The Loss of Dolly Parton

We lost one of the last truly praiseworthy Americans yesterday with the death of country music star, actress, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and all-around delightful person Dolly Parton.

Hours of air time and countless millions of gallons of ink, both digital and liquid, have been expended in praise of the woman born to a poor family in Locust Ridge, Tennessee, who captured the hearts of Americans from all walks of life. I can't say more about her that hasn't been already said by people more eloquent than I ... what I want to talk about is what her death means for the country.

Dolly Parton would have been famous as a singer and actress in any case, but her real impact came in the type of person she was. Fame didn't go to her head. She shared the bounty of her fame with others and was a genuinely loving and thoughtful person. Millions of children have benefited from the five years of free books, one each month, they received from her Imagination Library, founded in honor of her father, who could neither read nor write. Her generosity was legendary, and the size of her heart far overshadowed the size of the feminine superstructure for which she was famous (and her explanation for which was hysterical). She was eloquent in her folksy way, and she loved everybody - regardless of race, creed, color, sexual orientation, or anything else - in a way that the so-called Christians of the far right can never match or understand.

Dolly Parton represented the very best of what America could be in a time when many of us are horrified at what it has become. At a time when many Americans cheer on a boorish, childish, greedy, petulant, self-absorbed president who exemplifies the worst of our nature, Dolly balanced ... indeed, over-balanced ... the scale to remind us of who we can be ... and who we ought to be.

I've only ever had this kind of reaction to the death of one other celebrity - Jimmy Buffett - and even he vanishes in the shadow of the towering figure of Dolly Parton. America, and the world, are much the less for her passing.

Have a good day. In a world of Pam Bondis and Kristi Noems, be a Dolly Parton.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo