Transcript:

Dr. Michele Goodwin: 

Welcome to On the Issues with Michele Goodwin at Ms. Magazine. As you know, we are a platform that reports, rebels, and we tell it just like it is. And today, we take a moment to pause to recognize the incredible life the indefatigable, beautiful, talented, wise Dolly Rebecca Parton Dean, who passed away today on August 25th, 2026, at the age of 80. She was a philanthropist, singer, songwriter, actress. Good person. And a person who stood for the civil liberties and civil rights of others, the most vulnerable of Americans.

With her philanthropy, she gave to hospitals. She made sure that children had books. Over 300 books in the hands of children all across the United States are something that we can attribute to Dolly Parton.

[Editor’s note: Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has distributed more than 300 million books since its founding in 1995 and now mails millions of free books each month.]

In fact, millions of books per month given away for free to children. I think that Dolly Parton probably understood, as the adage goes, that a mind is a terrible thing to waste. And, understanding the vulnerability that one finds him or herself in, themselves in, when they don’t have access to reading, to writing, how transformative it can be if you just are able to pick up a pen and be able to write. In fact, that is what she did as a songwriter. 

But her philanthropy was very important. It changed the lives of millions of people, and likely, millions and millions of children who had no idea that the very books that they held in their hands were ones that she made sure would be available to them.

Her philanthropy has touched the lives of so many people. Her work and philanthropy towards making sure that babies, toddlers, would have access to healthcare and medicine through donating to hospitals. The same is true for her donations to hospitals to support the causes of women.

Most people will remember Dolly Parton as a brilliant songstress. A beautiful one. First album released in 1967, announcing herself: “I am Dolly Parton.”

[Editor’s note: Parton’s debut album, released in 1967, was titled Hello, I’m Dolly.]

And what a beautiful talent that she was. Some may remember “9 to 5” because it also accompanied a film in which she starred along with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin. A film depicting the challenges of women in the workplace. But her songwriting was far and broad, not just the songs that she sang, but also what she wrote that other musicians performed.

Many of you will remember Whitney Houston and “I Will Always Love You.” In that film “The Bodyguard,” it took people by storm in Whitney Houston’s beautiful voice in singing that song- one that Dolly Parton had written, and that she had recorded previously. It was a song that she welcomed Whitney Houston singing, and in fact, probably new audiences were introduced to Dolly Parton because of Whitney Houston singing that song so beautifully. But one in fact, that Dolly Parton had written.

You know, the work of a writer, the work of a reader transforms people’s lives. It’s not the only reason why we at Ms. Magazine mourn and grieve the loss of Dolly Parton, but she was also a true leader for the causes that concern us all, the causes of civil liberties and civil rights.

In 2020, after the horrific murders of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and others, a question was put to Dolly Parton about whether Black lives do matter, and she said to Rolling Stone, to Billboard, it was Billboard 100, she said, “of course, Black lives do matter. Of course they do. All lives matter.”

[Editor’s note: In a 2020 interview with Billboard, she said: “Of course Black lives matter. Do we think our little white asses are the only ones that matter? No!”]

She was not afraid to speak truth to power. She was not afraid to confront the powers that be, and she did so from a space where many others might lack courage. She was able to hold fast to her community, to be a supporter of the people around her, to never lose sight of where it was that she came from. She was very proud of where she came from, and yet able to stand up for those who were vulnerable, those who might not have had the safest passageway in the communities that she came from, and in fact she made note of changing the name of the stampede that was at the recreation and theme park that she had. She changed it from what many could have contributed to a Confederate stampede, the Dixie Stampede, to the Dolly Parton Stampede. Just her way of being sensitive to the issues that surround us all.

And she was not afraid to be sensitive to these issues. That we could hear. We could listen to, we could see in her songwriting. A person who was a true patriot, a true American, because she realized the complexities of our country. A country that we all love, but a country that has also challenged us. A country wherein women have gotten the broken part of the stick. A country in which Indigenous people have been dispossessed, a country in which American enslavement and Jim Crow took place. These were the realities that were certainly around what she saw. And she was somehow able to articulate about the things that caused tremendous pain, while at the same time lifting up her community and wanting the best for the children in her community and beyond, the best for her neighbors. 

This is why she also gave in times of hurricane. And to her, it didn’t matter that whether she knew the people that she gave to, in fact, the millions of people that she never saw, and probably countless cards that she did receive, but even countless more that she didn’t acknowledging her philanthropy. She did it because she’s a true American who cared about others, an American who believed that our country was big enough, strong enough, broad enough to carry supporting and loving the people who are here, the people who are born here, and the people who want to get here.

I won’t overstate Dolly Parton, and one doesn’t need to, because her legacy says it all. She was a woman who was not afraid to stand up for matters that affected people who are LGBTQ. She was not a person who was afraid to stand up for civil rights and civil liberties. She was not afraid to stand up for the poorest of Americans. She led by example with her philanthropy, a sense that all people deserve the best of healthcare, that they deserve to be safe from harm, that they deserve to be able to have access to healthcare. She had a sense and a principle that our country could, in fact, lift up the boats of all people who are here. And we heard that in her music and her songwriting, and we saw that, for sure, in her philanthropy.

So, for us at Ms. Magazine, we know that a true hero has passed on. And we know that with all the glitter, silver, diamond, and golds that she wore on her sleeves and on her lapels, and that truly are reflected in her heart, they continue to shine on as an example for us all.

May Dolly Parton rest in power. May her legacy live on for all of us to embrace going forward. May we never forget a woman who came from what she might describe as so little economically, but so much in terms of spirit and love. May that legacy shine on and on, and on. And may every child who ever had access to a book that was provided by Dolly Parton, may that child also thrive, and may those books be shared beyond the children whom they reached.

Again, a true hero has passed on, but her legacy and her light shine on. So grateful to have had Dolly Parton.

Hey, listeners, I thank you for tuning in for the full story. We hope that you’ll join us again for our next episode, where we will be reporting, rebelling, and telling it just like it is. For more information about what we discussed today, head to msmagazine.com. Look for us under Ms. Studios. Check out our other podcast as well.

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This has been your host, Michele Goodwin, reporting, rebelling, and telling it just like it is. On the Issues with Michele Goodwin is a Ms. Magazine joint production. Michele Goodwin is our executive producer. Our producers for this episode are Roxy Szal, Alison Whelan, Oliver Haug. We thank Mariah Lindsay and Emersen Panigrahi for research and digital assistance. The creative vision behind our work includes art and design by Brandy Phipps, editing by Natalie Paredes and Emersen Panigrahi, and music by Chris J. Lee.

Jeremy Alexander provides executive assistance.