Dolly Parton, the country-music singer, has died. She was 80. She leaves behind a legacy of artistic achievement and of service—particularly to young people.
Parton was born on January 19, 1946, in a two-room log cabin outside of Knoxville, Tennessee. Around the age of 6, she wrote her first song. At 8, she began to learn to play the guitar. The day after she graduated high school, Parton took a bus to Nashville, Tennessee, to start her music career. In 2024, Parton was named the Greatest Country Artist of All Time by Billboard, a music-industry magazine.
Parton was known for her music, but she was also known for giving back. In 1995, she started Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library. It’s a book-gifting program that mails a free book every month to children ages 5 and under. Any child can sign up. Imagination Library has gifted more than 300 million books to children worldwide since the program began.
In 2023, the American Library Association awarded Parton its highest honor: lifetime membership. In a statement, the organization celebrated the Imagination Library’s contributions to “the world of libraries, learning and literacy.”
Parton led many other service initiatives. She created relief funds for people affected by natural disasters. She supported wildlife preservation efforts and donated to COVID-19 vaccine research.
“I just give from my heart,” Parton said in a 2022 speech, when accepting the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy. “I never know what I’m going to do or why I’m gonna do it. I just see a need and if I can fill it, then I will.”
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