People from Reading

William Culp Darrah (1909 – 1989) was an American professor of biology at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. He also had an interest in, and published several works on, 19th-century photography.
Born in Reading, Pennsylvania, his was a specialist in paleobotany. Darrah was a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, as well a member of Sigma Xi and the Botanical Society of America.As an authority on the history of photography, he authored several books about 19th-century photo processes and photographers. As part of his interest in early photography, he assembled a collection of over 60,000 cartes-de-visite, which is now held at Penn State University.
He died in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Hildegard E. Peplau (September 1, 1909 – March 17, 1999) was an American nurse and the first published nursing theorist since Florence Nightingale. She created the middle-range nursing theory of interpersonal relations, which helped to revolutionize the scholarly work of nurses. As a primary contributor to mental health law reform, she led the way towards humane treatment of patients with behavior and personality disorders.

Thomas Junta was an American hockey dad from Reading, Massachusetts, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in 2002 after his attack on Michael Costin led to Costin's death. Costin was the informal referee of a pick-up hockey game involving the men's sons. The attack and the fight which ensued was witnessed by about a dozen children, including Junta's son and Costin's three sons.
Junta was originally charged with voluntary manslaughter. The jury acquitted him on this charge, instead convicting him of involuntary manslaughter, a lesser offense, on the basis of his claim of self-defense. Judge Charles Grabau sentenced Junta to incarceration for six to ten years.In April 2008, Junta was denied parole for the second time. In denying his request, the Massachusetts Parole Board said that "Junta had failed to fully accept responsibility for his actions".Junta was eventually released on August 27, 2010. He died on December 16, 2020, after a battle with cancer.