[nfbmi-talk] teacher's friend hopese to hear from stevie wonder

[joe harcz Comcast]

Schneider: Teacher's friend hopes she'll hear from Stevie Wonder | Lansing State Journal | lansingstatejournal.com

Written by

 

John Schneider

List of 3 items

• Filed Under

• Columnists

• John Schneider

list end

 

 

Yvonne Whitmore wasn't particularly impressed with the early work of "Little" Stevie Wonder - stuff like "Fingertips," recorded in 1963.

 

"She always said, 'He has a great voice for ballads - we need to get him to sing ballads,' " Whitmore's daughter, Ann Smith, said during an interview Monday

morning.

 

Sure enough, Wonder did pretty well for himself with songs such as "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life," "My Cherie Amour," and "I Just Called to Say I Love

You."

 

Whitmore, who taught at the Michigan School for the Blind from 1966-84, was Wonder's music teacher there. Over the weekend, I received an email from Whitmore's

friend, Fred Moore, informing me the former teacher, now 87, had suffered a severe heart attack, and was in tough shape.

 

"I have no idea how to contact Stevie Wonder," Moore wrote, "but this could be his last chance to say goodbye to Yvonne."

 

Whitmore's daughter, Ann Smith, lives in Maine but she was with her mother at Hospice of Lansing Stoneleigh Residence when I reached her Monday. When I

asked how I might reach Wonder on Whitmore's behalf, she gave me the telephone number of J.J. Jackson of Okemos, a friend of Whitmore and Wonder.

 

Message delivered

 

Jackson, as it turned out, hadn't heard about Whitmore's heart attack. He said Wonder surely would want to know about his former teacher, adding he would

contact the performer as soon as possible.

 

"(Whitmore) has been a wonderful supporter of education for the blind," he said. "I'm so thankful you called me about this."

 

Jackson and Wonder were schoolmates at the School for the Blind, and Wonder lived with Jackson's family for a while. They have remained close friends through

the years.

 

Whitmore, meanwhile, has continued to share her musical abilities with the Lansing community.

 

For example, she composed the music for "Thunderhoof & The Prince," an original children's musical written by Fran Johnson and staged at Riverwalk Theatre

in 2009.

 

Born Steveland Judkins Morris in Saginaw, Wonder and his family later moved to Detroit. He already was a pop star when he came to Lansing in the seventh

grade.

 

Wonder became a member of Whitmore's choir at the School for the Blind.

 

So far, Whitmore hasn't heard from the singer.

 

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20110927/COLUMNISTS09/109270312/Schneider-Teacher-s-friend-hopes-she-ll-hear-from-Stevie-Wonder?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE