Coal Miner’s Daughter

How I Learned to Love Country Music on Loretta Lynn’s Dude Ranch

Motorcycles, campfires, and a beer with Mooney

Our campsite at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch, 1982. Me on the left. Author’s photo.

“Not my thing,” was my standard response when someone mentioned country music to me. How could anyone enjoy all that twang? It seemed to me every country song was about broken hearts, hard-drinking, or hound dogs. I…