In the twenty-first century the idea of “philanthropy” and the word “philan thropist” typically bring to mind images of rich white men, who either inherited their fortune or made it in a business such as finance or information technology. They are unlikely to be associated with a diminutive female country music icon from a “dirt poor” background. Yet Dolly Parton's philanthropy made headlines across the world in late 2020 when her $1 million donation helped fund the devel opment of the Moderna vaccine, one of the early viable solutions to the global Covid-19 pandemic that turned the world upside down in 2020. How did the talent behind songs such as “Jolene” and “9 to 5” come to play a role in funding a pivotal epidemiological breakthrough? As this book explains, most philanthropy starts with a personal connection, an autobiographical stroke of fate – for better or worse – that, given the right combination of generosity, sympathetic steward ship by the recipient organization and cultural approval by wider society, results in private actions that promote the public good. The serendipitous incident in this case was a minor car crash in Nashville in 2013 which led Parton to check into the Vanderbilt University Medical Center where she met physician Dr Naji Abumrad. Despite knowing nothing about each other's careers, the two clicked and enjoyed talking about current affairs and science. When Dr Abumrad, who works at the university's Institute for Infection, Immunology and Inflammation later told Parton that his lab was making “exciting advances” in the early stages of the search for a cure for Covid-19, the million dollar gift was made to honour her friend and, in Parton's words, “to help” and “do good”. This research even tually received nearly $1 billion in federal funding and was the second poten tial vaccine to demonstrate high levels of efficacy. Reflecting on the impact of Parton's donation, Dr Abumrad said: “Her work made it possible to expedite the science behind the testing. Without a doubt in my mind, her funding made the research toward the vaccine go ten times faster than it would be without it” (quoted in Bella 2020).