I'd heard about the shooting, but I hadn't put it together. There was this young man in the wrong place at the wrong time, apparently, and the Raleigh police were doing a raid. From what I'd heard, a young cop with a shotgun had told this guy to take his hands out of his pockets, and no sooner had he done so than he got shot in the chest. This turned out to be Soloana's son, and I told her immediately that I wanted to write a piece that called attention to this. Soloana was struck by the fact that I wanted to do this but was initially skeptical.
Music gets inside of a person like nothing else can.
So 'Benediction' was to a certain extent responsible for social change. And then Hawaii beckoned. The Scearces' accomplishments in Hawaii have contributed greatly to both Mark's and Leda's growth and development. She's integral to his life and work, of course, and remains a major influence on his art. The sound of her voice inspired Scearce to compose many of the 100 songs he produced in Hawaii, grouped into cycles, two of which employ poems by N.C. native A.R. Ammons.