Beware of Literacy, My Young Ones

In the spring of 1969, wrapping up the first year of the Drama Division at the Julliard School (a program he had founded), John Houseman wrote, “Glancing over our tests in theatre history, I am appalled by their incredible illiteracy.”

“Under the guise of ‘doing one’s thing,’ many students had virtually given up reading during those troubled years. I asked one bright girl, who had read a lot in high school, why she had stopped. ‘It might affect my thinking,’ she said.

Source: “Final Dress” by John Houseman