Paul Joseph Stankard

American glass artist Paul Joseph StankardBornPaul Joseph Stankard (1943-04-07) April 7, 1943 (age 83)EducationSalem Community CollegeKnown forglass artistauthor of inspirational books for object makersWebsitepaulstankard.com Paul Joseph Stankard (born April 7, 1943) is an American artist, flameworker (or 'lampworker') and author. Early life The second of nine children in an Irish Catholic family. Stankard lived in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, in his early years. In his autobiography, Stankard chronicles his early struggles with dyslexia, which made classroom learning difficult. His high school transcripts showed him graduating near the bottom of his class, mistakenly assigned a low IQ score. In the book, Stankard describes the pressure and stigma of being labeled a slow learner by an educational system that at the time was not aware of dyslexia. In 1972 he discovered the concept of dyslexia and started to develop a self-directed learning program that heavily relied on books on tape (audible books). His 50-year learning journey lead to two honorary doctorate degrees and allowed him to overcome his low self-esteem and learning disabilities to become one of the foremost glass arti