and the mystery of all of it… the short version of course.

I'm sharing this with you today to remind you that it is never, ever too late to find your voice, claim your truth, and stand in awe of this life.

— John Corcoran

Read my new post "The Literacy of the Soul": https://www.johncorcoranfoundation.org/post/the-literacy-of-the-soul

10/14/2026

“Why didn’t anybody help me?”

John Corcoran on the Raising Rock podcast talking about the lifelong pain of illiteracy.

Watch the full episode “The Truth About Reading Struggles: What Every Parent Should Know” on YouTube.

10/14/2026

10/12/2026

The John Corcoran Foundation (JCF) proudly announces a strategic partnership with Reading Road, founded by Kevin Bobroske and David Chalk.

Reading Road is developing a first-of-its-kind, emotionally aware, pattern-trained artificial intelligence (AI) learning infrastructure that provides individualized literacy instruction for children and adults.

Together, the two organizations are committed to supporting the holistic well-being of learners as they accelerate learning.

Read the full press release at https://www.johncorcoranfoundation.org/post/the-john-corcoran-foundation-and-reading-road-announce-a-strategic-partnership-to-advance-literacy-w

10/08/2026

The only cure for illiteracy is literacy.

This , we are especially thankful for all of the educators, parents, advocates and legislators who are fighting for a world where every person can learn how to read!

09/17/2026

In August of the early nineties we had canceled vacation plans, rented an apartment, without a telephone, without a TV and did not tell anyone except our immediate family where we were going.

We were going to the Lindamood-Bell Clinic in San Luis Obispo, a five hour drive from Oceanside.

I spent four life changing weeks with Pat Lindamood and Nanci Bell at the helm, telling and showing the clinicians that worked with me what I needed next. After one month of instruction, and with 100 hours of treatment, I moved up ten years in word attack skills, from the 2nd grade to the 12th grade level. The task went from being hard physically, to a fun learning activity.

I learned how to read at 48. I should have learned, I could have learned at 8, with proper instruction.

— John Corcoran

The Truth About Reading Healing After The Truth Lindamood-Bell

08/26/2026

Rest in peace to the icon, and a true champion of literacy, “The Book Lady” aka Dolly Parton.

As a tribute to her own father who struggled with illiteracy, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has provided over 200 million books to children around the world since its founding in 1995.

We are so grateful for Dolly’s vision for and work towards a world where everyone can read, a mission that lives on in her legacy. 📚💗

08/25/2026

Illiteracy is a crisis that impacts every part of our society. In order to build a truly thriving world, we must ensure that every person has access to proper reading instruction!

🎥 Watch The Truth About Reading: an award-winning documentary on America's illiteracy crisis.

🌳 Follow Healing After The Truth: the upcoming documentary exploring innovative solutions to effectively teach reading.

08/17/2026

More than half of American adults read below a 6th grade level.

One in five adults read below the 3rd grade level.

Never forget that illiterate and sub-literate adults were children and teens once.

In order to equip children, teens, and adults to think critically and navigate our world, we need to teach them how to read.

08/14/2026

In July 1997, the John Corcoran Foundation was created in San Diego to work towards the prevention and eradication of illiteracy and subliteracy—in our community and beyond.

Today, 29 years later, our fight continues as one in two students in San Diego County are below proficient reading levels.

We are grateful to see The San Diego Union-Tribune drawing attention to literacy, an issue we can and must solve once and for all. Thank you to our good friend, Jose Cruz, CEO of the San Diego Council on Literacy, for writing this piece and for your continued work and partnership!

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/08/12/opinion-san-diego-has-a-literacy-crisis-we-can-fix-it/