A stunning surprise arrived in David Blackburn’s mailbox a few weeks ago &045; the kind of surprise that fills a teacher’s heart with humility.

Long known for his talents as a musician and director, Blackburn built his reputation from grass-roots teaching, such as at Polk Street United Methodist Church in Amarillo, Texas, where he worked as choir director in the 1960s.

&8220;I went to that church because they told me they couldn’t have a children’s choir. They couldn’t get the children to come to this big downtown church,&8221; Blackburn said. &8220;That was all the challenge I needed. When I left that church, we had 300 children, boys and girls, in the choirs.&8221;

Referring to a photograph of the choirs still in his scrapbook, he admitted he couldn’t have put many names to the little faces looking back at him. Dressed in choir robes, the little boys and girls wore bows at the neck; the older boys and girls, sashes over their shoulders in the adult fashion.

Surely included in the group was a little boy named Rick Husband &045; the Rick Husband who grew up to be an astronaut.

&8220;I don’t to this day remember that boy, but I had admired what I had read about him and how he was a gentle, effective leader,&8221; Blackburn said. Husband, who was killed last month when the shuttle Columbia broke apart, was known not only to be a great leader but also a devout Christian.

The surprise package Blackburn received was a copy of an article about the life and death of Husband appearing in a Methodist journal, with contributions to the story attributed to The Associated Press.

Mike Jones, who grew up with Husband and now is business administrator at the church they attended together, said the youth and music program were the most important influences in their lives as they were growing up. &8220;Rick’s love for God and his religion as it stood at the end, began here,&8221; Jones said.

The article continues, &8220;The major influence for Husband and Mr. Jones was a children’s choir program led by David Blackburn in the 1960s. The program &8216;made a significant impression on me, as I’m sure it did on anyone else at that time. It was a chorister’s guild program, so there was a lot of teaching. But Blackburn in particular had a lot of rapport with the children. It was electrifying,’ Mr. Jones said.

&8220;Being part of a strong choir as a child, whose leader was nice to his boys but made them work hard, could have led to the way Husband led his shuttle crew,&8221; the article continues.

David Blackburn said at first he thought there must have been another David Blackburn. But, in truth, he knew it was his program that Mike Jones was describing.

&8220;We’d play basketball or dodge ball or go across the street to the park and then go back and get serious at rehearsal,&8221; Blackburn said. &8220;They were very disciplined. I loved them and shared the Gospel with them. But I made them learn to be disciplined.&8221;

Blackburn said tears came to his eyes as the words of the article began to take shape in his mind and revive the memories of so many years ago.

&8220;I knew I had touched many musicians and singers through the years but never dreamed I would learn that I had touched someone like Rick Husband,&8221; he said. &8220;It just proves that if you’re where you need to be when God wants you to be there, things will work out.&8221;

Joan Gandy

is community editor of The Democrat. She can be reached at (601) 445-3549 or by e-mail at

joan.gandy@natchezdemocrat.com

.