On Dolly Parton
We learned of her death about 12:30 p.m. while on our vacation. We were in an antique store in Sevierville right next to her hometown of Pigeon Forge, where we'd already bought tickets for that night's show at The Comedy Barn, one of her business enterprises.
The owner of the antique store we were in told me, spontaneously, as he opened a case for the Pyrex butter dish I thought my daughter might want. He'd been told by his friend, whose wife had been a backup singer for Dolly, ahead of the news breaking. He said several times, over the rest of our shopping there, how good she was, how kind.
For many years--really all of my life--I have gone out of my way not to read about celebrities or know anything about them. So much of celebrity 'news' involved who's dating who, who's marrying who, who's divorcing who, who's involved in what scandals, and what political views they want us to have. I have never seen any value in following who's partying where, what mansions they're living in, who they're sleeping with, and so on. None of this should inform how we live our lives.
So, just as I never followed any other celebrity, I never followed Dolly Parton. I liked some of her songs. I liked the movie 9 to 5 and her iconic song. Nothing more. We both put our pants on one leg at a time, although her pants have way more rhinestones than mine. But still....
Chris and I arrived in Tennessee three years and three days ago, from northern Minnesota. One of the things I very quickly learned on moving here was how much the people of Tennessee love Dolly Parton. Because I avoided celebrity talk, I knew little about her other than her singing, her role in 9 to 5, the tasteless jokes I heard around high school and college about her endowment, her big blonde hair, and rhinestones. I certainly had nothing against her. I just didn't know much about her, other than her music and acting.
But on arriving in Tennessee, I quickly learned how much the people of Tennessee love Dolly Parton--and why. I learned of her philanthropic works in giving out over 100 million books (perhaps closer to 200 million) to children to promote literacy and in helping build a hospital in what had been a very poor area of Appalachia.
I learned of her long marriage to one man--something that is unfortunately rare in the entertainment industry. She had been married from the time she was quite young to a man she met in a laundromat--a man who for years ran his own business of asphalt paving. Here was a man who worked with his hands, did hot, dirty work, built a business of something about as far away from rhinestones and the music industry as you can imagine. He wanted nothing to do with her public life or the publicity.
Yet they married very young and remained married for 59 years, until his death about a year and a half ago.
One site that just came up tonight says they never had children because she was focused on her career. Every other report I've read says health issues prevented her having children and that it was never by their choice that they didn't; that they wanted children and when they couldn't, she poured her love instead into younger siblings and nieces and nephews. I guess the moral of the story is, be careful of what we believe of others based on what we read and hear.
Pigeon Forge was in Tennessee's poorest county when Dolly Parton was born there. It is now in Tennessee's wealthiest county, because of the prosperity she has brought it. Her life has benefitted countless people by the books she has brought to children, the jobs and business she brought to this part of Tennessee, the joy she has brought to so many through her music and movies and dinner theaters in Pigeon Forge.
I have wanted nothing to do with celebrities for many reasons. But in moving to Tennessee, I learned many things about Dolly Parton I wouldn't otherwise have known, especially of her charity. So learning of her death today, not only in her home state but in her hometown where she is so loved, was sad.
It was coincidence that we were already scheduled to attend the show at one of her businesses, The Comedy Barn. Before the show began, they showed pictures of her on the large screens, and made an announcement about her death. Several times during the program, they talked about Dolly, about her impact on people, on this area of Tennessee, and above all, her kindness, her goodness, her commitment to her literacy program, were emphasized.
I don't want to follow celebrities in general. But in moving to Tennessee, I found that Dolly Parton's way of living has something to teach all of us: to use what we have to help others.
Among the performers tonight at the Comedy Barn was a long-time guitarist for Dolly Parton. In the immediate aftermath of learning of Dolly Parton's death, I was glad to spend the evening in the company of a business she built (The Comedy Barn), with people who knew her and loved her, people who had worked with her, with people who honored the legacy of all the good things she did with her life.
To me, the legacy of Dolly's life is: How do we use our own lives to make this world a better place?
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