When you mention "The Letter People" to a 50-year-old who experienced them as a child, their eyes widen with excitement. Here's why... Pre-dating "Sesame Street," teacher Elayne Reiss-Weimann devised a way for her severely struggling students to learn the basic elements of reading. The result, with aid from her co-teacher Rita Friedman, was The Letter People - a national phenomenon throughout the 1970s and 80s in kindergarten & first grade classrooms. Kids fell madly in love with the inflatable characters — The Huggables — whom they believed were alive. It invented techniques that are used by other reading programs to this day! Watch this amazing story told by Elayne, original publisher Dr. Bernard Kauderer, and others who brought the program to life & turned it into a pop culture sensation.
Elaine Reiss-Weimann
Bernard Kauderer
David R. Traynor
Jacqueline S. Adams
Jason Paul Collum
Alison Grant-Schmerler
Alan Friedman
Lynell Johnson
Jack Brenner
Ron Chase
Cathy Zier
Maureen Troy
Jeanne Piper
Kim Blake
Gayle Letsch
Katie Majors
Jen Hornyak
David T. Janasiak
Suzanne LeTendre-Janasiak
Jennifer Lynn Goebel
Julie Redmon
Anthony Rogan
Victoria Vollman
Kate Aaron Yoder
Mike Coates
Matthew Wade Shapiro
Erin Johnson
Cynthia Vasey
Carol Murdock