08/26/2026
There are some people who become famous, and then there are those rare people who use their fame to make the world a little brighter.
Dolly Parton has always been one of those lights.
She was born into a family of 12 children in a one-room cabin in the mountains of East Tennessee. She grew up with very little materially, but with an abundance of faith, family, music and determination.
And what a life she built.
Dolly became one of the greatest songwriters and entertainers America has ever produced. “Jolene.” “9 to 5.” “Coat of Many Colors.” “I Will Always Love You.” Generations of Americans know those songs by heart.
She earned Grammys, the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. She was inducted into both the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. She succeeded as a singer, songwriter, actress, author and businesswoman.
But I don’t think the awards tell the most important part of her story.
What Dolly did with her success does.
Her father never learned to read or write. Dolly never forgot that.
So she started the Imagination Library to put books into the hands of children. What began by serving children in her little corner of Tennessee grew into an international program that has delivered hundreds of millions of free books to children.
When wildfires devastated her Tennessee neighbors, she helped families rebuild.
She funded scholarships.
She supported children’s health and medical research.
When Hurricane Helene devastated communities in East Tennessee, she stepped forward again.
And through it all, she never seemed embarrassed by where she came from. Quite the opposite.
She celebrated the mountains, the people, the faith, the family and the humble upbringing that made her who she was.
That may be what I admire most.
In a world where success can make people forget where they came from, Dolly Parton spent a lifetime remembering.
She showed that you can be enormously successful without looking down on anyone. You can disagree with people without hating them. You can have wealth without allowing wealth to define you. And you can have a platform that reaches millions while still remembering the struggling family down the road.
She made people laugh. She made them sing. She gave children books. She gave families hope. And she reminded people to dream bigger than the circumstances they were born into.
That’s a pretty remarkable way to spend a life.
The world could always use a little more Dolly Parton; more kindness, more humility, more laughter, more faith, and a little more willingness to use whatever blessings we’ve been given to lift somebody else up.
What a light she has been.
We will remember Dolly Parton not simply for the songs she wrote or the stages she filled, but for the lives she touched and for showing us that the brightest light is the one we choose to shine on others.
