Goodbye Dolly, with love from all of us

Dolly Parton left us on Tuesday, August 25, 2026. It was a heartbreaking loss for everyone across the country and around the world. Even now, tributes continue pouring in from musicians, movie stars, presidents, royalty, and everyday folks like you and me. Yes, she was like us in many ways, which is why she was so loved.

My daddy always said that Tennessee was God’s country. Tennessee is like three states in one. The west side is the flat part and home of Elvis Presley’s Graceland. The rolling hills of Middle Tennessee are beautiful and an inspiration for many country music stars who came to Nashville hoping to record a hit. East Tennessee is located within divisions of the Appalachian Mountains, the Blue Ridge Mountains, and the Cumberland Plateau. Those mountain ranges are famous for their history and the trees which emit a vapor that creates a signature blue mist. It’s an inspiration for photographers, artists, and musicians.

I was born in East Tennessee, Cleveland to be exact, a little over 100 miles from Dolly’s birthplace of Sevierville. She once described the Smokies as “one of those special places that God put here for us to enjoy.” She and my dad were in the same harmony of that description.

I grew up in Middle Tennessee and, ironically, my first TV job was at WSM in Nashville. Yes, that WSM, home of 650 AM, the most famous country music radio station in the world. Two months after signing on the air in 1925, the station launched the Grand Ole Opry. Both the radio and TV station welcomed country music stars for interviews. When I worked there in the mid 1970s, country legends including Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, and Loretta Lynn visited the station frequently. I always made it a point to meet them; regrettably, I never met Dolly Parton.

Tennessee-isms

“Sittin’ on the front porch on a summer afternoon                                                          In a straight-back chair on two legs, leaned against the wall                                              Watch the kids a-playin’ with June bugs on a string                                                          And chase the glowin’ fireflies when evenin’ shadows fall.” –lyrics from Dolly Parton’s “My Tennessee Mountain Home”

Dolly was a singer and a storyteller. Many of her songs came from where and how she grew up in Tennessee, where slang runs rich and deep. When you’re “fixin’ dinner”, or after a long day, you are “plumb tuckered out”, and when you express love for family and friends, you say “I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around your neck,”; these are the region’s dialect.

Here are some other beloved slang terms that Dolly incorporated into her songs, movies, and interviews.

• “Holler if you need me.”
• “That dog won’t hunt.”
• “His cornbread ain’t done in the middle.”
• “Too big for his britches.”
• “Bless your heart.”
• “Tore up about it.”
• “You’re not being mean, you’re bein’ ugly.”

I will add one more. Dolly loved her sparkly clothing; it was sorta her signature. My sister Sherry, who also had a big heart and big hair, always referred to her sparkly clothing as “sfarkly”. Sherry was loved by many but sadly passed away from cancer. Also, like Dolly, Sherry would give the “shirt off her back” for someone in need. I don’t think that is really just a Tennessee thing. I’ve met many people in my lifetime who would do the same. One of them is Bonita Stevens Cantrell.

A Columbus version of Dolly

Dolly Parton wrote her first song at age six, performed regularly on television by age ten, made her first recording a year later, and became a professional songwriter at sixteen.

Bonita Stevens is a Columbus legend who, like Dolly, began singing at an early age.

“I started singing, and Mama & Daddy noticed I could keep a tune by the time I was 4 years old. So, I started singing in places, standing on a stool to reach the microphone,” said Bonita, “and then one thing led to another.”

Her family took her to Nashville, where she appeared on many TV shows. Bonita met a DJ who was also a songwriter, and he had written the song In-Between Trains. It took a few days of coaching after she was taught the song, and within a week or so, Columbia recording studio and SIMS records put her in the studio and recorded it.

“I did shows with some of the biggest country stars at the time. I was on The Midnight Jamboree at the Earnest Tubb Record Shop, featured on WSM live. All this started taking a little girl a little too fast, and my Daddy sorta slowed it up. Roy Acuff told Daddy to let me go to school and put that first. I guess he had seen too many wrecked lives,” said Bonita.

Following in Dolly’s footsteps, Bonita was not only a singer and songwriter, she and her family were guided by their faith. The Stevens family started a gospel group. She made several albums with her family and recorded six solo albums. Bonita wrote, “I Wonder If He Ever Cries” which became a number one hit for Jeff and Sheri Easter, performed by the Gaither Family.

Along the way, she met Mark Cantrell, a celebrated Columbus deejay and host of a local TV show.  You might remember them as the Angel and Johnny Outlaw. Mark and Bonita married in 1991. 

Both were fans of Dolly. “She was sharp as a tack. She was no pushover, that’s for sure, and she knew how to hush people up without being rude. Her talent, beauty, and infectious personality were a win. It’s astounding how much she accomplished in 80 years and what a legacy she leaves behind,” said Bonita.

“I try to put my money where my heart is.”

Dolly Parton built a massive and successful business empire spanning theme parks, music publishing, film production, and consumer brands. She didn’t sit on her assets, but gave away millions, all to help others in need. During Covid, East Tennessee wildfires, and reconstruction for families following Hurricane Helene, she was first in line to write a check. It was never about publicity for the girl who grew up in poverty.

One of her biggest contributions towards making a difference was her love for inspiring kids. Her father couldn’t read nor write, and Dolly’s formal education ended with a high school diploma, although she was presented with an honorary doctorate from the University of Tennessee in 2009.

Her foundation started a buddy program where students in Sevier County signed a contract with a buddy and promised to support each other and stay in school until graduation. Each student received $500 and dropout rates were lowered from 35% to 6%. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a program like that in Georgia, Alabama, or anywhere else across the country?

It was the Imagination Library she founded that changed lives for children across the country and around the world. The book program mails free, age-appropriate books to children from birth to age five every month. To date, more than 300 million books have been mailed. The program will not stop with her passing.

Love for Dolly is here, there, and everywhere

After her death was announced, iconic buildings were lit up in pink in Dolly’s honor in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. The Queen’s Royal Guard performed 9 to 5 at Buckingham Palace. She wasn’t just Tennessee’s girl; she was loved and honored by everyone across the country and around the world.

Visitors flying into Nashville will soon land at the airport which will honor her name, the Dolly Parton International Airport. Airlines are changing flight numbers into Music City to Flight 925.

More Dolly options are coming with the opening of her SongTeller Hotel and Dolly’s Life of Many Colors Museum. Both are set to open in the fall of 2026. Her popular hits are once again climbing the music charts. Theaters are screening her movies, including Steel Magnolias, and 9 to 5 with some proceeds helping with Imagination Library.

You can include the Chattahoochee Valley as an area that loves Dolly. Several tributes and opportunities to honor her are scheduled in the next couple of weeks.

Most recently, St. Thomas Episcopal Church honored Dolly with a service of thanksgiving. “We left reminded that hope persists and that sometimes a little light can make all the difference.”

Uptown Columbus kicks off their fall Friday concert series, September 4, with Peggy Jenkins performing a tribute to Dolly.

If you would like to honor Dolly Parton and fulfill her wish to reach every child with books, you can donate locally to CVIL here:

https://cfcv.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund….

You can also donate through the Imagination Library website here: https://donate.imaginationlibrary.com/

Click on donate to a local partner and find GA-Muscogee. (The library covers Muscogee, and Cusseta-Chattahoochee Counties in Georgia and Russell County in Alabama).

There will never be another Dolly Parton, but her legacy will live on forever. Remember, “If you see someone without a smile today, give ’em yours.” She would always love you for that kind gesture.