Dolly: A Life and a Legacy
By: Carly-Lynn Beisheim
When you think of icons, many people come to mind. However not many measure up to the one and only Dolly Parton. Dolly was so much more than her music; she valued and loved everyone just as they are. Known for her soaring soprano voice, quick wit, and her glamour, she scored worldwide love and admiration by pairing self-deprecating humor with unmatched artistic and business savvy. That message and her legacy will last nothing sort from forever.
Parton was born the fourth of twelve children in a one home where she described it as “money was scarce, but affection was plentiful”. Her public self was larger than life extraordinarily dazzling, and deliberately extravagant. As well as her glamor, she was funny. Every, interview she gave were so humble and sweet. "It costs a lot of money to look at this cheap," she joked about frequently, just as an example. Offstage however she retreated into the quiet, marriage to Carl Dean. This privet relationship is a rarity in Hollywood and because of it shows how humble she was. For nearly sixty years, his low-profile devotion kept her grounded. A quiet sanctuary where she could simply take off the high heels, make breakfast, and just be Dolly.
Parton's career started as she packed a suitcase and caught a bus to Nashville the morning after she graduated from high school, carrying little more than a notebook filled with melodies. Her music will shortly become nothing short of life changing in the world of American music at the time.
Her songs didn't just top the charts they were heart filled. In 1973, she wrote both the yearning anthem of "Jolene" and the bittersweet soul of "I Will Always Love You." Those were the hits that made her bigger than country music at the time, and her music became universal. When others tried to own her work, she held her ground, famously refusing to surrender her publishing rights to Elvis Presley. She knew her worth long before the industry was ready to grant it to a country woman.
It was in 1980 were she would make her movie debut in 9 to 5 next to Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. The paired soundtrack for the film would push the introduction song “9 to 5” to go on and win triple gold. Over the next five years she would have 12 top 10 hits, such as the re-recording “ I will Always Love you” and “Save the Last Dance for Me”.
Her philanthropy was deeply personal, what began as an effort to place books in the hands of all children with her “Imagination Library” turned into, mailing hundreds of millions of books to children. Most before they entered kindergarten to ensure they understood the true gift of storytelling. Parton also bypassed bureaucratic delays to deliver financial relief directly to displaced neighbors whose homes were destroyed in 2016 due to wildfires. She also donated a million dollars for COVID-19 research.
When news of her passing went public, the collective grief transcended the loss of a superstar but lost one of the greatest legends of the 20th and the 21st century. Across Tennessee, porch lights were left on in her honor with the intention of “leading her home”. Those lights also came with handwritten notes that read "Thank you, Dolly." From World leaders to rock legends and mothers who had shared her books with their children united in a rare, shared stillness, proving that in a divided society, Dolly remained a universal symbol of love and good doing.
And she did it all in sparkles and stilettos.
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