Ken Haskins
Edith Burke. Does her name ring a bell? Most students would find it difficult to remember a sixth-grade teacher after more than half a century, but Lamont Dozier did.
Lamont Dozier’s songwriting team, Holland-Dozier-Holland, wrote hundreds of hits – more than Lennon and McCartney and considerably more than Leiber and Stoller.
Altogether, Dozier wrote or co-wrote 54 No. 1 hits! Dozier is a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
In 2006, I had the privilege of interviewing Dozier on my “Reminiscing With The Rockin’ Rev” radio program. I asked Dozier when and how he started writing songs, and who inspired him. Immediately he began singing the praises of his sixth-grade teacher, Edith Burke of Poe Elementary School.
Dozier began writing poems and Mrs. Burke took an interest in Dozier’s writing. She encouraged him by hanging one of his poems on the classroom wall and left it there for one month. She believed in Lamont and encouraged him to reach for the stars.
Dozier considered himself blessed by God and one great blessing was his sixth-grade teacher, Edith Burke. Burke reminds us of the importance of encouragement.
The Apostle Paul would remind us too, “Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” – I Thessalonians 5:11
The next time you find yourself singing along to a Holland-Dozier-Holland song as performed by the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas, the Temptations, Four Tops or other Motown act, thank God for those who encourage – thank God for teachers like Edith Burke.
Ken Haskins is head pastor at First Christian Church in Carson City.