Several things; first, many thanks for the long response,there’s a lot in this. Second, while I most certainly do not expect you to be familiar with the rest of my writing (GAH, close to 1700 articles) last year I wrote pretty extensively about personal transition, much of that writing driven by Covid, quarantine and all the other events of the year. I’m a certified trainer in Bridges’ Transitions material, so it would be fair to say that not only do I fully recognize where Dolly is, I also understand and have empathy for that journey, being on it myself, as are we all. That is both stated and implied in the article, several times over.

The fact that Dolly helped the economy and those around her is also very clear, and I made pains to make it clear several times That wasn’t ignored. However, the article speaks to more constellational issues, and while I understand that in your personal opinion some of the larger points are watered down, the connectivity of all those issues is part of the point. I do not in any way, shape or form believe, nor do I support any notion that the middle class is “getting its due.” I find that kind of retributional thinking unfortunate. There is nothing that speaks to that, so if you perceive it, with all respect that’s not coming from me. I am far, far more troubled that the trend is to deny not only those at the bottom rung economic opportunity, but now, in a society that allows the uber-rich to continue to hoard treasure, the storied middle class is being sucked of its opportunities as well. By including Jessica’s article I am expressing my concern for the loss of economic viability for people who would, kindly, like a roof, decent food, a decent wage, a decent school system. That process, forced upon on us with our implicit permission (whom we elected, whom we punish, whom we hold accountable etc) has come back to bite us. There are deep and important lessons in that, and part of it has everything to do with skin color. Agree or not, that is how I see it. We have made our own beds, and others have paid for it, people and tribes and nations world wide. Not just America, but all colonizing countries. There is something to be learned from, as I stated, the larger trends worldwide. ALL life experiences multiple transitional periods. That includes interpersonal relationships, companies, nations, cities, forests, rivers, galaxies. ALL life. Understanding that is part of this process. Understanding where we are in that arc is part of the maturing process, which allows us the patience to navigate those inevitable and life-affirming small deaths (leaving youth behind, leaving middle age behind, on a personal level) so that we can deal with larger ones (getting old, our country is no longer ALL THAT).

I got bang out of your admission at the end. When I end up writing a tome to a writer, that to me is proof positive that said author twanged something in me that was important. Lotta truth in that. In this time of attacking people for being (White, Black, Brown, Asian, etc.) it’s very easy to lump my piece into that category. Tempting, but with the utmost respect, misguided. I see Dolly as she is: she was exceedingly successful in many things, and she is, as are we all at various points, struggling with the responsibility to redefine herself in a new world. This process is part of life, part of aging, part of becoming. That there were lots and lots of relevant aspects of her situation that relate to race, that relate to aging and gender, is, to me, what makes her story so relevant. That people are responding to it so much also speaks to how many of us are dealing with many of the same issues. I am too, believe me. It is Psych 101 to project their version of what I am saying onto me. That doesn’t make it true for me, however I recognize that responses speak to what comes up in the individual writer.

I see Dolly’s pain, but I also see what she did that was valuable. I speak to that several times in the piece for she deserves her due. Her full-on struggle right now is, to my mind, much of where we see America, having a wicked hard time redefining herself, and finding herself as a nation no longer anywhere near as relevant, powerful and influential in the world at large. As someone who spends a lot of time overseas, that is very important for me to observe, for I live and work in that world. This transition was forced onto England when she lost her place as that tiny island that ruled the world, it’s being forced onto America, whose focus on gluttony rather than being a decent world citizen and a leader has led to some reckonings. These are natural arcs, hard ones, and they are multidimensional. That they are multidimensional is part of the challenge of seeing them. It’s not ALL about race, as some would have it. It’s not ALL about the uber rich, as some would have it. You can’t really tease those issues apart as they are interconnected. While your personal and perfectly valid impression of the story is that the points are watered down, truth is, had I tried to explain all of the points you bring up in your comments, the damned thing would be fifteen thousand words.

I want us to think. Like it or not, the piece is getting people to think, and some of what we think about may be uncomfortable. That is, possibly, but I can’t say for anyone else, that there’s a grain of truth in it. I know when I have to pen a long response, that long response speaks directly to either the discomfort I’m feeling, or the truth that I’m feeling, or both. That sends me to the mirror, not the author. Which of course is the whole point.

So you have an article back. I respect your points, just as I would respectfully redirect you back to the very specific wording where I acknowledged Dolly for her good work and the story she was writing with that good work. There are things of which you have accused me as a writer which are not quite accurate, but if you take this work and put it in the context of some of the other work that has been blossoming (anti-racism writer, and that is not my thing) then it can sound like that. It isn’t. People could well be responding to a few triggers because of the current environment, and while I do make some points about how her journey speaks to the larger one which we are all on, which does indeed speak in part to issues of skin color, that is not the only point here. Yes. Her being White is a huge part of the story, but then that’s very much the case world-wide. To not embrace that reality on both the micro and macro level would indeed be to miss the point, but to say that I lack compassion is a serious misread of this story. I made it clear I like Dolly and respect her a great deal. And I very much understand where she is and why, which is why I wrote the story.

Thanks for your comments. I do appreciate the time invested just as I value your point of view.