Golf lost a legend last week. The Stuttering Foundation lost a hero.
When Ken Venturi was growing up, the idea that he could spend 35 years as a TV golf analyst was unthinkable. He suffered from a severe stutter.
“I couldn’t be with my friends and do things the other kids did,” Venturi said in an 2011 interview. I was too embarrassed. I didn’t even date. How can you get a date with a girl if you can’t even ask her out?”
His mother was told he never would overcome the affliction. Venturi, though, eventually did.
“It took me a while before I became comfortable around people,” he said. “I still stutter, but I can control it and it doesn’t embarrass me anymore. I don’t mind talking about it, and I am working with youngsters who stutter, which has been a rewarding experience. I appreciate the opportunity to work with them and try to advise and encourage kids with speech problems.”
Indeed, Venturi became the first celebrity spokesman for The Stuttering Foundation. President Jane Fraser paid tribute to Venturi on the site:
“The stuttering community lost a real champion in Ken Venturi.
“Nearly 30 years ago, Ken became our first “Famous Person Who Stutters” – a ever-growing list of more than 100 well-known people who provide hope and courage to the 68 million people who stutter worldwide. He was one of the first to offer his help to the stuttering community, and remained faithful to the cause for decades.
“Ken faced no bigger obstacle than stuttering. Ken Venturi is a hero to those who stutter, going out of his way to share his personal experience when consulted by a colleague, friend, or child who stutters.
“Ken was the first national spokesman for the Stuttering Foundation nearly three decades ago. As was his way, he offered to fill that role for us because his concern for those who stutter was unparalleled. In a letter dated July 1986, Ken wrote my father, our founder Malcolm Fraser, saying he wished to do whatever he could to help those who stutter.”
Venturi led a life that had an impact way beyond golf. Just imagine all the people he inspired to overcome their stuttering problems.
Back in the 1960’s I met Ken Venturi at an exhibition golf event at theTedesco Country Club in Massachusetts. I had a chance to speak with him and asked him a few golf questions. He was extremely cordial, and I was greatly impressed that he spent a few minutes chatting with me. I was cheering for him to win the US Open at Congressional, and he did. WOW !!!
In my opinion he was the best golf commentator/announcer ever. He was truly a role model and inspiration both to aspiring golfers and aspiring speakers. Aside from his fluency, I was even more impressed by his “speech naturalness.” His speech was never forces, but always easy and relaxed.
I am not ashamed to tell you that I had a lump in my throat and a tear isn my eye when I watched the tributes that were televised at the weekend golf tournament that was played just after his death.