Happy Birthday, Miss Loretta!
A tribute to Loretta Lynn on her 84th birthday!
Somebody once told me that "There's only two types of people in the world: the kind who like Loretta Lynn, and the kind who don't." Now that's true, obviously, but I'd take that statement one step further: Here in Kentucky, one of the fundamental rules is that you have to like Miss Loretta.
Born April 14, 1932 in Butcher Hollow, Loretta was the daughter of coal miner Ted Webb and his wife Clara. Life wasn't easy in 1930s Eastern Kentucky; Loretta once said "You get used to sadness, growing up in the mountains, I guess." But, Loretta was a survivor. Like many girls of her generation, she got married young -- she was only 14 when she married Oliver "Dolittle" Lynn. Loretta later joked of her youthful naïveté, "I didn't know how babies were made until I was pregnant with my fourth child."
Like a lot of mountain folks, Loretta and Doo had to leave home to find work, settling in a logging community in Washington State. in 1953, Doolittle bought Loretta a $17 Harmony guitar as an anniversary present. She taught herself to play, and by 1960, she'd cut her first record.
Miss Loretta's musical career has spanned decades, and she's received every imaginable musical accolade. Her enduring popularity, however, is as much for her amazing personality as her musical talent. She's a strong woman, a trailblazing musician, and an outspoken voice for common sense morality. She's always advocated for women's rights, recording controversial songs about divorce and birth control, while championing traditional values. When Miss Loretta says "The country is making a big mistake not teaching kids to cook and raise a garden and build fires," we Kentuckians hear the wisdom of our own grandmothers.
Loretta Lynn is a source of pride and strength for generations of Kentucky women. We are all a little better for the teachings of the Coal Miner's Daughter from Johnson County.
From all of us here at HerKentucky, Happy Birthday, Miss Loretta!
Happy Birthday, Muhammad Ali!
Happy birthday to The Greatest, Louisville native boxer Muhammad Ali!
Tomorrow marks the 72nd birthday of one of the most fascinating, charismatic, inspiring, and beloved figures in modern sports. Boxing legend Muhammad Ali was born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr. in Louisville on January 17, 1942.
As a boxer, Ali connected with legions of fans due not only to his amazing feats in the ring (he remains the only three-time lineal World Heavyweight Champion) but also his famous brand of self-promotion. He became known as The Louisville Lip due to enduring statements like "I am the Greatest" and "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Of course, his talent in the ring backed up his statements. Ali later said, "At home, I am a nice guy, but I don’t want the world to know. Humble people, I’ve found, don’t get very far.”
Nobody ever mistook Ali for being humble. Throughout the Sixties and Seventies, he was known not only for his boxing successes and outlandish statements, but also for his political and cultural stances. His religious and social objections to the Vietnam War as well as his candor regarding race and political issues made him a counterculture icon. Ali wasn't just a boxer, he was the first true "Sports Personality", establishing the groundwork for modern sports culture. As the writer Joyce Carol Oates said in her work "On Boxing", Ali was one of the few athletes in any sport to "define the terms of his public reputation." Ali's reputation extended far beyond the realm of sports; he is a seminal figure in modern African-American culture, with popularity that has racial lines for decades.
Upon his retirement from boxing, Ali has devoted his time and resources to humanitarian causes and Parkinson's Disease research. He is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Honor, Amnesty International's Lifetime Achievement Award, and the National Constitution Center Liberty Medal.
Louisville's Muhammad Ali Center, established by The Champ and his wife Lonnie, is an education center and museum devoted to the six principles established by Ali:
- Confidence: Belief in oneself, one's abilities, and one's future.
- Conviction: A firm belief that gives one the courage to stand behind that belief, despite pressure to do otherwise.
- Dedication: The act of devoting all of one's energy, effort, and abilities to a certain task.
- Giving: To present voluntarily without expecting something in return.
- Respect: Esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of, oneself and others.
- Spirituality: A sense of awe, reverence, and inner peace inspired by a connection to all of creation and/or that which is greater than oneself.
The Ali Center is celebrating Muhammad Ali's 72nd birthday on Friday with a special free screening of the film "The Trials of Muhammad Ali" at 6 p.m. All day at the Center. Visitors can create birthday cards for The Champ that day, and those who can't attend the festivities are asked to use the Twitter hashtag #HBDMuhammadAli.
From all of us at HerKentucky, Happy Birthday, Muhammad! You'll always be The Greatest to us!