On Tuesday, Sánchez appeared on “Good Morning America” to promote her children’s book, “The Fly Who Flew to Space,” published by Simon & Schuster.
Flynn, the fly who stars in Sánchez’s book, struggles with school despite having aspirations to become an astronaut.
And during her “GMA” appearance, Sánchez shared that Flynn’s story was inspired by her own.
Lauren Sánchez’s dyslexia was undiagnosed throughout her childhood
The philanthropist and journalist told “GMA” host Michael Strahan that she wrote “The Fly Who Flew To Space” for her inner child.
“It’s for the 8-year-old self me, who really felt dumb,” Sánchez said of the book. “I sat in the back of the class. I was just quiet. They kind of pushed me along in public school, and I kept going.”
“I really, really wanted to be a journalist,” she added. “That’s all I wanted to be. And I was like, ‘I can’t write.’ It was horrible.”
But Sánchez said things changed when she went to community college and a teacher approached her about writing for the school paper.
She told Strahan that her professor asked her to write a piece without worrying about spelling or punctuation. Sánchez teared up as she relayed the story on “GMA,” saying, “Every time, I get really emotional.”
Sánchez said writing the story allowed her teacher insight into her struggles.
“She literally looked at me after I turned it in, and she was like, ‘You’re not dumb. You just can’t spell,'” Sánchez told Strahan. “And she got me tested for dyslexia.”
“This was a community college teacher who took an interest in me, and I went from a 2.0 student barely making it to a 3.8,” she said. “I got into USC, and I became a journalist.”
Sánchez studied broadcast journalism at USC and went on to anchor several different shows. In 2001, she won a Los Angeles Area Emmy award for her work on UPN News 13 on Los Angeles’ KCOP.
Today, Sánchez runs the Bezos Earth Fund, which has pledged $10 billion to combat the climate crisis, with her fiancé, Jeff Bezos.
Her and Bezos’ relationship has been public since 2019, and they got engaged in 2023.
The author hopes her book can inspire others
The first-time author told Strahan she hopes her book can help other children who are struggling at school as she did.
“This book is for all those little kids out there that feel out of place,” Sánchez said. “They don’t think they’re smart enough. But I’m here to tell you it’s gonna be OK. You just have to be curious and wonder.”
In April, she shared a similar message in the caption of an Instagram photo of herself as a little girl.
“Don’t get me wrong, my spelling is so bad even spell check doesn’t know what I’m trying to write sometimes,” she wrote. “BUT, if the little girl in this picture knew she’d be writing a children’s book, she would never have believed it.”
“I hope The Fly Who Flew To Space will inspire kids to chase their dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem,” she added.
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