San Diego Council on Literacy

The San Diego Union-Tribune
(Thank you to C3 Communications)

Someone San Diego Should Know: Jose Cruz

As a youth he had trouble reading; now he's a literacy leader

By JAN GOLDSMITH
PUBLISHED: June 5, 2026 at 8:00 AM PDT

“On shelves in my bedroom are books I read in ninth,10th and 11th grade,” Jose Cruz said. “I keep them in alphabetical order and clean. They were my inspiration and now are my treasures.”

Reading eventually became his life’s work as one of San Diego’s leading advocates for literacy.

Born in 1955, Cruz was the third youngest of 10 children living in a small house in Logan Heights. His father worked as a cook, and his mother pressed shirts.

“They worked hard and were gone a lot,” he recalled. “My older sisters raised us.”

“There were no books in the house — books cost money — so no one read to us. Instead, they told us stories. My vocabulary came primarily from my brothers and sisters.”

Cruz said he grew up with a reading deficiency. “I had a problem putting words together, vocabulary and reading comprehension,” he recalled. “It was frustrating. I had things in my head and wanted to communicate, but didn’t have the words to express myself.”
He struggled with reading in school, but found encouragement with teachers.

“Being at the tail end of a big family, there wasn’t much encouragement at home. I plugged into what I could find — teachers. At first, reading books was to impress my teachers. Then I fell in love with books.”

Cruz progressed with reading despite some remnants of his early reading deficiency. By ninth grade, he was reading most of his free time, using money earned from a San Diego Tribune (now Union-Tribune) newspaper delivery route to purchase books.

By high school, Cruz wanted to become a writer. He wrote for the school newspaper and composed poetry.

Friends and family nicknamed him “the professor.”

Reading not only brought enjoyment, it helped insulate him from the neighborhood’s dark side.

“Many of the guys I grew up with ended up in gangs, in jail and on drugs dying young,” he said. “I just wanted to keep to myself in my space, reading. I would always have a book with me even if not required for homework.”

His focus on reading helped him become the first in his family to attend college, paying for his education through work, scholarships and loans.

He graduated high school in 1973, earned associate and bachelor’s degrees in English and teaching credentials.

He taught for three years before dedicating his career to literacy. In 1985 he was asked to train tutors in the National City library as part of an adult literacy program. While training tutors, he learned about an ambitious plan to create an organization that would spearhead a countywide literacy effort.

That organization, San Diego Council on Literacy, was formed in 1986. In 1988, Cruz became its first employee, rising to chief executive officer in 2006 and serving in that capacity ever since.

Today, the Council on Literacy supports 35 affiliated programs in San Diego County, providing direct help to adults and children. It has distributed 500,000 books, conducted outreach and community awareness programs as well as regular training for tutors.

Cruz said the effort is needed. “There are about 600,000 adults reading at the lowest level of literacy in San Diego County,” he said. “About 23% of the adult population is not reading above sixth-grade level. Too many people graduate from high school not able to read.”

Drawing from his own childhood experience, Cruz explained that low literacy skills often begin at an early age “when parents can’t or don’t read to their children, which is the best way to develop children’s literacy skills.

“And when there are no books in the home, fewer children are likely to be read to or read themselves. I knew early on what it feels like to lag behind. It isn’t a good feeling.”

Cruz said there is a lot of work needed to encourage literacy, but it’s worth the effort.

“Reading was the key that gave me confidence and motivation to attend college,” he said. “Reading is a beautiful and magical thing,”
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About this series:
Goldsmith is a Union-Tribune contributing columnist.
Donate Today | San Diego Council on Literacy

(Photo: Jan Goldsmith)

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San Diego Council on Literacy's, Chiliteracy Chili, at the San Diego County Fair! We're cooking!

The life-changing power of literacy to be featured at this year’s fair in Del Mar For the 2026 season, the San Diego County Fair is serving up a different menu item in addition to the variety of foods, carnival rides, barnyard exhibits, musical events, jumbo-proportioned turkey legs and more. Under the enchanting theme,…

SDGE supports literacy. Please see the following message from this partner.

If you’re moving, you can easily manage your SDG&E® service online or with the My Energy Center app. It’s convenient – no calls and no waiting times. You’re able to start service to a new address, move current service to a new address, or stop current service. It only takes a few minutes to complete the process and track your progress. Visit sdge.com/move for more information.

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Today is "San Diego Council on Literacy Day" in the City of San Diego…AND "Literacy Awareness Day"...AND the 40th anniversary of the organization:

Uniting the Community to Support Literacy for All

Please donate today: https://www.literacysandiego.org/sponsors/donate-today/

Today: Here's the NBC 7 news team celebrating the San Diego Council on Literacy's 40 anniversary and "Literacy Awareness Day", by sharing their favorite books. Marianne Kushi shared "Charlotte's Web". Steve Luke shared "The Sailor Dog".

The San Diego Council on Literacy, in celebration of its 40th birthday, and the City of San Diego, proclaim Friday, May 1st, 2026, "Literacy Awareness Day." See the attached interview with K**I.

K**I - SD Council on Literacy - Literacy Day - April 25.mp4