We lost Dolly Parton last week and the world seems just a bit less kind, safe, and comfortable because of it. No, I didn’t know her; never met her; wasn’t even what most folks would call a big fan. I did enjoy some of her music, have seen at least some of the movies she made, was a fairly frequent viewer of her TV show, and enjoyed her as an entertainer. However, I was also aware of at least some of the many things she did with her fame and the money which she amassed from her various business ventures and personal talents. I considered her to be one of the “GOOD people,” of which there are just too few these days.
I remember some occasion (with Bonnie as I remember it) driving into Sevierville, TN, (probably on our way to visit the Visitor’s Center at the Bush’s Bean Company, or some of the other “tourist traps” at Pigeon Forge, which are quite near there) and running across this statute of Dolly in the middle of the town square. It’s of Dolly as a young girl and I quite enjoyed it. So, I looked up a picture of it, since I didn’t take one while I was driving through, and here it is!
I remember some occasion (with Bonnie as I remember it) driving into Sevierville, TN, (probably on our way to visit the Visitor’s Center at the Bush’s Bean Company, or some of the other “tourist traps” at Pigeon Forge, which are quite near there) and running across this statute of Dolly in the middle of the town square. It’s of Dolly as a young girl and I quite enjoyed it. So, I looked up a picture of it, since I didn’t take one while I was driving through, and here it is!
I especially like the butterfly sitting on the neck of her guitar, butterflies always being something of a "thing” with her.
I also remember that we, as a family, went to Dollywood in it’s early days, not long after Dolly bought into what had been Silver Dollar City and they rebranded it to Dollywood. It was MUCH smaller in those days, but we (Maggi and Kate were both with Bonnie and me on that occasion) had a good time admiring some of Dolly’s costumes, etc.
I also remember that some of my students had summer jobs at Dollywood, and (perhaps) at the earlier Silver Dollar City. As I remember it, some were there for more than one summer.
Primarily, what makes me remember Dolly as one of what I call the “GOOD people” was her unwillingness to put others down, to pass judgement on others, and the joy she seemed to take in using her EARNED wealth to benefit those in need. I was particularly struck with the Imagination Library she created to put books into the hands of small children who, otherwise, might not have access to them. The story goes that she did this in honor of her father, who could not read, so she wanted to give ALL children (rich AND poor) the opportunity to both read AND to have access to books.
I think what always impressed me about Dolly was that she made no apologies for creating, as a “stage presence,” a character which some folks thought was just a cheap, dumb, blonde. but which actually hid an extremely smart woman with tremendous drive to succeed at whatever she set out to do. After all, one can’t write, literally, thousands of songs, perform many of them on frequent tours and appearances, have two television variety shows (one syndicated & one on a network), make a great many LPs, have innumerable hit singles and be elected to BOTH the Country Music AND the Rock and Roll Halls of Fame (among a considerable number of other honors) and be untalented and not very smart.
This gets me to the point of this post. Since her passing, I have run across quite a large number of quotes credited to Dolly, many of which struck me as worth repeating and thinking about, so I though I’d include a few of them in this post, with brief comments from me. Most of these I found in an article from Southern Living, but others were just in various news stories, etc. I like them and think they go a good way towards explaining explaining why I’m going to miss Dolly a lot.
It seems that Dolly was widely (if NOT accurately) believed to be something of a classic “dumb blonde,” so she was asked if that sort of thing offended her. She said, "I'm not offended by dumb blonde jokes because I know that I'm not dumb. I also know that I'm not a blonde."
I think that quote suggests what I had always believed; that Dolly had created an image designed to get her the degree of attention necessary to achieve her goal of success in show business, but which was carefully crafted for THAT purpose and was, in fact, a CHARACTER she played, NOT actually her, true, self. That showed up in a number of things she has said, such as: “People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don’t know, I’m never there.”; “I am a self-made woman, and I have the doctor bills to prove it.”; “You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!”; and, “I may look fake but I'm real where it counts.”
I can’t PROVE this, of course, but such comments led me to believe that she was, in fact, MUCH brighter than the character she played in public, and her less well-known actions seem to demonstrate that.
(I should probably note that I, at least, do NOT consider this "character" to be any more “phony” than the ones created by MANY “Show Business Personalities.” Such actions are probably required in order to, maintain a sense of yourself in that world.)
Over the years, Dolly said some things which could be called “Inspirational.” This sort of quote (of which there are many) has quickly become one of my favorites. Just as her songs often seem to be just simple, little things, Dolly had an ability to comment about many things in a way which was simple, straightforward and to the point, while actually being, in my estimation, rather profound, deep, and meaningful.
