From lullaby to the classics
By ALLAN TINKER
Born on a farm north of Minot, Susan (Sue) was the middle child of Marvel and Irene Zahn. After her lullaby introduction to life, Sue went on to earn the State FFA’s “Most Talented” award in 1979.
She wrote the song and her best friend Laurie Larson played the piano accompaniment. She opened for Paul Harvey at the National FFA Convention and later, to her surprise, Harvey stopped by her table and asked for HER autograph.
After graduating from Westhope High School in 1979, she wanted to be a country-western singer. Her parents thought she should have a fallback plan just in case, so she spent two years at Mayville State as music major. She was not impressed with her introduction to other music there, fearing her country western music would be lost in the line of music instruction there.