Remembering William P. "Bill" Murphy

The Stuttering Foundation mourns the passing of Bill Murphy, MA, CCC-SLP and Professor Emeritus, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, Purdue University.

Throughout his 40 years of practice, presentations, writing and teaching, his work focused on the treatment of stuttering in children and adults, and was well known for his teachings on the role of shame and guilt in stuttering, and minimizing bullying of children who stutter.

"Working on techniques to cope with stuttering are not enough because children's hurt feelings are getting in the way," said Murphy, during a 2005 interview. "Even the children who receive therapy to help them live with stuttering continue to have negative feelings as they grow older. Their ability to communicate is still hindered by the shame and embarrassment they feel about stuttering, which is often brought on from bullying and teasing."

Bill Murphy In collaboration with the Stuttering Foundation, Murphy created a video titled “Dealing with Guilt and Shame,” participated in the original “Stuttering: For Kids, By Kids” video and volunteered at the Stuttering Foundation booth at the ASHA Convention.

“No one could write as eloquently about guilt and shame as Bill Murphy,” said Jane Fraser, president of The Stuttering Foundation. “He had a wonderful way of working with kids so that they knew he understood what they were going through when teased or bullied. Bill never lost his sense of humor and was a joy to work with through the years.”

“He had such a wealth of knowledge and wisdom, combined with a wonderful humility and large dose of humour. A real gentleman who will be greatly missed,” added Elaine Kelman of The Michael Palin Centre.

“Bill worked hard, listened to others with respect, and laughed often. I am forever grateful for his guidance, friendship, and the profound impact he had on me, my stuttering journey, and on our field,” said Kristin Chmela, director of the Chmela Communications Center.

"Everyone knows someone who stutters, and everyone thinks they know how to fix it," said Murphy. "They think it's as easy as 'If only the person would just relax and take it easy,' but that's not what stuttering is."

Bill Murphy leaves a profound legacy for the stuttering community to treasure.

Posted Oct. 30, 2025

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Marilyn Monroe

From Edward S. Herrington's letter to Southcoasttoday.com

I am writing in response to "The importance of voice" (May 29), which mentioned that famous actor James Earl Jones struggled with stuttering. Another famous voice that you cited was the trademark breathy voice of Marilyn Monroe; however, you did not make mention of the fact that Marilyn Monroe also struggled with stuttering at various points in her life, sometimes very painfully.

John Stossel

John Stossel is one of the most recognized and articulate reporters today. However, he once considered giving up his broadcasting career because of his stuttering.

“Fear of stuttering can easily become worse than the stuttering itself,” observed Stossel. “The idea that I’m on television and making speeches is still a shock to me sometimes.”

Bill Walton

From BillWalton.com

Thank you for your interest in my life long problem with my speech and communication skills. I was a very shy and reserved young man who could not speak at all without severely stuttering until I was 28 years old. Always a success in the classroom and on the basketball court, I took refuge in the things that I did well as a youngster. A straight A student, my athletic abilities covered the deficiencies that limited my overall growth and development. The game of basketball was my religion, the gym my church. It was a convenient way of avoiding my responsibilities of developing my human relation skills.

When I was 28, a chance encounter at a social event with Hall of Fame broadcaster Marty Glickman completely changed my life in so many ways that things have never been the same since, nor have they ever been better. That day, in a very brief, private conversation (one way, mind you, since I literally could not speak at the time) Marty explained, patiently and concisely, that talking, communicating was a skill not a gift or a birthright and that like any skill, whether it be sports, music, business or whatever, needed to be developed over a lifetime of hard work, discipline, organization and practice. Marty gave me some simple tips that day and then encouraged me to take those keys and apply them to methods of learning that I had received from the special teachers that I had come across in my life, particularly the 6 Hall of Fame basketball coaches that I had played for throughout my career. The beginning of my whole new life was as simple as that. No gimmicks, tricks or shortcuts. Just the realization that with some help, guidance and a lot of hard work that I too could do what seemed so easy, simple and natural to everyone else, yet seemed impossibly out of my reach and comprehension.