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Reflecting on Dolly Partons lasting legacy beyond music · THE DAILY BRIEF

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  Speaker 1: I grew up in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.
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  Speaker 1: My mother was a great singer. She had one of
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  Speaker 1: those old mountain voices. She used to sing all those
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  Speaker 1: songs from the old world. Barbary Allen, Beneath the Weeping
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  Speaker 1: Willow Tree. She said that's how people used to carry
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  Speaker 1: the news when they brought those old songs over from
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  Speaker 1: the old world, those old Irish, English, Scottish, Welsh ballads.
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  Speaker 1: She told a great story, and it was all believable.
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  Speaker 1: So just watching Mama was like watching TV, hearing her
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  Speaker 1: sing and tell all these stories.
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  Speaker 2: That was Dolly Parton talking about her upbringing in Tennessee
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  Speaker 2: and how her mother's singing impacted her childhood. This morning,
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  Speaker 2: we continue to remember the legendary singer-songwriter who passed away
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  Speaker 2: yesterday at 80 years old. Dolly was well known for
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  Speaker 2: her hit records and iconic fashion, but also for becoming
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  Speaker 2: a successful businesswoman and a generous philanthropist. She began the
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  Speaker 2: Dollywood Foundation in 1988 and launched Imagination Library in 1995,
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  Speaker 2: inspired by her father, who never learned to read or write.
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  Speaker 2: The program has donated more than 330 million books to
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  Speaker 2: children across the country. Here's what she said about that
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  Speaker 2: effort back in 2022.
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  Speaker 1: I hope they always do the little books that kids
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  Speaker 1: can hold and read and smell. Because I know I
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  Speaker 1: wrote a little song for the Imagination Library. It's called Books.
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  Speaker 1: It's like, books, books, I love books, the way they
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  Speaker 1: feel and smell and look. From my first look, I
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  Speaker 1: was hooked on books, books, books. Then it goes to
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  Speaker 1: talk about in a book, you can be anything you
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  Speaker 1: want to be. You can go anywhere you want to go.
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  Speaker 3: Never leave your room.
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  Speaker 2: It does always come back to a song with her.
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  Speaker 2: Joining us now, the president and chair of the Dollywood Foundation,
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  Speaker 2: Jeff Conyers. And Jeff, first of all, we're so sorry
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  Speaker 2: for your loss. And we're trying this morning. We're trying
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  Speaker 2: to cover her legacy and help help us if you can,
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  Speaker 2: especially through her work, through the foundation that you lead.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you very much. We woke up today, day one,
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  Speaker 3: without Dolly, and it's been an emotional few days here.
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  Speaker 3: But we're going to take it step by step and
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  Speaker 3: try to take all the love that Dolly shared with
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  Speaker 3: us and carry that forward into the world.
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  Speaker 4: Jeff, good morning, and our condolences to you here as well.
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  Speaker 4: Just if we can kind of go through, because I'm
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  Speaker 4: not sure everybody fully appreciates all that the foundation led
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  Speaker 4: by Dolly and led by you have done over the years.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, we've talked about the Imagination Library, more than
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  Speaker 4: 200 million books going out. Can you talk a little
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  Speaker 4: bit about the idea behind that and how she was...
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  Speaker 4: moved to do it because of her father who couldn't
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  Speaker 4: read or write. And he said right before she says
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  Speaker 4: he passed away that, Dolly, I love all your songs,
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  Speaker 4: but the Imagination Library is the thing I'm most proud
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  Speaker 4: of you for.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely. You know, the work with the Imagination Library was
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  Speaker 3: so personal to Dolly. It meant the world to her
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  Speaker 3: and to be able to honor her father who was
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  Speaker 3: not able to read and write. who was the inspiration
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  Speaker 3: behind the Imagination Library, she always said it was perhaps
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  Speaker 3: the most important thing she'll ever do. And She poured
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  Speaker 3: her heart and soul into it, and we have as well.
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  Speaker 3: And to be able to share this gift with her,
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  Speaker 3: with the world, and so many people who have helped
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  Speaker 3: us make this dream come true for her has been
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  Speaker 3: a very special thing. And Dolly led us going forward.
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  Speaker 3: It's our opportunity and great responsibility to carry this now
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  Speaker 3: into the future.
