When news broke yesterday that Dolly Parton had died, one of the first people I thought of was my friend's 8-year-old daughter. To her, Parton wasn't simply a country star from her parents' generation. She was one of her own heroes.
The girl had recently chosen Parton for a major school project about changemakers: people who had made a positive contribution to the world. She loved Parton's music, but what impressed her most was the Imagination Library and the millions of books Parton had provided to children. Her fascination even helped inspire the family's summer trip to Dollywood.
Then my 71-year-old dad texted me about how sad he was.
"Everybody — and I mean every one of us — loved her," he wrote. "Who else has done that? Particularly in these times. We are all mourning this one. It hits hard."
He and my friend's daughter are separated by more than six decades and discovered Parton in completely different ways. Yet somehow, the superstar belonged equally to both of them.
#people #year #imagination
The girl had recently chosen Parton for a major school project about changemakers: people who had made a positive contribution to the world. She loved Parton's music, but what impressed her most was the Imagination Library and the millions of books Parton had provided to children. Her fascination even helped inspire the family's summer trip to Dollywood.
Then my 71-year-old dad texted me about how sad he was.
"Everybody — and I mean every one of us — loved her," he wrote. "Who else has done that? Particularly in these times. We are all mourning this one. It hits hard."
He and my friend's daughter are separated by more than six decades and discovered Parton in completely different ways. Yet somehow, the superstar belonged equally to both of them.
#people #year #imagination
2 months ago
