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                      Sack, Allan, 1914 or 1915-2003.

 
 
 
Allan Sack, 88, Early Speed-Reading Educator, Dies
By WOLFGANG SAXON
New York Times, May 4, 2003
 

Allan Sack, a pioneering speed-reading educator who taught fast ways to absorb information from the printed page well before Evelyn Wood became a franchised household name, died last Sunday in San Diego. He was 88 and had lived in San Diego since 1990.

Mr. Sack worked in adult reading education for more than 50 years, mostly in New York but later at the University of California at San Diego. He taught what he called his structural-analytical method, which was based on analyzing the meaning and organization of a text to enhance comprehension and performance in reading, writing and note-taking.

His latest book, meant for teachers, was "Raising Reading Scores," issued last year. The publisher, Optima Books of Berkeley, Calif., has scheduled two more of his books for this year — "Shortcut to Word Power: Essential Greek and Latin Roots and Prefixes" and "How to Build an Educated Vocabulary: An Enjoyable, Engrossing, Informative Guide to Increasing Word Knowledge."

A native of New York, Mr. Sack graduated from Brooklyn College in 1932 and received a master's degree in educational psychology from Teachers College at Columbia. In 1951, he and Jack Yourman founded the Speed Reading Institute in New York. In affiliation with various colleges, Mr. Sack's institute offered workshops in his structural approach.

Mr. Sack is survived by his wife of 61 years, the former Florence Gold; a daughter, Anne S. Heybey of Ann Arbor, Mich.; a son, David B., of Kibbutz Dan, Israel; a brother, Irwin S. of Woodsburgh, N.Y.; three grandchildren; and two great-grandsons.
  




The secret to a full life: Turn one page at a time
    

from SignOnSanDiego.com

September 10, 2002

 So who would have thought that Simon and Rachel Sack's yinguela, Allan, would get a degree in English literature and go on to teach a million kids and adults to read faster?

Allan couldn't even speak his ancestors' Yiddish, for crying out loud.

Oh sure, he'd regularly go from his parents' home in Brooklyn to his grandma Mary Turkin's place in the Bronx.

And there, he'd laugh himself almost sick right along with everyone else when all those friends and relatives from the old country, Russia, would gather and start telling funny stories.

But Allan could never understand exactly what they were saying.

To hear him tell it, though, he could always feel, from their mannerisms and the way some of his favorite uncles and cousins would fall on the floor rolling with laughter, that he was part of good times.

And that same thing connecting him with those good feelings eventually made him come to understand that the love of both English and the science of reading is in his soul.

Allan developed a method of improving reading speed and comprehension by having readers focus on the structure and organization of written material.

He wrote 13 books on the subject, including "Raising Reading Scores," which was published last June by Optima Books in Berkeley.

And back in 1951, he and a partner, Jack Yourman, opened the Speed Reading Institute in New York and kept it going, teaching Allan's method for 30 years until Yourman decided he wanted to change careers.

Allan is certain that he and his partner were first to coin the term "speed read." And he's lectured all over the United States and Canada. But who would have guessed that he'd still be going strong today, at 88?

Well, maybe everybody, especially those who know him best, should have expected it.

Allan Sack was always a smart guy. He graduated valedictorian of his senior class at P.S. 128 in Brooklyn before earning bachelor's and master's degrees at Brooklyn College and Columbia University.

He also had the good sense to marry that sweet Florence Gold very soon after they met at a summer camp, where they were working, in New Jersey 60 years ago.

They raised two children together. They've ridden out a lot of gales, side by side.

And Allan won't hesitate to say: Even more than the inner fortitude that helped keep him on this side of the deep end at the height of the Great Depression, his marriage has always been the strength of him.

"Every man should have a wife," he's fond of saying.

Still, most people just don't expect a guy with his years to have all of his energy.

And clearly more than a good long-lasting marriage keeps Allan young.

His work has a lot to do with that.

He still maintains the passion and drive for what he started years ago and right now, for example, he's cruising on an idea for another book.

"I can't slow down," he says, while taking in the sunshine that attracted him and his wife to La Jolla for their later years. "I'm not retired. I have no concept of retirement."

His attitude gives him yet another boost.

Allan stays active in the Institute for Continued Learning, a program at UCSD for retired and semiretired adults.

And eight years ago, he and six other students of the institute formed themselves into a small club that meets regularly every month just to keep each other further stimulated with good conversation.

Allan also stays focused on the positives in life.

He's certain he could have become a multimillionaire if he'd done some things differently when his former partner, Yourman, decided to sell off the Speed Reading Institute years ago.

But Allan might have had to give up his work in teaching reading.

"I could never have done that," he says. "So I have no regrets. This has never been about money to me – this is part of me."

Anyone can guess that.