Jean Gruss

Stuttering Foundation Board Member Jean Gruss is the founder of Gruss Communications, a public relations firm located in Southwest Florida. Before that, has was a business journalist for more than 25 years. He has written about commercial real estate and economic development for the Tampa Tribune, personal finance for Kiplinger Washington Editors and was an editor with the Business Observer, a regional weekly business newspaper in Florida.

Jean earned awards from the Florida Press Association and Florida Tax Watch for business writing. He lives on Sanibel, Florida, with his wife and two children.

Jean has served on the boards of the CFA Society Naples, the Real Estate Investment Society, the Sanibel School Fund and the Stuttering Foundation.

His interests include:
•Running and racing on the roads and trails of Southwest Florida. He enjoys swamp romps with Caloosa Trailheads. View Jean's Athlinks race profile.

•Practicing karate regularly at Kurokawa Martial Arts in Fort Myers. Jean has earned the rank of black belt in Shito-Ryu karate and traditional wood staff.

•Scuba diving in Florida. Jean has completed more than 150 dives and is a PADI-certified advanced open water diver. Jean’s favorite dive shop is Dean’s Dive Center in Fort Myers.

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CELEBRITY FOCUS

Bob Love

Bob Love has dreamt about being a great public speaker since his early days in Bastrop Louisiana, even though, as a young man, he could barely put two words together, let alone speak a full sentence.

In spite of his severe stuttering disability, Bob Love, the son of a sharecropper, rose to become a Chicago Bulls NBA superstar, whose records were eventually surpassed by Michael Jordan. Throughout his entire athletic career, Bob Love kept his stuttering a secret from the fans who adored him, thinking he could do his “talking” on the basketball court.

Mel Tillis

Country music star Mel Tillis entertained audiences around the world.

Byron Pitts

Byron Pitts has brought much attention to stuttering with his memoir, Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges, released in September, 2009. The book not only details his speech difficulties, but also his illiteracy until age 12 and his unstable family life. Pitts overcame the odds to become the chief national correspondent with ABC News.

Jack Paar

While Jack Paar is among the most prominent of the entertainers on the Stuttering Foundation’s list of Famous People Who Stutter, he deserves special recognition as he was among the first to openly address his stuttering in public. As host of The Tonight Show from 1957-1962, he spoke of his difficulties as a stuttering child and teenager, giving hope to young people.

Carly Simon

Carly Simon began stuttering severely when she was eight years old.