Because I don't think the point you suggested is a likely explanation. Why does the author wish to imply Julia Roberts' parents were so poor they couldn't affo

Because I don't think the point you suggested is a likely explanation. Why does the author wish to imply Julia Roberts' parents were so poor they couldn't afford $1? Coretta Scott King paid off the bill as thanks for her parents' kindnesses towards black children in Atlanta. Is $1 - about $30 now - really that big of a thank you in 1967?