Editor’s note: I’ve been off-line the last few weeks because of surgery reattaching a ligament on my left arm. Recovery is slow, but sure, but I do now have the use of both hands.
The great Dolly Parton passed into eternity today. Here are several remembrances of this great songwriter, musician and human being.
Rest in power, Dolly. You always represented the best in us and the best in country music. You were a serious musician who never took herself too seriously. You received so much in life and you used that to look after those who received less.
-REH
Fr. James Martin on Facebook
NY Times Obit – Dolly Parton, Superstar whose songs spoke to millions, dies at 80
Texas Reporter on Facebook remembers Dolly
“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb. And I also know that I’m not blonde.”
“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I’m not dumb. And I also know that I’m not blonde.”
That was Dolly Parton. And country music lost one of the good ones today. 💔
Dolly had this wonderful ability to be completely in on the joke. She could laugh at the hair, the rhinestones, the clothes and the larger-than-life image because she knew exactly what she was doing.
As she famously put it, “It costs a lot of money to look this cheap.” And when talking about exercise, she joked, “Every day I do some diddly squats.”
But behind all that humor was an extraordinarily talented songwriter, a brilliant businesswoman and a person who seemed determined to leave the world a little better than she found it. She gave us some pretty good advice along the way, too: “Find out who you are and do it on purpose.” And, of course, “If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain.”
Dolly came from poverty in the mountains of Tennessee and became one of the most recognizable people on Earth. She never seemed embarrassed by where she came from. She celebrated it. And when she became enormously successful, she shared that success.
Her Imagination Library put books into the hands of millions of children. She helped families after devastating Tennessee wildfires. She donated $1 million toward research that helped lead to the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. There are countless stories of Dolly quietly helping people without making the story about herself.
She could write a song that broke your heart and then turn around and make you laugh at something completely ridiculous. She was glamorous without taking glamour seriously, enormously famous without seeming consumed by fame, and wealthy while apparently never forgetting what it was like to grow up without much.
Her husband of nearly 60 years, Carl Dean, died last year. I’d like to think they’re together again.
There are celebrities you admire, and then there are those rare people who somehow become part of the American experience. Dolly felt like one of those people. She had been around so long, and had been loved by so many different kinds of people, that it was easy to assume she would simply always be there.
She once said, “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, then you are an excellent leader.”
I’d say she managed that.
Rest easy, Dolly. You were funny, smart, talented, generous and wonderfully, unapologetically yourself. You really were one of the good ones. 💔🎶
And fortunately, you already gave us the perfect words for saying goodbye:
We will always love you.
And finally: Shine on you crazy diamond…
