MASSEY-FERGUSON 10

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Jerry received

much

of his inspiration for success from his father. Charley.

By Paul

Jlfiler

A

MID THE

barrage ofspeakers at

/\

last fall'sNational

FFA

Conven-

•L

^-

tion. a slim six-footer took the rostrumtoextend a

welcome

to Future Farmers in the audience.

He

was in-

troduced as national student secretary in 1956-57. but what was not told was his almost unbelievablebackground.

Here was a former Future Farmer

who

haslunchedwithsenators,replaced the Secretary of Agriculture as a con- vention speaker, conversed privately with such people as former President

Truman

and opera star Jean Maderia.

andtraveledin43statestogivea

mod-

estestimate of600 major speeches. So vast are the accomplishments of 25-

\ear-old Jerry Litton of Chillicothe.

Missouri, that every Future Farmer should read them as an inspiration to greater heights.

When

Jerry entered Chillicothe High School asa freshman in vo-ag back in 1951, he wasprobably, byhis

own

ad- mission,oneof^themostbackwardboys everto

come

from afarm. Hispower-

ful fear of strangerswas openly appar- ent.

Once when

his parents wanted him to learn to play a musical instru- ment, he spent a week looking for the high school music room, then gave up ratherthan ask directions.

His inadequacy for meeting people resulted in a strong devotion to live- stock, and by his sophomore year he was borrowing $2,000 a year to build a livestockprogram.

The

firstbigbreak for Jerrv

came when

hisparentsprodded himintoenteringan

FFA

publicspeak- ing contest. ^"1 knew ¹ couldn't let

them down."' Jerrv explainedlater. Re-

membering

his father'scourageousfight

A

bright future is promised for this once-shy Future Farmer and his wife.

TheNational Fl'Tl'RE

FARMER

Sherri, an important figure in Jerry's life,

From

dungareestotuxedofor takes an active part with the Charolais herd. the President's Inauguration.

This Missouri Future Farmer's determination

to

defeat shyness was so great that he hecame a national orator whose 600 speeches helped finance his way

to

farming.

toovercome a crippling accident, Jerry put his

mind

to developing confidence infrontof people.

He

entered

FFA

and American Legion oratory contests and began to win. "Mostof

my

speecheswere writ- ten while I sat on the tractor in the fields," the baritone-voiced Litton ex- plained.

"He

used towear out the floorpac- ing the night before a speech," his mother recalled. "It was never easy forhim."

In the next six years, Jerry Litton was elected president of the Missouri

FFA

Association, national studentsec- retary, and wasarunner-up in the

Na-

tional

FFA

PublicSpeakingContest.

He

was

named

one of the top seven

men

students at the University of Missouri, where he graduatedjusttwoyears ago.

In 1957, asa nationalofficer, heintro- duced his parents before the 10,000 assembled Future Farmers at the Na- tional Convention as he had

vowed

he woulda shortsixyears before.

As

a high school senior, Jerry be-

came

farmeditor foralocal radio sta- tion, andanational recording

company

distributed one ofhis speeches to high school libraries across the nation. His growing speaking ability was gaining nationalattention,andayearlater

when

Agriculture SecretaryBenson wasforced tocancel aspeaking engagementbefore the VirginiaBeef Convention,Jerrywas calledtohandletheassignment.

He

was 19 then, andhigh schoolswere already callingon

him

togivetheir

commence-

mentspeeches.

A

yearlater,hewasap- pearing before scores of groups.

April-May, 1963

Hispoliticalambitionspromptedhim to enter the Livingston County

Young

Democrats, and in ashorttime he was

Youth

chairman for a local senatorial candidate.

By

the 1960 election pri- maries, this widely

known

farm boy was

named

national director for the Youth for Symington campaign and traveled throughout the country cam- paigning forSenator Symington. With Senator Kennedy's nomination, it was Jerry Litton

who

was appointeda

mem-

ber of the future President's national

committee. A ^personal

invitation brought Jerryandhis

new

wife. Sherri, to the Inauguration BallinWashington inthe spring of 1961.

By

this time, Jerry was traveling to nearlyeverystateto appear before al-

mostevery type of audience.

He

aver-

Jerry's 300-acre ranch, purchased in

aged a speech a week and would flv oil' to

New York

or Chicago as his friendswould goto a local movie. His abilitytobringanaudienceinto aspeech throughpersonal referencesand hisau- thoritative talks on all phases of agri- culturehave

made

himamaster behind the speaker's stand.

Personalappearanceswithformerna- tionalDemocratic chairman, Paul But- ler, and former President

Truman

on national radio and

TV

have given this formerlybackward farm boy a

new

in- sightonpeople. "Mr.

Truman

oncetold

me

a person caneither start at the bot- tom and be elected in the county and on up or establish himself financially,

work

with the party, and be appointed to a position of responsibility," Jerry confided.

"He recommended

the sec-

ond

route."

Back

home

in Chillicothe, Jerry and Sherriliveontheir300-acreranchwhere theybreed 150registered Charolais beef cows.

The

grassland-type ranch was Jerry'sgoal

when

hefinished collegeand

issituated

some

12 miles fromhisfath- er's

home

farm. Herehe has built one of the finest Charolais herds in the country and regularly sells breeding cattle as far

away

asLatinAmerica. His

show

string is on the road an average of fourmonthsout of theyear.

And

so, the once backward Future

Farmer who

worked his

way

through college andhelpedbuyaranch from a start in

FFA

public speaking continues on the road to success. His humble start is an inspiring reminderto every FutureFarmerthathardwork andself- disciplineare thesecretsofsuccess.

Did the

FFA

help'.' In Jerry's

own

words,

"Any

success I

may

have at- tained was encouraged mostly by the

FFA. My

farming program wasstarted inthe

FFA.

Ilearnedto speak before audiencesthrough

FFA,

and any work

I have been able to put forth in the

community

was inspired through

my

activities as astateand national officer

inthe

FFA." ^..

is 12 miles from hisfather's spread.