The Ledger

From Staff Reports

There are celebrities, there are legends, and then there are those rare people who somehow become part of the fabric of America.

Dolly Parton was one of those people.

Parton died Tuesday in Nashville at the age of 80, according to a statement from her family. Her publicist later said she died after a brief battle with cancer.

Her death marks the end of an extraordinary life that began far from the glittering stages, movie sets and awards ceremonies that would eventually become familiar territory.

Born Jan. 19, 1946, in rural Tennessee, Parton was the fourth of 12 children raised in a one-room cabin. The family had little money, but music was part of their lives. She learned to play guitar as a child and began writing songs when she was only 7.

After graduating from high school, she headed for Nashville.

What followed was more than six decades of music history.

Parton wrote thousands of songs and gave the world classics including “Jolene,” “Coat of Many Colors,” “9 to 5” and “I Will Always Love You.” The latter was originally written as a farewell to her longtime performing partner Porter Wagoner before becoming one of the most recognizable songs in popular music.

She released dozens of albums, earned 11 Grammy Awards and crossed musical boundaries in a way few country performers ever have. She acted in movies, built Dollywood into a major tourist destination and became recognizable around the world.

But record sales, awards and rhinestones do not fully explain why Dolly Parton was so beloved.

People believed her.

She never seemed ashamed of where she came from, nor did success appear to make her embarrassed by the poor Tennessee family that shaped her. She spoke about poverty without bitterness and about faith without using it as a weapon. She could poke fun at her own hair, clothes and appearance before anyone else had the chance.

Behind all that sparkle was also a remarkably shrewd businesswoman and an extraordinarily generous one.

Perhaps no part of her legacy demonstrates that better than Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. Inspired in part by her father, who could not read, the program has provided hundreds of millions of free books to children around the world.

Think about that for a moment.

A little girl who grew up poor in a one-room cabin became successful enough to spend part of her life making sure other little boys and girls had books in their homes.

That may tell us as much about Dolly Parton as any Grammy ever could.

For generations of Americans, Dolly’s voice was simply there — on radios, televisions, movie screens and record players. She sang about heartbreak and working hard, family and home, dreams and determination.

She was glamorous without pretending to be above anybody.

And perhaps that is why Tuesday’s loss feels so personal to so many.

America did not simply lose a country music star.

We lost Dolly.

And there will never be another one quite like her.