John Langan

In college and beyond, John Langan supported himself by working a variety of low-income jobs. He was an apple packer, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, a truck driver, and a machinist--experiences, he argues, as valuable as the two master's degrees he later earned. When he started teaching at Atlantic Cape Community College, New Jersey, his reading and writing skill classes were filled with students with whom he immediately identified; they often worked in the same kinds of in-the...See more

In college and beyond, John Langan supported himself by working a variety of low-income jobs. He was an apple packer, a battery assembler, a hospital attendant, a truck driver, and a machinist--experiences, he argues, as valuable as the two master's degrees he later earned. When he started teaching at Atlantic Cape Community College, New Jersey, his reading and writing skill classes were filled with students with whom he immediately identified; they often worked in the same kinds of in-the-trenches jobs he had earlier. To help his blue-collar workers develop the skills they needed to thrive professionally and personally, he began creating his own down-to-earth teaching materials and eventually published five widely-successful writing and reading texts with the McGraw Hill book company. After gaining some publishing know-how, he started his own educational publishing company, Townsend Press, and has sold millions of skills book noted for their moderate prices, clarity of instruction, and friendly tone. He also makes available the nonprofit "Townsend Library"--a paperback collection of over one hundred new and classic stories that appeal to a wide range of readers. And during the last twenty-five years, through his Townsend Foundation, scholarships have been awarded to hundreds of thousands of students from low-income backgrounds. See less