why not?

from yahoo news

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Award-winning entertainer, businesswoman and education advocate Dolly Parton has a new title.

"Just think, I am Dr. Dolly!" she said Friday after receiving an honorary doctorate of humane and musical letters from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Always joking about her buxom figure, she added, "So when people say something about 'Double-D,' they will be thinking of something entirely different."

The audience of 1,069 new graduates from the College of Arts and Sciences roared with laughter and gave Parton a standing ovation.

Parton, a Tennessee native who is the fourth of 12 children from a poor Appalachian family, is well-known for her philanthropic work. Her Imagination Library sends a book to about 500,000 children each month from birth until they start school.

ha ha. imagine giving dolly parton an honorary document. i have seen some comments on this, most of it sneering.

however, i country music circles, she is actually well respected-not for her crossover stuff, but for her hardcore bluegrass albums. amongst fans of serious country music, she's up there with alison krauss and gillian welsh.

i was never a fan of dolly parton-dad had a copy of her duet with kenny rogers "islands in the stream" which is horrible. plus all i ever really saw was her public image-how could you take that seriously.

then, a couple of years ago i heard a documentary on national radio about an album that she was making where she was returning to her bluegrass roots. it was something of a revelation. skilfull playing, hearing her as part of a group rather than as a star. her interviews showed that she did know where she came from, as it were.

another surprise was hearing her original version of "i will always love you." if you're used to the bombastic diva version done by whitney housten that infested the airwaves a few years back, then parton's original version is actually listenable. its a wistful afterthought of a song.

ok i'm not rushing out to buy any of her albums, but i would suggest that in terms of her skill, her knowledge of appalachian music, and most of her songwriting, yhe idea of giving her a doctorate is not as ridiculous as it sounds