Great New York Times story about Patricia Ann Kettles, a librarian whose struggles to read in childhood inspired her to become a librarian, and instill a love of reading in children.
The article includes an interesting quote about a teacher that made a difference for her:
“His confidence in me gave me confidence in myself,” she added. “That turned everything around.”
There’s a quite a bit of literature on student motivation that discusses how students’ confidence in their abilities bears on their motivation in the classroom. Definitely something to keep in mind!