A Push, A Prod And Genius Is Born

He was going to be a lawyer. A lawyer! Hard to picture Thomas Hampson, world-renowned baritone, using his voice that way. But those were his plans. Then he met Sister Marietta Coyle, voice teacher at Fort Wright College. She didn’t discourage the lawyer thing, Hampson said in a 1991 interview, but “she was very concerned that I remain open to my literary and musical sides.”

Open, indeed. Now he’s famous. And Sister Marietta had much to do with prodding him down the path of his destiny. Sister Marietta died in 1986 at age 79. Ten years ago. Yet her name surfaced again Sunday in an IN Life profile of Frank Hernandez, a 25-year-old man with a voice that many predict will soon make him famous.

He was too young to be taught by Sister Marietta. But his voice teacher at Whitworth College, Marjory Halvorson, was taught by her. Hernandez calls the Holy Names sister “the common thread.”

Sister Marietta’s mention in the Hernandez story got us thinking about how one person can, while working in Spokane, influence the larger world.

We sometimes think of the Inland Northwest as rather isolated, culturally and in other ways. But many men and women in our Inland Northwest communities are teaching, mentoring, encouraging young people. Noticing their writing, acting, singing, speaking abilities and helping them cultivate those talents.

The students and proteges of these people don’t all make The New York Times. They don’t all come back to town and thank their mentors. But they are richer for the experience of crossing paths with an older person who took the time to see the opera star, the ballerina, the national champion orator hidden in the awkward adolescent. Saw the talent and coaxed it forward.

It does not take much to be a world-class teacher or mentor. Sister Marietta, for instance, didn’t even consider herself a good singer. It simply takes intuition and patience and the belief that what we pass onto others gets passed on, even after we die.

Marian Wright Edelman, in her book “The Measure of our Success” writes: “Do not think that you have to make big waves in order to contribute. A lot of people think they have to be big dogs to make a difference. That’s not true. You just need to be a flea. … bent on building a more decent home life, neighborhood, workplace and America.”

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Rebecca Nappi/For the editorial board