Standing onstage in October at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., looking out at hundreds of people in the audience, Oliver James wanted to pinch himself. Instead the 35-year-old motivational speaker, who was being honored by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, took a deep breath before he began reading from a teleprompter. “I was nervous,” Oliver recalls, “but knowing that I was about to do something in front of all those people that I wasn’t very good at was an exciting type of nervousness that I’ll never forget.”
Just a year ago James would have been hardpressed to read a restaurant menu, let alone a teleprompter. All that changed in October 2022, when he kicked off a post on his TikTok page (@oliverspeaks1) with a simple but brutally honest confession: “What’s up? I can’t read.” Overnight James—who had spent his early 20s in prison for dealing firearms—became a bona fide viral sensation as he began posting videos of himself sitting in his van while painstakingly working his way word by word through one book after another.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 11, 2023 من People US.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 11, 2023 من People US.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
DRAWING STRENGTH TOGETHER
WHEN HE SAW HIS TEEN DAUGHTER STRUGGLING, COMIC BOOK AUTHOR ETHAN SACKS CREATED A HERO TO GIVE HER HOPE. THEN THEY JOINED FORCES TO FINISH THE STORY
Her Love Affair With Words
THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF MORE THAN 210 BOOKS REFLECTS ON HER CAREER, THE IMPORTANCE OF GIVING BACK AND WHY SHE'LL NEVER DITCH HER TRUSTED TYPEWRITER FOR A COMPUTER
WHAT I KNOW NOW
THE X-FILES ACTOR AND PODCAST HOST REFLECTS ON PARENTING, SUCCESS AND THE SILVER LINING OF EVERY FAILURE
'I DON'T THINK ABOUT AGE'
THE MATRIX ACTRESS REFLECT ON HER QUIET LIFE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, PARENTING AND STEPPING INTO THE STAR WARS UNIVERSE
'I Didn't Just Survive I Thrived'
Rare flesh-eating bacteria took Aimee Copeland's limbs in 2012. But she persevered
TONY HALE FACING HIS FEARS
THE EMMY-WINNING ACTOR IS ON AN EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER WITH HIS NEW FILM INSIDE OUT 2 AND AS A DAD WATCHING HIS DAUGHTER GRADUATE HIGH SCHOOL
'I Take Bold Risks!'
THE OSCAR-WINNING ACTRESS GETS READY TO HOST THE TONY AWARDS FOR THE THIRD TIME AND OPENS UP ABOUT FAME, HAVING FUN AND FINDING HER FOOTING
You Oughta Know...
The actress-musician, 35, wrote the hit Broadway musical Suffs, about women's fight to vote. It's nominated for six Tonys
Donald Trump Found Guilty of 34 Felonies
On May 30 a New York jury delivered a historic verdict in the first criminal case against a former Commander in Chief
Padma Lakshmi Feels 'More Confident Now' Than in Her 20s
“If you had told me I would be modeling lingerie at 35, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Padma Lakshmi says with a laugh.