Dolly and us
Published by Nick atIt look a few years of living in East Tennessee to fully comprehend what Dolly meant to the people.
Shortly after Eleanor got accepted into graduate school at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, we learned the university was presenting Dolly Parton an honorary doctorate. I knew Dolly Parton for her music and as a pop culture icon. The university’s website featured a publicity photo of Parton in her rhinestone version of academic regalia. Reading the press release of this event was my introduction to Dolly’s Imagination Library, a non profit that gives free picture books to kids from birth to their fifth birthday.
I started working for the university toward the end of my second year living in Knoxville. My coworkers loved Dolly, and their youngsters were getting Imagination Library books. Her fandom transcended political divides. She was an icon in the queer community and stood up for LGBTQ rights and inclusion. She was a patron saint of the region. Eventually the children’s hospital in Knoxville would bear her name. As a celebrity, Dolly had a very carefully controlled public image, but I admired how she used her platform and her dollars, too.
Our time in Tennessee coincided with a few notable events. After a 2016 wildfire in Gatlinburg, the Dollywood Foundation gave 1,000 households in Sevier County a monthly payment of $1,000 for five months, and a $5,000 payment on the sixth month—a universal basic income experiment—no means testing, no strings attached. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic Dolly also made a sizable contribution to Vanderbilt University to partly fund research leading to the Moderna vaccine.
When our daughter was born, the hospital supplied a few forms to fill out. After filling out her birth certificate, I signed my baby up to get books from the Imagination Library. After our move to New Mexico, we still get an Imagination Library picture book every month. To date more than 300 million books have been distributed to children through the Imagination Library.
Our kid turns five in March, and will hopefully get this letter, which I admit made me tear up reading it on the day of Dolly Parton’s death.
Dear Imagination Library Graduate,
My, how time flies. It seems it was only yesterday when your family and friends read you your first story. You were just a baby. Now you’re five years old and about to go to school. How exciting!
This may be your last book from my Imagination Library but you have to promise me you will keep on reading. If you go to your local public library you will find a great number of books just for kids your age. Every book is a treasure and every time you open one up you will meet new friends and take wonderful journeys to magical places.
I hope you have a great time in school. I bet your school will even have a library where you can check out books. You and all of your friends are very special. There is no limit to what you can do or how far you can go. Just remember the lessons my family taught me – dream big dreams; learn everything you can learn; and care for all those who care for you.
You do all of these things and you can be anyone you want to be.
You are terrific, and remember…
I Will Always Love You,
Dolly