I first met Loretta Lynn's music through "Coal Miner's Daughter," the 1980 movie based on Lynn's 1976 memoir of the same name (written with George Vescey), which I'm almost certain my parents wanted me to watch in order to appreciate the songs. This is a real story, I remember my parents saying. And that seemed to make it matter more, make it strong and deep, to help the music lodge in my heart.
We had our real stories too, after all, and like many rural Americans, they lined up not too far away from Lynn's. On Tuesday, Lynn died at her home in Tennessee at the age of 90.
