PHOTOS
A statesman, author and diplomat, Jimmy Carter hasn't often found himself at a loss for words.
But on Tuesday, facing a wall covered with photos and mementos of his friendship with the community at St. Genevieve High School, the nation's 39th president found it difficult to express himself.
"It's just breathtaking! I hardly know what to say!" he exclaimed, his recognizable Georgia drawl coming through loud and clear.
In Southern California for a fundraiser for the nonprofit Carter Center for Human Rights, the former president and wife Rosalynn took a side trip to Panorama City, where they toured St. Genevieve's, and got a close-up look at the newly completed tribute wall. It celebrates trips that students from St. Gen's have made to the Carters' home in Plains, Ga., and the visit that Jimmy Carter made to the school in 2010, thanks to the efforts of Principal Dan Horn.
In 1986, while teaching at a public school outside of Washington, D.C., Horn wrote a fan letter to Rosalynn Carter after he read her autobiography, and the former first lady responded. On a whim, Horn asked if he could come to Georgia to meet her, and Rosalynn invited him to come have lunch in Plains.
Horn and Rosalynn Carter continued to correspond, forging a bond that blossomed into a friendship between
the Carters and the St. Genevieve family.In 2005, after attending a character-building conference in Atlanta, Horn and four students drove to Plains and saw the Nobel Peace Prize winner teach a Sunday school class at his Maranatha Baptist Church.
Four years later, a group of St. Gen students returned to Plains to film a documentary about the former president, to perform for his 85th birthday and to stage a production of "Singin' in the Rain.
Carter returned the favor in 2010, visiting the campus and talking to students about politics and history during a Q&A session in the school gym.
During a trip to Plains in 2012, the school performed "Carousel," said to be Carter's favorite musical. On a lark, Horn invited Shirley Jones, who starred in the 1956 film version. She not only accompanied the students, but opened the show.
Jones and Helen Reddy, another longtime friend of Horn, performed again for the Carters on Tuesday night.
Hours before the Carters arrived via motorcade, students clad in their gray-and-navy uniforms escorted visitors through the campus, politely introducing themselves and making small talk. It's that kind of discipline that helped earn St. Gen's the designation as a National School of Character in 2003.
Accompanied by seniors Emmanuel Tapia and Anarelli Olivos, the Carters walked through the freshly polished hallway to the wall outside the state-of-the-art library, where the tribute was ceremoniously unveiled.
Carter was reminded that during his 2010 trip, he'd remarked that he considered St. Genevieve's his favorite high school of all those he's visited.
"I have not changed my mind about that," he said.
barbara.jones@dailynews.com
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