No, this has nothing to do with the book, but yes, I do hope to read the Annabel Monaghan work some day.
It’s just… every time I heard someone say the title of the book, I immediately thought about Dolly Parton. After she passed away yesterday, the greatness of Dolly Parton has played on a loop in my mind, and I’ve come to realize, one way or another, I’ve thought about Dolly all the time.
Between the announcement of her passing early afternoon on August 25, 2026 to when I’m writing this (merely a day later), I have shared the tidbits of information I knew about the blonde legend’s private life and have consistently heard “Oh, I didn’t know that” from those around me. Many people did not know she has been sick for a while. Many people did not know her husband passed just last year. For some reason, many people did not know she also had a home in Middle Tennessee.
Yes, she bled East Tennessee through and through, but she took the love and care rooted in her during her time in the mountains and brought it to Middle Tennessee. Honestly, I know Dolly more for her philanthropy and literacy work than her country music (though “9 to 5” is consistently quoted on a hard day). She supported Black communities, like with “The House that Whitney Built.” She was my kind of Christian and knew it was not her place to judge, therefore love is love.
Of course, there were the family trips to Dollywood (the only good thing about Sevier County at this point), but where Dolly touched me personally is with her Imagination Library. When we signed my brother up for the Imagination Library and he received his first book, I remember how excited he was. The excitement never died with each month that passed, and it got to a point where I would take some of his books and privately read them, even though I was beyond his reading level with our nine-year age difference. Still, I don’t believe my brother nor I would be the readers that we are today without the literary access Dolly’s Imagination Library gave us.
When Michael Jackson died, I remember my mom standing in front of the television, watching his large funeral/memorial service. At the time, I did not understand the impact and why so many people were distraught, considering a lot of people simply didn’t know him. After hearing about the passing of Dolly Parton yesterday, I get it now. People are not being overdramatic when they say she was an angel on earth. Of course, she was human and had her faults, which she owned up to. She never backed down from her beliefs nor shied away from a challenge.
Because I obviously didn’t know Dolly personally, this isn’t a long writing. I’m simply so grateful for the work she’s done beyond country music. Honestly, I am still processing my grief and trying to figure out how and if I can shine just as bright as she did.
While I work through my sorrow and celebrate the joyous memories associated with Dolly Parton, like her recording a commencement speech for the 2020 graduating class at East Tennessee State University, the only thing on the forefront of my mind will be Dolly all the time.
“Don’t be so busy making a living that you forget to make a life.”
– Dolly Parton
