Henry Winkler vividly recalls the very first time he saw one of his Hank Zipzer books. It was during a meeting with executives from Barnes & Noble at a New York restaurant.
"There were 12 people at the table, each one had the book in front of them," Winkler said. "My brain stopped. I looked at this book. I started to rub it. I smelled it — rubbed it on my body. I couldn't believe it existed and my name is on it."
The one thing Henry Winkler never thought he would do now is one his proudest accomplishments: becoming an author.
While most people know him as the self-assured womanizer The Fonz on the longtime sitcom "Happy Days," in real-life he spent his childhood with undiagnosed dyslexia. The situation chipped away at his self-esteem as people who didn't recognize his learning disability perceived him as lazy or stupid.
Winkler, 62, turned that lemon into lemonade with the help of writing partner Lin Oliver. Together they have penned 14 "Hank Zipzer: The World's Greatest Underachiever" novels for children. Winkler is in Andover today reading and signing those books, which collectively have sold more than 2 million copies, at a sold-out event at Town Hall.
The tales follow a fifth-grader who makes his way in life while struggling with dyslexia. Hank's latest adventure involves entering his dog in a show.
"I love my job. I have dreamt of being an actor since I was 7 years old," Winkler said.
Becoming an author brings him a special sense of accomplishment, he said. "I think after my family, I am the most proud of Hank."
Pride isn't something Winkler felt a lot of as a child. Along with being teased in his elementary school years, he said he was grounded during most of his high school career, sitting at a desk puzzling over things that made no sense.
"(My parents) were sure if I sat long enough at my desk, I was going to get it," Winkler said. "I could have sat there from now until doomsday — geometry, spelling, physics were not going to be part of my brain content."
Winkler didn't know it at the time, but his dyslexia, a condition that causes the brain to jumble letters and numbers, was to blame.
It wasn't until he was in his early 30s that he understood why school had been so tough. It was after his stepson was diagnosed with dyslexia.
"My stepson was tested in the third grade. He was very verbal, very clever, but couldn't write an essay," Winkler said. "We had him tested and everything they said to him, I was like, 'I am not stupid, I am not lazy. It actually has a name. I have a learning challenge.'"
The initial joy at finding out why he had struggled so much with letters and numbers eventually turned into anger at what he had gone through as a child.
"I wish I could take spoon and scoop that out of my brain," Winkler said. "I wish I could get rid of it, like a cold."
Over time he has learned to see his struggles in a different light.
"Maybe I could have never been able to accomplish what I have done in my life without having that challenge from the beginning," said the Emmy and Golden Globe winning actor. "When you have a learning challenge, you learn how to negotiate and how to squeeze through the smallest opening like mercury."
The first time Winkler's agent suggested he write a children's book about growing up with dyslexia, he turned the idea down.
"'I said, 'There is no way I could write a book. I have nothing to say and that's it,'" Winkler recalled.
In 2002, the agent made the same suggestion and this time Winkler went for it. He was introduced to his co-writer, Oliver, and the two shopped the book idea around to publishers.
They were rejected three times before finding a home at Penguin Putnam.
"You realize, 'Never say never,' is not to be needlepointed on a pillow — it is an eternal truth," Winkler said.
Winkler just started the first chapter of his 15th book with Oliver.
"I am shocked," Winkler said. "I am so grateful, I never thought I could do this."
He thinks the readers' attraction to the "Hank" series stems from the humor. The greatest praise he hears comes from children themselves.
His favorite to date? "I laughed so hard my funny bone fell out of my body."
"Kids say not one word, not one sentence is boring," Winkler said. "We never write down to children."
Winkler and Oliver write the books together. Usually Oliver types as Winkler talks behind her.
"She's not a ghost writer," Winkler said. "We argue over every word."
Winkler said about 90 percent of his life, his personality, can be found in Hank — though everything is quite exaggerated.
"I never actually flooded my classroom," Winkler said. "If Lin and I don't make each other laugh, it doesn't go in."
While Winkler didn't have the best experiences with his teachers while growing up in New York, since writing the books he's met some great ones.
"I am grateful. Even though I have never had them, I am grateful they exist," Winker said.
Now he has the chance to impact children's lives, especially those who have a learning challenge like him.
"Now, I talk to kids and I say, 'It does not matter how you learn, that is in no way an indication of how brilliant you are and the greatness you have inside,'" Winkler said.
He hopes parents, teachers and kids take in positive messages from his books.
"Protect your child's self-image at all costs. Because a child with learning challenges already feels bad," Winkler said. "In my estimation, your self-esteem is the beginning and end of our living on this planet. Protect it at all costs."
About Henry Winker
Born: Oct. 30, 1945, in New York City.
Graduated: Emerson College, 1967.
First film role: "Lords of Flatbush," 1974.
First TV series: "Happy Days," 1974,
Married: Since 1978 to Stacey Weitzman, with three children
