Nick La Tour spoke last week to the drama students at Selma Middle CHAT Academy.

While the name might not be familiar to many Selmians, his face probably is. If you were to meet him on the street you likely would wonder where you’ve seen that face before. La Tour is an actor. In his 30-year career, he has appeared in numerous TV series, including &uot;The Jeffersons,&uot; &uot;In the Heat of the Night,&uot; &uot;Murder She Wrote&uot; and others.

When La Tour spoke to the students at CHAT Academy, he talked mostly about the craft of acting. But he also talked about the importance of pursuing one’s dream.

La Tour is the son of Ed Nixon, who was head of the Montgomery NAACP during the Montgomery bus boycott. La Tour’s father apparently thought little of acting and discouraged his son from pursuing it as a career. The elder Nixon had dreams of his son one day becoming Montgomery’s first black lawyer. But La Tour never wavered in his vision of what he wanted his life to be.

La Tour has faced many challenges in his career &045; such as the time he had the unenviable task of following Sammy Davis Jr. on stage. Davis had the talent and ability to render even the most accomplished actors invisible when he performed. But La Tour rose to the challenge and delivered one of his most memorable performances.

We trust that the students at CHAT Academy were paying attention when Nick La Tour shared his experiences. And perhaps it would do well if all of us asked ourselves if we still have the courage to follow our dreams.