For September’s Monday Morning Mojo, I am sharing three stories of people who have inspired me this past month. These individuals live lives of what I believe are great examples for all of us to learn from.

Celebrating The Life of Dolly Parton

The first shout-out goes to Dolly Parton. I have always respected Dolly Parton for her music and her talent. However, to be honest, I never really paid too much attention to her as a human being. But after reading everything she was about and believed in, we lost a great one this past week. Beyond her talent, I am most impressed by her business ambition and acumen in pursuit of her commitment to philanthropy and improving the communities she supports. One friend shared this story:

Not many people know Dolly Parton dropped a county’s school dropout rate from 35% to 6%.

Dolly created The Buddy Program.

In 1991, she walked into a room of 7th and 8th graders in Tennessee and told them to pick a buddy.

Everyone signed a contract saying if both of you graduate high school, you each get $500 from her personally. But if one of you drops out, neither gets paid.

This remains one of the best incentive structures to this day.

Dolly Parton was famous for many quotes and this one certainly resonated with me, “”Don’t get so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”

In case you missed the news of her passing, here is one of several stories that ran depicting the life of Dolly Parton. Rest in Peace Dolly.

Mitch Albom – Take A Bow

The second shout-out goes to Mitch Albom. I have loved and appreciated Mitch, a fellow Michigander, from his highly emotional books, “Tuesdays with Morrie”, and “Five People You Meet in Heaven.” My wife, Lisa, calls these “Chicken Soup” books, and I enjoy reading them. Albom is a master storyteller in my opinion.

What I didn’t know was what he was doing in Haiti. I watched this news story on 60 minutes and was blown away. Sharing this wonderful story below.

Muffy MacKenzie, Homegrown Talent

The third shout-out is a celebration of someone I grew up with, Muffy MacKenzie. I learned in early August Muffy was preparing to swim the Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim, taking place in Istanbul, Turkey. Organized by the National Olympic Committee of Turkey, this race that attracts more than 2,500 swimmers globally is a 6.5 km open-water race in Istanbul, Turkey, where participants swim from Asia to Europe. Some swimmers have not even survived this race; however, I am happy to report that Muffy not only completed the swim, but she also won it for her age division. Way to go Muffer!  Here is a picture on the medal stand and a picture of me, with Muffy, Fawn Coffey, Alan Himelhoch and Bryan Parker from a great catch up dinner we had in Flint.

And, here’s a quick clip I found online interviewing participants from the race.

I hope these stories inspire you as they did for me. We need to celebrate more of these model citizens while they are alive :-).

Here is a great tribute to Dolly Parton by the wonderful pianist John Batiste.

I am off to the pool now. Have a great month ahead.