November 2 – Happy Birthday, Marion Jones Farquhar

nPostednon November 2, 2015

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nTonbe famous enough for something like Wikipedia, you have to be reallyngood at one thing.

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nAndnto be really good at one thing, you need to work hard at that thing.

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nMarionnJones, born on this date in 1879, worked hard enough at tennis thatnshe won women’s singles titles in two U.S. TennisnChampionships and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall ofnFame.

nShe was even the first American woman to win an Olympicn“distinction” – there were no medals at that point in Olympicnhistory.

These photos showed the clothing women
wore while playing tennis in the late 1800s and
the “Turn of the Century.”

Hard to imagine, isn’t it?

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Thenthing I found interesting is that, after Jones married Robert D.nFarquhar and raised three children, she became a coach. But shendidn’t become a tennis coach, which is totally what I would’venexpected! Instead, she became a voice coach. She was living in NewnYork City, and she became well known as a violinist as well as anvoice coach, and she translated opera librettos, and she even headednthe New York Chamber Opera for a while. n

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nIsn’tnthat cool? Marion Jones Farquhar became well known in two completelynunrelated fields!

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nStrivenfor balance…

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Mostnof us will never make it to Wikipedia; we will never be that level of “well-known” in even one field, let alone two.

nBut we can all try tonmaintain a balance in our lives. We can all make or enjoy music, ANDnparticipate in some sort of performing or visual art, AND continue tonlearn new things, AND play a sport or pursue some other form ofnexercise.

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