Grammy winner, Emmy winner, and Tony-nominated artist Harry Connick, Jr. will headline Houston's 11th annual Power of Literacy Luncheon, a $1,500-a-ticket fundraiser set to draw hundreds to the Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston in support of childhood literacy initiatives across the city. The event, themed Stars, Stripes, and Stories, is being chaired by Jan Rhodes and Sandra Shenkir and hosted by the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation's Ladies for Literacy Guild.
According to CultureMap Houston, Connick will sit down for a conversation about his upcoming book, Babe: Elaboratio – A Tribute to My Mother, which honors his late mother, Anita. Per the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, the book is set for release September 29, 2026, just weeks after the luncheon, and celebrates what the foundation describes as the enduring power of family, faith, music, and dreams. Connick lost his mother when he was 13, adding a personal weight to his appearance beyond his celebrity draw.
Attendees at the luncheon will take part in a silent auction and raffle, along with a special giving tree opportunity built into the afternoon's programming. The event, like many large gatherings, remains subject to change due to weather or other concerns, organizers note.
Why Houston's Literacy Fight Carries a Price Tag
The luncheon's fundraising goals are grounded in sobering local numbers. The foundation's Houston Adult Literacy Blueprint found that roughly 1 in 3 adults in Harris County, more than 1 million residents, are functionally illiterate, lacking basic reading, writing, and analytical skills needed for daily workforce and family life, according to the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. That statistic anchored a recent Hoodline report on a Wheatley High teacher's stark classroom moment tied to the same crisis.
The economic stakes are just as steep. A 2021 study conducted by Gallup in partnership with the foundation estimated that raising adult literacy by just one competency level in Harris County would increase personal incomes by an average of $13,000 annually and add $13 billion to Houston's Gross Domestic Product, per the foundation's adult literacy blueprint. Nationally, a related study by the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and Gallup found that bringing all U.S. working-age adults to at least a sixth-grade reading level could boost the national economy by $2.2 trillion annually, a figure Hoodline previously explored in its coverage of Philadelphia's hidden literacy crisis.
Where the Money Goes
Luncheon proceeds benefit childhood literacy initiatives throughout the Houston area, feeding into a broader ecosystem of programs run by the foundation and its guild. Among them is the Curiosity Cruiser fleet, four high-tech mobile libraries built through a partnership between the guild and the Harris County Public Library that deliver books, STEM activities, 3D printers, and virtual reality tools to underserved neighborhoods, according to Click2Houston. A fourth vehicle was added to the fleet in 2022 through a corporate grant from Oxy. Hoodline recently covered how students at a Rockets back-to-school event in Sunnyside picked out books from one of the Curiosity Cruisers.
The foundation also funds its Success Through Adult Reading initiative, known as STAR, which supports instructional expansion and course materials for local nonprofit partners including the Adult Education Center, Neuhaus Education Center, and The Alliance to boost adult ESL and GED enrollment, per the foundation. Separately, Houston's Mayor's Office for Adult Literacy, created in partnership with the foundation and operating under the oversight of the Houston Public Library, is the only mayoral office of its kind in the United States, working toward a municipal goal to eradicate adult illiteracy in the city by 2036, according to the Urban Libraries Council.
A Decade of Fundraising Momentum
Last year's 10th annual luncheon, which featured actor Tom Selleck, raised a record $775,000 from 800 attendees during Barbara Bush's centennial year, bringing the event's cumulative decade-long total to nearly $5.2 million, according to The Social Book. That event was co-chaired by Sidney Faust and Betty Hrncir. The luncheon serves as the fall counterpart to the foundation's larger spring fundraiser, A Celebration of Reading, which was originally established by former First Lady Barbara Bush and has raised more than $28 million and served over 16,500 attendees since 2013, with Phillips 66 serving as title sponsor for 11 consecutive years through 2026, per the foundation.
Barbara Bush earned her title as the First Lady of Literacy in July 1991, when President George H.W. Bush signed the federal National Literacy Act into law, creating statutory backing for adult and family literacy programs nationwide. Her legacy has continued to draw national attention; Hoodline previously reported on a White House ceremony honoring her legacy. The Post Oak Hotel is located at 1600 W Loop S in Houston, and organizers say details of the 2026 luncheon remain subject to change depending on weather or other concerns.
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