NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Nashville-based cancer information organization is dropping its ties to country comic Sarah Cannon's character Minnie Pearl.
What had been the Minnie Pearl Cancer Foundation became PearlPoint Cancer Support on Tuesday, according to The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/XdfdMl ). Also gone is the flowered hat with the dangling price tag that was part of the group's logo.
PearlPoint CEO Susan Earl Hosbach said name recognition of the character wasn't strong with younger people, but the major issue was who was a cancer survivor. The real person, Cannon, beat the disease. It was never part of the Minnie Pearl character.
Cannon survived breast cancer. She died in 1996, five years after retiring because of a stroke.
Her shouted greeting "How-dee!" from the Grand Ole Opry stage made her one of country's most beloved performers.
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Information from: The Tennessean, http://www.tennessean.com
