Doris Mary Ann von Kappelhoff was born on April 3, 1922. Known to the world as Doris Day, she recorded 650 songs and appeared in thirty-nine feature films.
She was voted Top Box-Office Female Star for four straight years during the 1960s. Her television appearances spanned from 1949 to 2009. She received lifetime achievement awards from the Grammys and the Academy Awards. In 2004, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
However, her death yesterday at the age of ninety-seven was not announced by a Hollywood studio or record label—it came from the Doris Day Animal Foundation. She had a passion for animals that began in her teenage years and led to her creating the Doris Day Pet Foundation, the Doris Day Animal League, and the Doris Day Horse Rescue and Adoption Center.
The killer who became a servant
On the opposite side of the social spectrum, Christopher Smith grew up in Oakland, where he played with a girl in his neighborhood named LoEshé Lacy. Her first name was a combination of two words from Nigerian dialects that in English mean “to love” and “life.”
Smith came from a dysfunctional family and spent time in foster care before running with local gangs. On October 20, 1997, seeking to avenge the shooting of one of his friends by a rival gang, he spotted a car he thought was driven by one of his intended targets. He and three other gang members opened fire.
He did not know that LoEshé was inside. He learned the next morning that he had killed his childhood friend.
Sentenced to twenty years to life, Smith began attending group meetings in prison. He told CNN that he began examining his behavior and the harm he had done. Once he held himself accountable for his actions and could forgive himself, he says, “I felt like now I could go from being an offender to being a servant.”
Then came the day in April 2018 when LoEshé’s father, Donald Lacy, met with Smith and forgave him….
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