08-25-2026, 10:41 PM
(08-25-2026, 04:36 PM)qwerty49 Wrote: Let's not forget all her philanthropy either. The ones that stick out in my mind:
$1M to Vanderbilt to support early covid vaccine research
$500 cash scholies to every 7th and 8th grader in her home county who went on to graduate from high school (dropout rate went from 35% to 6%)
A free book every month to every kid in her county under the age of 5 (her dad never learned to read)
Numerous scholies at the college level
And of course all the benefit concerts, and much much more...
My fave musical moment: she appeared on Letterman with Linda and Emmylou and they sang "After the Gold Rush" by Neil Young. Just awesome.
Imagination Library (the free book program) has expanded well beyond her home county, and even gives books internationally (US, Canada, UK, Australia, Ireland):
https://imaginationlibrary.com
It has distributed 332,411,218 free books (per the website), which unfortunately is a bit short of her goal of giving out 1 billion free books. Hopefully her legacy will live on, and the charity will meet its goal soon.
BC