Dolly Parton leaves behind a legacy that extended far beyond just the music she wrote and performed. Parton, who died Tuesday at 80, built a reputation across seven decades in the spotlight as one of the most consistently generous stars. Her family described her life to be defined by “wit, warmth, and kindness that made us all feel like family.”
Creating the Imagination Library
Parton’s most impactful charitable achievement is her Imagination Library, which she founded in 1995 in honor of her father, Robert Lee Parton. He never learned to read or write, which prompted Dolly to create the program. Imagination Library mails a free, age-appropriate book each month to enrolled children from birth until they start kindergarten. Each book is addressed directly to the child, not the parent. “To them, it’s personal,” Parton once explained.
The program began as a local effort in her home county of Sevierville, Tennessee, but it eventually grew to become a global phenomenon. Imagination Library eventually distributed more than 150 million books to children across five countries. Today, over three million books are distributed to registered children per month.
Parton once reflected that she hoped the program would endure far beyond anything else. “If I’m remembered 100 years from now, I hope it will not be for looks, but for books.”
The Dollywood Foundation and its Programs
Parton also founded the Dollywood Foundation in 1998. The foundation aims to reduce high school dropout rates in Sevierville, Tennessee. The Foundation’s Buddy Program is credited with dropping the local dropout rate from 35% to just 6%.
When wildfires devastated Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in 2016, Parton pledged $1,000 a month for six months to every family displaced by the fires. Later, she added a $5,000 lump sum on top of that support. She also helped to launch the Mountain Tough Recovery Team, ultimately raising millions for more long-term wildfire relief efforts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she donated $1 million to vaccine research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. That contribution in particular was widely credited with helping fund early work on the Moderna vaccine.
A Life Defined by Compassion
Parton often spoke about kindness as a guiding philosophy rather than an occasional gesture. “You can be rich in spirit, kindness, love and all those things that you can’t put a dollar sign on,” she once said. Reflecting directly on her approach to others generally, she added, “I try to see the good in everybody, and I don’t care who people are as long as they are themselves, whatever that is.”
Tributes continue pouring in from across the film and music industry following the news of her death. “Steel Magnolias” co-stars Julia Roberts and Reba McEntire were one of countless people to honor the country music queen.
“Dolly, thank you for all the wonderful things you did for us here on earth. Your love, your music and you gave so much with your huge huge heart,” McEntire wrote. “There will never ever be another you. We will remember and cherish every memory and every note you ever played and sang.”
