Dolly Parton Saves the Day!

On a dirt trail through the woods my dog Brandy and I passed a lady who struggled up the other way while NPR played "Nine to Five." I turned to shout to the lady, "Hey, it's Dolly Parton day!" She lit up and said, "I know! Nine - two - five!" We walked our ways separate but united.

The story also primed me to fall in love immediately with artist Micah Johnson, whose story came next on All Things Considered. Bipolar disorder cut short the pro baseball career he'd always dreamed of, but his love for painting has saved him. I loved the story, I loved his voice, and I loved the art that flashed up on my screen when I searched for his paintings. A nephew had asked if Black people could be astronauts, and Johnson painted the boy in a space suit - and it's touching and surprising. The artist says he wants to get beyond making something that looks pretty with the sofa, or something that looks like the model -- these days, anyone can do that (he didn't have to add, with AI).

astronaut image Micah Johnson at work

This after the uncomfortable pause on Science Friday, usually a source of amusement and awe. The host asked two AI experts how they're sleeping, since they both have small children. I think one of them started to cry. Both admitted they can think of little else but how to keep AI from going rogue.

Then there'd been another story about arts and artists -- all about Trump's history with the Kennedy Center, and the likelihood that he will look for a way to demolish what he can't have.

So I'm delighted to think of Dolly on her new day.

A few years ago, NPR had broadcast a thoughtful piece about how Dolly transcended divisions over genre, politics, and religion. (I recommend Jad Adumbrad's podcast Dolly Parton's America).

Since her death, I've watched the film 9 to 5, her first, and adored her persona. Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin have confirmed, that was the real Dolly. I loved the song she wrote on the set of the movie and bought the LP that contained it, which also introduced me to Woody Guthrie's song "Deportees," which also introduced my young self to the injustice of using migrants to harvest our crops for cheap and then kicking them out like criminals. Dolly didn't sound political when she sings the bitter news summary of a plane crash that killed the workers on their ways home: "The news said, 'They were just deportees.'"

I'll become more of an expert before the next 9/25 rolls around.