If Mr. Walesa is the father of the breakup of monolithic Communism, the Pope is its spiritual godfather.

Some are regulars such as Yukihiko Ikumori, a gardener from the West Village who is known as the spiritual godfather of the rock.

For his part, Brennan was the spiritual godfather of those pests who call us at home with stock offers.

Their spiritual godfather is Marvin Gaye, who understood the power of ambiguity in presenting his romantic intentions.

Through his influential hiker's guide, The Complete Walker, published the same year, he became a kind of "spiritual godfather" of the wilderness backpacking movement.

The three actors effortlessly transcend Sartre's occasional resort to sexual stereotypes and remind us why he was the spiritual godfather to so many later dramatists.

Art Spiegelman, a fellow artist and friend, described Mr. Kurtzman as "the spiritual godfather of underground comics."

In many ways, Odets was the spiritual godfather of Mr. Simon.

After his death, the Los Angeles Times and the Committee to Protect Journalists described him as "the spiritual godfather of modern Mexican journalism."