Here are some of my favorite examples of that sort of thing: "You always want your people to be proud of what you have accomplished.” After all, accomplishing things is only good (in the long run) if they do more that just satisfy your ego. Nobody REALLY likes an egocentric bully. I wish some folks would learn that. It’s only a REAL accomplishment if it doesn’t serve some greater purpose than your own ego. Dolly discusses that notion in the following:
“I’ve always tried to never step on anybody to get where I am. I’ve had to walk around a few people, jump over a few of ‘em now and then, but I think you’re a true success when you’ve seen your dreams come true and you can take pride in how you did it, and take pride in and respect and appreciate the people that helped you get there.” If you can’t look back at how you got somewhere with gratitude for those who assisted you and the honest belief that YOUR success was NOT achieved at THEIR expense, then IS it REALLY an accomplishment?
AS Dolly said, the important thing is to: "Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.”
That’s probably the way to find REAL success. And, it doesn’t have to be all that complicated, as she suggested with: "When I wake up, I expect things to be good. If they're not, then I try to set about trying to make them as good as I can 'cause I know I'm gonna have to live that day anyway. So why not try to make the most of it if you can?”; and, "I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world.”
She also summed this sort of thing up in a couple of very short sayings, which I also like a good deal: "If you see someone without a smile today, give 'em yours.”; and, "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.”
Dolly was, one can be reasonably sure, often judged by others, not on the basis of knowledge, but on a willingness to jump to conclusions based on superficialities. As one who seems to have tried pretty hard to live up to the ideals with which she was raised, she seems to have found such actions rather offensive, as the following quotes suggest: “All these fine Christian-type people that seem to think they know what God wants for all of us, that's certainly more of a sin than anything they would claim about us. To judge people is one of the greatest sins.”; “In the country field, we’re brought up in spiritual homes, we’re taught to “judge not lest you be judged,” and it’s always been a mystery to me how people jump all over things just to criticize, condemn and judge other people when that is so un-Christian – and they claim to be good Christians. We’re supposed to love one another. We’re supposed to accept and love one another. Whether we do or not, that’s a different story. But that’s what we’re supposed to do.”; “God tells us not to judge one another, no matter what anyone's sexual preferences are or if they're black, brown or purple.”
That’s probably enough of this sort of thing, but it’s really only a taste of the ideas which Dolly commented upon. I hope, if you were not aware of the fact that she was a great deal more than a little woman with big “boobs” and a giant voice, this may have contributed to a greater understanding of a remarkable woman, who I am going to miss (even though I never actually even met her) but who contributed a lot to trying to make this world a better place for everyone!
As I close this, I want to include an image from the cartoonist, Jeff Koterba.
I also remember that we, as a family, went to Dollywood in it’s early days, not long after Dolly bought into what had been Silver Dollar City and they rebranded it to Dollywood. It was MUCH smaller in those days, but we (Maggi and Kate were both with Bonnie and me on that occasion) had a good time admiring some of Dolly’s costumes, etc.
I also remember that some of my students had summer jobs at Dollywood, and (perhaps) at the earlier Silver Dollar City. As I remember it, some were there for more than one summer.
Primarily, what makes me remember Dolly as one of what I call the “GOOD people” was her unwillingness to put others down, to pass judgement on others, and the joy she seemed to take in using her EARNED wealth to benefit those in need. I was particularly struck with the Imagination Library she created to put books into the hands of small children who, otherwise, might not have access to them. The story goes that she did this in honor of her father, who could not read, so she wanted to give ALL children (rich AND poor) the opportunity to both read AND to have access to books.
I think what always impressed me about Dolly was that she made no apologies for creating, as a “stage presence,” a character which some folks thought was just a cheap, dumb, blonde. but which actually hid an extremely smart woman with tremendous drive to succeed at whatever she set out to do. After all, one can’t write, literally, thousands of songs, perform many of them on frequent tours and appearances, have two television variety shows (one syndicated & one on a network), make a great many LPs, have innumerable hit singles and be elected to BOTH the Country Music AND the Rock and Roll Halls of Fame (among a considerable number of other honors) and be untalented and not very smart.
This gets me to the point of this post. Since her passing, I have run across quite a large number of quotes credited to Dolly, many of which struck me as worth repeating and thinking about, so I though I’d include a few of them in this post, with brief comments from me. Most of these I found in an article from Southern Living, but others were just in various news stories, etc. I like them and think they go a good way towards explaining explaining why I’m going to miss Dolly a lot.
It seems that Dolly was widely (if NOT accurately) believed to be something of a classic “dumb blonde,” so she was asked if that sort of thing offended her. She said, "I'm not offended by dumb blonde jokes because I know that I'm not dumb. I also know that I'm not a blonde."
