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Dear Reader,
The Porter Wagoner Show, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Andy Griffith Show, Hawaii Five-O, and Hee Haw, today's guest author, Dudley Delffs, takes us down memory lane. Jump on board and enjoy the ride. You're going to love his guest column.
Enter-to-win one of ten copies of Dudley's latest release, The Faith of Dolly Parton--Lessons from Her Life to Lift Your Heart. Email: [email protected]
Dudley, welcome to our book club...
Hello, Dolly
I was probably about five or six years old when I first saw Dolly Parton on The Porter Wagoner Show, one of my daddy's favorite programs. Like a lot of families, we usually watched TV together after supper. My mother would read or crochet, I would play with little green army men, and my father would sit in his chair, sip his can of beer, and tell me when to change the channel (I was the remote control). We seemed to watch the same shows again and again: Gunsmoke, Bonanza, The Andy Griffith Show, Hawaii Five-O, Hee Haw, and Porter's show. I liked country music okay, but the corny humor bugged me.
But that night, Dolly caught my attention. She was unlike anyone I'd ever seen in some ways and like so many Southern ladies I knew in others. Certainly her big blond hair and sparkly dresses stood out, along with her famous figure, but something about her songbird voice made me believe she felt every word she was singing. I couldn't have articulated it at the time, but even at that young age, I knew she was different than other celebrities.
Curiously enough, Dolly continued to hover at the edges of my life through its various seasons. When I went away to college, I'd listen to her music whenever I got homesick. When I decided to propose to my wife, we were standing in front of the bronze statue of Dolly in Sevierville, Tennessee, after dining at a restaurant up the street. Later, we took our kids to Dollywood numerous times. And as a lover of books and reading, I've long been a fan of Dolly's non-profit Imagination Library, which provides free books to kids.
Now as I get older, I appreciate something about Dolly that surprises many people--her faith. She's never been reluctant to discuss her Christian roots, her granddaddy was a Pentecostal preacher after all, and to tell people what she believes--about God, about the power of prayer, about the Bible--plain and simple. She's the first to admit she's no saint and the last to tell you just how much she's done for others. Dolly doesn't wear her faith on her sleeve and instead allows it to spring from her heart. Success looks good on her because she generously shares who she is and what she has.
We all have personal heroes who inspire us throughout our lives. I wouldn't have guessed it at the time, but mine jumped out of our old RCA console in 1970.
-- Dudley Delffs
Email: [email protected] for a chance to win, The Faith of Dolly Parton-Lessons from Her Life to Lift Your Heart.
About the Author:
Dudley Delffs, Ph.D., is an award-winning writer and publishing consultant. A native of Tennessee and lifelong fan of country music, when he's not reading and writing, Dudley enjoys traveling, hiking, watching college football, and painting landscapes. He and his wife, Dotti, have three adult children and live in Sewanee, Tennessee.
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
** AUTHORBUZZ **
SISTER OF MINE (Thriller) by Laura Petrou
Who would you call in the middle of the night to ask a favor you would ask of no one else? Are you that person to someone else? Penny and Hattie Grayson have always been each other's person: sisters in a small town, tight to the point of knots. One night a fire is set to rid them of Penny's terrible husband. This novel follows the aftermath of this choice.
Go to: AUTHORBUZZ click on SISTER OF MINE to read more and to email author Laura Petrou, you'll get a reply.
* This month's Penguin Classics book is AMIABLE WITH BIG TEETH, by Claude McKay. I have a Penguin totebag to share with a lucky reader. Start reading this month's Penguin Classics book by clicking this link, and enter-to-win for your chance to win the adorable totebag.
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