Controversial personalities who stutter
John Melendez, also known as "Stuttering John", is a rock guitarist and interviewer for the controversial Howard Stern show. He was born October 4, 1965, in Massapequa, New York. An audio clip of his speech reveals some of his dysfluencies. Around 1989, Melendez became an intern on the Howard Stern show. For a few months, Melendez was a DJ on the NYC AM affiliate Z-Rock (WZRC-1480). Rolling Stone, published a 2 page article on Melendez written by Jay Martel (Sept. 5, 1991, pgs. 95-96) Melendez appeared with Rock Slide, Vinny Mazzeo & Jody Bongiovi on the Joe Franklin Show. He then played with a group named Mund and Rubber Beaver. In 1994, he relased a heavy metal music CD entitled, "Stuttering John". An audio clip of his music is available on the Internet. Melendez currently lives in Manhattan and Massapequa. His corporation is called "Cotton Brick." His hotline number is (609)-546-STUPid [(609) 546-7887]. His manager Brian Kushner can be reached at (brian.kushner@ulbbs.sccsi.com).
Porky Pig is probably the most famous of several of the Looney Tune characters who display speech-language disabilities. Created by Warner Bros., who have online a short bio, Porky Pig debuted in "I Haven't Got A Hat," directed by Friz Freleng in 1935 In1937, Mel Blanc debuted his character voices. Richard Brinklow, Toronto, Ontario has a personal collection of Looney Tune WAV files which includes over 20 audio samples of Porky Pig. To download these you will need SoundApp. There are two
gif pictures available at the Warner Bros graphic archive and the Sunsite archives has a SoundMachine (22K) clip of That's all folks.. Gerald Johnson, Ph.D. published an article in the Journal of Fluency Disorders in 1987 entitled A Clinical Study of Porky Pig Cartoons, JFD, 12 (1987), 235-238. In 1991, the National Stuttering Project picketed Warner Bros. Studios carrying signs that read "Make Friends, Don't Make Fun of Kids Who Stutter." Although Warner Bros. at that time turned down NSP's request to use Porky Pig as an advocate for children who stutter, they did give the Stuttering Foundation of American a $12,000 grant to underwrite the costs of a 1994 Conference for School Clinicians in the treatment of childhood stuttering . Through persistence, particularly of NSP member Ira Zimmerman, in 1997, Warner Brothers "Top of the Tune Squad" developed a downloadable poster, - Everyone's Unique and Th-th-that's Good Folks! - using various Warner Bros. cartoon characters including Porky Pig in a media campaign to stop the bullying of all kinds of children.
last changed October 12, 1998