At 64, this musician is realizing his dream by learning how to read

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Newsmakers)

His early life wasn't easy — as a child, Ralph Burns, now 64, was abandoned, and he had to drop out of school in the third grade — but he found his calling in music, playing the guitar at parties and bars and becoming a pastor.

Burns never learned how to read during his youth, and while it "embarrassed me sometimes, I got over that," he told Local 8 News in Knoxville. He wanted to learn and people tried to teach him over the years, but things didn't click until Burns met Sydney Osborne, a volunteer with the Friends of Literacy group. The pair have spent the last 18 months working together for two hours a week, with Osborne teaching Burns the letters and sounds of the alphabet. Burns can now read at a first grade level, and is looking forward to improving his skills. "This opens up a whole world," he said. "I can go into a restaurant and almost read the menu."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.