(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TENNESSEE HOMESICK BLUES")
DOLLY PARTON: (Singing) But I ain't been home in I don't know when. If I had it all to do over again, tonight I'd sleep in my old feather bed.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
Love that voice. Dolly Parton wrote more than 3,000 songs, including one we have never heard. She told "The Kelly Clarkson Show" that she recorded a song called "My Place In History" and she sealed it in a time capsule at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It comes with instructions not to open it until 20 years from now, which is when she would've turned 100.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE KELLY CLARKSON SHOW")
PARTON: I tell you, you have no idea how that has bothered me. I want to go dig that up so bad...
(LAUGHTER)
PARTON: ...And think, well, I need to use that song, 'cause it's, like, you know, and it's a really good song.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Even without hearing "My Place In History," we have some idea what Dolly Parton's place was. Our member station WPLN spoke with people at Dolly Parton's truck stop in Cornersville, Tennessee. They are Tammy Hile (ph), Darrell Richard (ph) and Jules Wall (ph).
TAMMY HILE: I love the idea that she helps children a lot, especially with all of her reading programs.
DARRELL RICHARD: Just the fact that she was inclusive of everyone.
JULES WALL: She just had a heart for people and a heart for the Lord and heart for her family. And that's - I think that's something we all can aspire to.
INSKEEP: Dolly Parton once told our own Michel Martin that she wanted to give kids books because of her dad. He was the smartest man she knew but couldn't read or write.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
PARTON: So I thought, I'm going to do something great. And I'm going to involve my daddy in it. I'm going to start this little program where children get a book from the time they're born, once a month, until they start kindergarten.
MARTÍNEZ: Three decades later, the Imagination Library says it has given away 300 million books in several countries.
INSKEEP: Wow.
MARTÍNEZ: Another gift saved lives when she helped fund Vanderbilt University research for the COVID vaccine and encouraged people to get a shot.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PARTON: I even changed one of my songs to fit the occasion. It goes, (singing) vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine. I'm begging of you, please, don't hesitate. Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine vaccine. 'Cause once you're dead, then that's a bit too late (laughter).
INSKEEP: Wow. Much of Dolly Parton's philanthropy passed through her Dollywood Foundation, where David Dotson was CEO for more than two decades. Mr. Dotson, good morning. Thanks for joining us.
DAVID DOTSON: Oh, thank you. Good morning to you as well.
INSKEEP: And I'm sorry for your loss, for our loss. Thank you, at this time. What were you thinking about as you heard Dolly Parton's voice just now?
DOTSON: Well, that's a great question. I was really wondering - well, one, like everybody, just taking a second not to think about anything but enjoying the voice, 'cause the voice and the laugh will stay with me forever.
INSKEEP: How would she involve herself in this foundation during the 20 years or so that you ran it?
DOTSON: Well, her official title was, you know, of course, chairman of the board. And Dolly was always a big-picture person, I mean, once she kind of agreed on a direction or - and a strategy, if you will, she wasn't - she didn't, you know, get involved on the day-to-day. She'd just always looked at you and say, everything OK? Everything good? And you'd say, yes, ma'am. And she'd say, all right, let's get on with it. So, you know, she was definitely more of the big-picture person than a micromanager (laughter).
INSKEEP: That's interesting. Would she sometimes have an idea? Like, I think about saying, in the middle of the pandemic, let's give a million dollars to Vanderbilt. Did she reach out to you and say, I want to do something? Did she have the idea? Where did that come from? How did it evolve?
DOTSON: It was hers completely, yes. There were many things that she wanted to do. That's one of them that - some went through the foundations, and many things that no one ever knows about it, she just did personally. And one that I could share now. A few years ago, I guess it was 2020, in Australia, there were devastating wildfires. And, of course, our community was ravaged by wildfires in 2016.
And she called me up and said, look, find me a good place to donate some money to, but it's all going to be secret. And I did. And it was a - for an island off the coast of Australia that had been devastated and, you know, did it all without any public recognition. And it was a sizable donation that she just simply wrote a check for.
INSKEEP: That is commendable, to keep your name out of the public. But why did she want to keep it secret?
DOTSON: You know, I think that she's a very public person but was also a very private person. And, you know, the Imagination Library was the public face of her philanthropy, and a few other things. But I think she also didn't want to ever be part of her own giving. Not - I don't want to use the word shackled, but, you know, do what she wants when she wants to do it. And she doesn't want any recognition for it. She just wants to do some good and make something happen for people that they'll, you know, be forever impacted by. And I always respected that.
INSKEEP: You've already given me some idea of what she was like as a boss because she would check in but leave the details to you. But tell me a little bit more about that. How did you end up in the job and what was she really like to work for?
DOTSON: She was just absolutely terrific. I was actually the head of Catholic Charities here in the Knoxville area. I live in Sevier County. And it's kind of a magical story, but I - it's kind of a long one. But let's just say that the very day that when our bishop left and I was wondering what would happen next in my life, a person called and said, call up - I was asked to nominate a person to lead Dolly's foundation. It was quite small then, '99. And, yeah, she said, I nominated you.
INSKEEP: Wow.
DOTSON: So in about four weeks, my life changed. And the first time I met her was in the back seat of a van at Dollywood. And we were knee to knee. And she - we started talking about the vision of the library. And I really thought this thing could grow beyond Sevier County. And she got out of the van, looked at everybody and said, I like him. And at that point...
INSKEEP: (Laughter).
DOTSON: At that point I was like, oh, thank God (laughter), you know? And we went on from there. But she was just as everybody knows her, you know, what they - her public persona and her private were the same. She was just more of everything privately, more funny, more spiritual, more intelligent, more talented, more giving and just, you know, just an angel, really.
INSKEEP: David Dotson is the former CEO of the Dollywood Foundation. Mr. Dotson, thanks for your insights and memories.
DOTSON: Thank you very much for having me. God bless.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SHINE")
PARTON: (Singing) Oh, heaven let your light shine down. Oh, heaven let your light shine down. Oh. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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