I think that quote suggests what I had always believed; that Dolly had created an image designed to get her the degree of attention necessary to achieve her goal of success in show business, but which was carefully crafted for THAT purpose and was, in fact, a CHARACTER she played, NOT actually her, true, self. That showed up in a number of things she has said, such as: “People always ask me how long it takes to do my hair. I don’t know, I’m never there.”; “I am a self-made woman, and I have the doctor bills to prove it.”; “You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!”; and, “I may look fake but I'm real where it counts.”
I can’t PROVE this, of course, but such comments led me to believe that she was, in fact, MUCH brighter than the character she played in public, and her less well-known actions seem to demonstrate that.
(I should probably note that I, at least, do NOT consider this "character" to be any more “phony” than the ones created by MANY “Show Business Personalities.” Such actions are probably required in order to, maintain a sense of yourself in that world.)
Over the years, Dolly said some things which could be called “Inspirational.” This sort of quote (of which there are many) has quickly become one of my favorites. Just as her songs often seem to be just simple, little things, Dolly had an ability to comment about many things in a way which was simple, straightforward and to the point, while actually being, in my estimation, rather profound, deep, and meaningful.
Here are some of my favorite examples of that sort of thing: "You always want your people to be proud of what you have accomplished.” After all, accomplishing things is only good (in the long run) if they do more that just satisfy your ego. Nobody REALLY likes an egocentric bully. I wish some folks would learn that. It’s only a REAL accomplishment if it doesn’t serve some greater purpose than your own ego. Dolly discusses that notion in the following:
“I’ve always tried to never step on anybody to get where I am. I’ve had to walk around a few people, jump over a few of ‘em now and then, but I think you’re a true success when you’ve seen your dreams come true and you can take pride in how you did it, and take pride in and respect and appreciate the people that helped you get there.” If you can’t look back at how you got somewhere with gratitude for those who assisted you and the honest belief that YOUR success was NOT achieved at THEIR expense, then IS it REALLY an accomplishment?
AS Dolly said, the important thing is to: "Find out who you are. And do it on purpose.”
That’s probably the way to find REAL success. And, it doesn’t have to be all that complicated, as she suggested with: "When I wake up, I expect things to be good. If they're not, then I try to set about trying to make them as good as I can 'cause I know I'm gonna have to live that day anyway. So why not try to make the most of it if you can?”; and, "I make a point to appreciate all the little things in my life. I go out and smell the air after a good, hard rain. These small actions help remind me that there are so many great, glorious pieces of good in the world.”
She also summed this sort of thing up in a couple of very short sayings, which I also like a good deal: "If you see someone without a smile today, give 'em yours.”; and, "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one.”
Dolly was, one can be reasonably sure, often judged by others, not on the basis of knowledge, but on a willingness to jump to conclusions based on superficialities. As one who seems to have tried pretty hard to live up to the ideals with which she was raised, she seems to have found such actions rather offensive, as the following quotes suggest: “All these fine Christian-type people that seem to think they know what God wants for all of us, that's certainly more of a sin than anything they would claim about us. To judge people is one of the greatest sins.”; “In the country field, we’re brought up in spiritual homes, we’re taught to “judge not lest you be judged,” and it’s always been a mystery to me how people jump all over things just to criticize, condemn and judge other people when that is so un-Christian – and they claim to be good Christians. We’re supposed to love one another. We’re supposed to accept and love one another. Whether we do or not, that’s a different story. But that’s what we’re supposed to do.”; “God tells us not to judge one another, no matter what anyone's sexual preferences are or if they're black, brown or purple.”
That’s probably enough of this sort of thing, but it’s really only a taste of the ideas which Dolly commented upon. I hope, if you were not aware of the fact that she was a great deal more than a little woman with big “boobs” and a giant voice, this may have contributed to a greater understanding of a remarkable woman, who I am going to miss (even though I never actually even met her) but who contributed a lot to trying to make this world a better place for everyone!
As I close this, I want to include an image from the cartoonist, Jeff Koterba.
May Dolly rest in peace, she deserves to do so. You done good, girl!
I’ll be back in a couple of weeks,
🖖🏼 LLAP,
Dr. B
I’ll be back in a couple of weeks,
🖖🏼 LLAP,
Dr. B
P.S. After I had thought I had completed what was intended to be the final draft of this post, I saw Steve Breen’s image (below) in my local newspaper last Sunday. Somehow, I felt that it was appropriate for me to add it, especially THIS summer. I hope it touches you as it did me.
RSB
RSB
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