His parents, Bob and Janet Smith, lobbied hard for their only child to take a year off. While other members of the Class of '99 partied at the beach, Greg hosted a reception to thank all the teachers, counselors, administrators and school district officials for their support. Plainclothes police, mindful of the recurring threats against Greg, also were in attendance.
A television crew from '60 Minutes' filmed his speech to the graduating class, and he lost a baby tooth onstage. Greg finished high school in two years, with an A-plus average. Sing it softly as ever you can-Lest the song get out of hand. Adults walked him to class, where he made himself count silently to 25 before raising his hand, so others might have a chance to answer, so he might have a treasured half a minute of seeming like the rest. Teachers took Greg off the grading curve to quell the resentment. The gifted students were the worst, seething with jealousy over the little boy who had suddenly infiltrated their elite ranks, merrily hopscotching from second grade to ninth in a single year. Gregory Smith recognized the Langston Hughes verse from his honors high school English class the sender was almost certainly a classmate.
Sing it softly, for the song is wild, it began. The first death threat, veiled in a poem, came when he was 8 years old.
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