Dolly Parton died Tuesday at 80.
There will be plenty written about the music.
There should be.
Jolene.
9 to 5.
I Will Always Love You.
There will be stories about the awards, the movies, the rhinestones, the hair, the humor and the remarkable journey of a girl born into poverty in the mountains of Tennessee who became one of the most recognizable people on Earth.
But today, maybe we should talk about something else.
Maybe we should talk about who Dolly Parton chose to be once she had the power to be almost anything.
Because fame gives people options.
Money gives people options.
Influence gives people options.
Dolly Parton repeatedly chose to use hers to help other people.
She Gave Children Books
In 1995, Parton launched the Imagination Library in her home county of Sevier County, Tennessee.
The inspiration was personal.
Her father could not read or write.
Parton saw what illiteracy could take away from someone, so she decided to do something about it.
The idea was beautifully simple: give children books.
Free.
Every month.
From birth until age five.
What started in one Tennessee county eventually expanded across the United States and into other countries.
Over the next three decades, hundreds of millions of books found their way into children’s homes.
Not because those children were Republicans.
Not because they were Democrats.
Not because their parents agreed with her.
Because they were children.
And children deserved the opportunity to learn.
When Her Community Hurt, She Showed Up
In 2016, devastating wildfires swept through the Great Smoky Mountains and destroyed homes throughout the region where Parton grew up.
She didn’t just issue a statement.
She helped create the My People Fund.
Families who had lost their primary residences received $1,000 every month for six months while they tried to rebuild their lives.
Millions of dollars were ultimately distributed.
Think about the name for a moment.
My People.
She had become an international superstar.
But those mountains were still home.
Those families were still her people.
And when her people hurt, she helped.
She Put Her Money Where Her Heart Was
Parton’s generosity extended far beyond literacy and disaster relief.
She funded scholarships.
She gave millions to children’s hospitals and medical research.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she donated $1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for research that ultimately contributed to the development of Moderna’s vaccine.
She supported pediatric cancer care and infectious-disease research.
And through Dollywood, she helped create jobs and economic activity in the Appalachian region that raised her.
Over and over again, the pattern was remarkably consistent.
See a need. Help.
She Didn’t Need Everyone to Agree With Her
Perhaps one of the most remarkable things about Dolly Parton was that, in an increasingly divided America, nearly everybody seemed willing to claim her.
Country fans loved her.
Pop fans loved her.
People on the political right loved her.
People on the political left loved her.
People who couldn’t agree about much of anything could still agree about Dolly.
That wasn’t because she didn’t have values.
Her values were everywhere.
They were simply more visible in what she did than in whom she condemned.
Children should have books.
Students should have opportunities.
Families who lose everything should receive help.
Communities should take care of their neighbors.
Those ideas don’t require a party registration.
Maybe That’s the Legacy Worth Talking About
We spend an enormous amount of time talking about what is wrong with society.
Who is destroying the country.
Who is dangerous.
Who is stupid.
Who is evil.
Which side is to blame.
And every once in a while, someone comes along and demonstrates another way to move through the world.
Be successful without forgetting where you came from.
Make money without believing you need to keep all of it.
Have convictions without treating everyone who disagrees with you as an enemy.
See suffering and respond to it.
Make people laugh.
Give children books.
Help your neighbors rebuild their homes.
Leave something behind that makes life a little better for people you’ll never meet.
Dolly Parton wasn’t perfect.
No human being is.
But perfection isn’t what makes someone good.
What matters is what we choose to do with the life we’ve been given.
And by that measure, Dolly Parton left behind something considerably larger than an extraordinary catalog of music.
She left an example.
Today, the world lost Dolly Parton.
And this world cannot afford to lose many more good ones.
Maybe the best way to honor her isn’t simply to mourn her.
Maybe it’s to emulate her.
Be a little kinder. Give a little more. Help somebody who can do absolutely nothing for you in return.
Imagine what the world might look like if more of us did.
