If you encourage him...

Everyone knows James Earl Jones, the actor whose very voice bespeaks dignity and authority ("This is CNN." “No, I am your father.”)

But that mighty voice was almost not to be heard, because Jones had a very severe stutter as a boy - so much so that he went nearly eight years without speaking to anyone but people and animals around the house. He would not speak in school unless called upon, because the other kids tormented him about his stammer. Kids will do these things, sad to say.

It was to be his high school English teacher, Donald Crouch, who gave Jones, and the world, the gift of his voice. Crouch noticed that young James did not stutter when he read poetry he had written himself, so he hatched a clever plan.

James Earl brought in a poem he had written, but Mr. Crouch said,  “𝙄'𝙢 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙢, 𝙅𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙡... 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩. 𝙐𝙣𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮, 𝙞𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙢. 𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙗𝙤𝙙𝙮?"

Of course he had not done so, and he said so. Crouch then said that if he had written the poem, he could recite it in the class from memory.

Which he did, flawlessly.

And the teacher said, "We will now use this as a way to recapture your ability to speak."

And the student, the great Jones, said, "𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤, 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮, 𝙢𝙮 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙚𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙞𝙜𝙝 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡, 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙎𝙝𝙖𝙠𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙪𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.”

And from there, you know how it went. Roles, acclaim, awards, for the man regarded as one of the greatest actors ever. Sometimes, we just need a little boost.