Ronald Kingsley Read

Who was Ronald Kingsley Read?

Ronald Kingsley Read was one of four contestants chosen to share the prize money for the design of the Shavian alphabet, a completely new alphabet intended for writing English. He was later appointed sole responsible designer of the alphabet.

In 1966, after extensive testing of Shavian with English speakers from around the world, Read introduced Quikscript, a revised form of his Shavian alphabet. Quikscript, also known as the "Read alphabet", has more ligatures than Shavian, which makes it easier to write by hand. Its appearance is more cursive than Shavian.

A few days before his death, he completed a new alphabet called Soundspell, based, probably for increased chances of popular acceptance, on the Latin script.