HAWAIIAN STYLE
Man's oft-thwarted attempts at literacy fulfilled at age 59
He dropped out of school, illiterate, at age 17. He learned to read this year, at age 59.
Then, David Trimm wrote to the president and to a brother he hadn't heard from in 30 years.
His brother wrote back. President Bush did not.
Trimm, a native of New York state who now is a resident of a Makaha nursing home, divided his early years between the care of his struggling — and illiterate — mother and a Potsdam, N.Y., orphanage.
Unable to read, he depended on memory to absorb lessons in school.
Teachers noticed that he excelled in history and science, and they began administering tests verbally. For his troubles, he got beatings from fellow students as a teacher's pet, and had 10 points subtracted from each, often perfect, grade to compensate for not being able to read.
"This is as far as you can go," the principal told him when he was in eighth grade. His dream of becoming a priest was thwarted by his inability to read.
Thrust into the real world, Trimm found that memory was his only resource. For some tasks — paying bills or taxes, filling out job applications — he depended on the kindness of strangers and friends. He took driving tests orally, and guessed which was the men's bathroom.
"I had to learn to survive," he said. He found that recipes were the easiest thing to memorize.
"Cooking," he said, "was the easiest thing at the time to do."
With his gift, he advanced through restaurant and bakery jobs.
"It took time," Trimm recalled, "And a lot of patience."
At 30, he took another stab at reading.
Thrown into an overflowing class of mostly non-English speakers, Trimm again fell behind.
And, with moves between jobs and eventually cities, he lost contact with his brother. Thirty years passed, during which time Trimm found jobs at places including such Hawai'i eateries as It's Greek to Me, Kengo's and the Honolulu Club.
By September 2002, he was disabled by diabetes, required the use of a wheelchair and resided in a Makaha nursing home.
The days were long. Even word games played by fellow residents became an embarrassment for Trimm. With the luxury of time, he asked once again to learn to read.
The Hawaii Literacy program was the answer to his prayer.
Volunteer tutor Georgia Metzler was his angel.
The pairing was perfect: "I couldn't have done this without (her patience)," he said.
For her part, the pairing was simply logical: "I'm a retired first-grade teacher," Metzler said.
They began with the ABCs — "It's easier to eat a pie one piece at a time," said Metzler.
Now, nearing their partnership's first anniversary, Trimm reads at a fifth-grade level, with the skills to figure out new words himself, she said.
He reads insatiably, eight or nine hours a day. He has found one book — about Helen Keller's struggle — to be most poignant. His reading selections range from "Lost in Space: Robot World," to a biography of Colin Powell.
He reads the newspaper daily, although he admits to watching CNN to digest the day's happenings more easily. He also reads the Bible, renewing a desire to join the priesthood as well as to get his high school equivalency diploma.
He sheepishly admits that spelling is his stumbling block and that Hawaiian words are even more mysterious, with their preponderance of multiple vowels and such.
Trimm not only reads nowadays but writes as well.
Honored as Hawaii Literacy's Adult Literacy Student of the Year, he wrote his own acceptance letter and a thank-you note to Heidi Byrne, the group's adult literacy program specialist: "I believe in making wishes, and have faith they can come true." In rounded block letters, he ended, "I am so happy!" He signed his name.
After researching his brother's address, Trimm finally wrote to his long-lost sibling. And to President Bush, in support of his Iraq policy. He cited biblical passages that he had read.
Trimm's brother responded, and the two are planning a reunion.
