He took years of speech therapy. His therapy sessions were held in the library, where the therapist required him to read books aloud. Since they usually held their sessions in the history section of the library, Verdoia often read books about history, which led to a lifelong passion for the subject.

"I worked and I worked and I worked, hours a day, just to get to normal," he recalls. "By sixth grade I began to make progress. If I tried to say too much, the freight train of my conversation would crash and would come to a complete halt.

"People would snicker. But I worked at it, and it taught me that if I worked harder than others I could be as good as others. I didn't work for excellence; I worked so I could compete and contribute. I worked two hours a day just so I could talk to friends and not be laughed at. Somewhere along the line it dawned on me that if I worked harder, talked to more people, read more than other reporters, maybe I would be better."

Verdoia pauses abruptly and turns his back on the room. After several moments, he takes a quick swipe at his eyes and says to the wall, "So the state's premier university asks me to represent it on center stage, and a well-respected filmmaker comes to me and says we want you to talk to us about LDS history. That is a moment of fullness that makes the past 54 years so beautiful and worthwhile. It takes me back to standing in the library with the speech therapist reading out loud from a history book.

"This is the only time I ever told this to anyone other than my wife and a couple of close friends. I wouldn't have told that story two weeks ago. There is vindication from last week. Maybe the chip on my shoulder is finally gone. I realize maybe I'm not the kid in the back of the class anymore. Maybe someone who stutters or has some other disability will look at me and realize there is an opportunity out there if they work at it."

Verdoia grew up grew up in San Francisco and attended San Jose State on a baseball scholarship. He became the first member of his family to graduate from college, taking a degree in journalism. Over the years he has studied political science and business at the University of Utah, international studies at Cambridge and business management at the University of North Carolina.

While attending San Jose State, he held part-time jobs with newspapers, radio and TV. Upon graduation in 1974, he became assistant news director at KALL Radio in Salt Lake City and, after brief stays in Denver and Washington, D.C., he has made his career in Utah.