James Earl Jones

Most of us first heard of James Earl Jones when, in the Star Wars movies, he was the voice of Darth Vader. With that distinctive bass voice, he went on to voice many other classics such as the Lion King, the CNN tagline and guest voice appearances on The Simpsons. He has a deep soothing voice and his speech seems effortless. What most of us do not know is that James Earl Jones had such a severe stutter as a child that he was considered functionally mute! He did not speak for the first eight years of school. In high school, he met a teacher who was determined to help him out of his silence. Donald Crouch discovered James had a talent for writing poetry. Mr. Crouch insisted that James write poetry to help him gain confidence. He also insisted that this functional mute and severe stutterer recite a poem in class each day! Eventually, James overcame his stuttering and went on to great success using his voice and words! Sometimes, it's not enough to believe in yourself - sometimes you need someone else to believe in you too! Special teachers who give us confidence to be the best we can be . . . it's a good thing!