Marion Joseph, who changed the way California children learned to read, dies

Her critics liked to point out that she had no formal background in education. Her supporters say she changed the face of literacy education in California and beyond.

The presence of Marion Joseph, once nicknamed the “the Paul Revere of the Reading Wars,” could be likened to a gale-force-strength wind in California education circles as she sought to address and change the state’s approach to teaching children how to read.