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  Speaker 5: No question. The Imagination Library, one of her greatest impacts, Jeff,
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  Speaker 5: for the rest of the country. But if you could
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  Speaker 5: tell us a little more about her impact there at home,
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  Speaker 5: the small town in Tennessee where she grew up, obviously
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  Speaker 5: in great poverty. You know, it became she was so
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  Speaker 5: devoted to the people who live there, the way she
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  Speaker 5: changed the town, their lives at times of natural disaster,
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  Speaker 5: but also just day to day. She was always part
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  Speaker 5: of the community.
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  Speaker 3: Dolly is absolutely a part of her hometown, her communities.
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  Speaker 3: Her presence is everywhere. She created the largest employer in
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  Speaker 3: our community in East Tennessee through Dollywood Parks and Resorts.
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  Speaker 3: As you mentioned, she's had a hand in disaster recovery.
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  Speaker 3: She's always there. And there's a statue of her sitting
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  Speaker 3: playing a guitar next to the courthouse in Sevierville, where
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  Speaker 3: I know a lot of our community friends and family
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  Speaker 3: have gathered. They were there last night in silence, mostly
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  Speaker 3: honoring her, listening to some of her music. And her
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  Speaker 3: presence will be felt there forever. generations into the future.
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  Speaker 3: And it'll be felt around the world as well, but
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  Speaker 3: she's especially important to her hometown in Sevierville.
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  Speaker 6: Jeff, I just wanted to ask you about a somewhat
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  Speaker 6: lesser known part of her legacy. I mean, I first
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  Speaker 6: came to know her work through Whitney Houston's rendition of
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  Speaker 6: Dolly's song, I Will Always Love You, and of course
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  Speaker 6: the film The Bodyguard. And that song became such a hit.
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  Speaker 6: And my understanding is that Dolly got so many royalties
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  Speaker 6: with it that she decided to invest that into other communities, including,
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  Speaker 6: I think, Whitney Houston's hometown. I'm wondering if you could
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  Speaker 6: talk a little bit about that. I mean, she was
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  Speaker 6: somebody who was just beloved by Americans of all backgrounds.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely. She, you know, there's a lot of philanthropy that
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  Speaker 3: Dolly did that's public that people see and know. There
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  Speaker 3: was a lot of philanthropy that she did that was
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  Speaker 3: very private and very personal to her, but had huge impacts.
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  Speaker 3: She did, in fact, invest in a part of Nashville
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  Speaker 3: at the time that wasn't in great shape right after
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  Speaker 3: the Whitney Houston version of I Will Always Love You.
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  Speaker 3: And it really helped revitalize that part of the community.
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  Speaker 3: And it's a thriving, vibrant part of Nashville today. And
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  Speaker 3: she was just so special in that way. She always
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  Speaker 3: did the little things that mattered, whether or not people
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  Speaker 3: saw them. There's always bits of Dolly love and magic
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  Speaker 3: sprinkled around. If you look for them, they're there.
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  Speaker 4: Jeff, so many people around the world over all these
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  Speaker 4: years have known and loved Dolly from a distance. They
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  Speaker 4: loved her music. They loved the way she carried herself
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  Speaker 4: and lived her life. But you knew her much more
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  Speaker 4: closely on a personal level. What should people watching this
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  Speaker 4: morning know about the person Dolly Parton was?
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  Speaker 3: That she genuinely loved them as much as they love her.
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  Speaker 3: I think that was the most special thing that I
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  Speaker 3: could share personally. She always told all of us that
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  Speaker 3: I love you, and we told her I love you too,
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  Speaker 3: and she meant it. And it was a very, you know,
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  Speaker 3: her heart was the biggest part of who she was.
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  Speaker 3: A lot of people will know her in a lot
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  Speaker 3: of different ways, but the magic and love that she
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  Speaker 3: brought to everything that she touched was so special. You know,
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  Speaker 3: I don't think any of us are perfect in this world,
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  Speaker 3: but I think Dolly Parton's probably about as close as
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  Speaker 3: you can get.
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  Speaker 6: Amen to that.
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  Speaker 4: And the work of the Dollywood Foundation, of course, continues.
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  Speaker 4: The president and chair of the Dollywood Foundation is Jeff Conyers,
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  Speaker 4: thank you so much for being with us this morning. Again,
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  Speaker 4: our condolences to you and everyone there around Dolly's life.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you. We appreciate all the love. Thanks so much.