Test your mom knowledge with these famous matrons

An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.

- Spanish proverb

As a Mother's Day reminder, let's play a round of Name That Mom! See if you can identify the mother who was so important in the life of her famous child.

1. This small-town Southern nurse survived rocky marriages and a host of other challenges to inspire her son to become his home state's attorney general and governor and his nation's president.

2. One latter-day genius was considered so "addled" in school that his schoolmaster complained. His mother got mad, pulled him from class and taught him at home. "My mother was the making of me," her son later wrote.

We all now know he was not only bright, but has brightened our lives.

3. The mother of one of baseball's greatest went to court over his father's death. Rumors that she was an unfaithful murderess are said to have fueled his dangerous ball-field rage.

4. Her lessons of self-discipline, responsibility, perseverance, moral values and the desire to achieve not only inspired her legendary NBA son but also ended up in many books and speeches that inspire others to be like him.

5. At an early age, this Nutley, N.J., mom helped develop her daughter's passion for cooking, gardening and homemaking. The successful, and occasionally hazardous, money-making came later.

6. This suburban Atlanta church secretary was an occasional actress. It's this activity that her daughter - a very pretty woman - has found even more successful.

7. When this actress turned 15, her mother not only let her drop out of school, she enrolled her in New York theater training. She went on to develop a TV persona that we all still love more than half a century later.

8. Not only is this mother's son famous for his ancient military and political success, the method by which she gave him birth has its own name.

ANSWERS

1. Virginia Kelly, mother of former President Clinton.

2. Nancy Elliott Edison, mother of Thomas Edison, was apparently one of history's most effective home-schoolers.

3. The rumors did persist about Amanda Cobb, mother of Ty Cobb. But let's point out that the mother of one of baseball's original hall of famers lived 31 years after his father's death and never remarried, remaining true to her children's father.

4. Deloris Jordan is the mother of Michael Jordan, who developed her own reputation as a spokeswoman and volunteer.

5. Martha Stewart often cites her mother, Martha Kostyra, a schoolteacher and homemaker, with teaching her basics of cooking, baking, canning and sewing.

6. Georgia's own Julia Roberts said her Hollywood motivation was "to make my mother proud." We assume Betty Roberts, of Smyrna, is certainly that.

7. Desiree (DeDe) Hunt Ball was the mother of Lucille Ball and probably the first to love Lucy.

8. Aurelia, mother of Julius Caesar. Known for her beauty, common sense and hard work, she probably didn't really birth him by Caesarean section. Most historians say such surgery in ancient times would have proved fatal, and we know Aurelia lived to see her son become a successful general.

Reach Bill Kirby at (706) 823-3344 or bill.kirby@augustachronicle.com.