Dolly Parton carried a torch of kindness, empathy and charity — why that's a tough act to follow
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'Common people's superstar' used 'unmatched' empathy to draw attention to important causes without dividing
Dolly Parton wrote and recorded thousands of songs throughout her legendary career, but the only thing that might outshine her vast music library is her repertoire of kind acts.
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Parton, who died Tuesday at the age of 80 after a short battle with cancer, is being fondly remembered as one of the most compassionate people in the entertainment industry who donated much of her wealth and lent her name to causes she cared about deeply.
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It's something she continued to do even in her final months.
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"Even while she was sick she was still thinking about others," singer Miley Cyrus, Parton's goddaughter, wrote in a post on X.
Cyrus collaborated with her "Aunt Dolly" on a version of Parton's Light of a Clear Blue Morning, along with Lainey Wilson, Queen Latifah, Reba McEntire and David Foster.
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The song was released in January, with net proceeds going to pediatric cancer research at Nashville's Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt University.
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Beyoncé, Shania Twain, Céline Dion and more react to Dolly Parton's death
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IN PHOTOS | Dolly Parton: Highlights from country icon's career
It was just one of the many causes Parton supported with her prolific philanthropy and polite advocacy.
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Scholars and historians note that the country superstar's unique ability to call attention to causes she cared about without dividing people is a difficult thing to replicate, especially in such polarizing times.
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"She had an empathy for other people that was unmatched," said Robert K. Oermann, a county music historian who knew Parton for more than 40 years and co-authored her 2020 book Songteller: My Life in Lyrics.
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"None of us want to live in a world where there's no Dolly Parton."
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Parton 'addicted' to giving back
Parton may have been born to humble beginnings in Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains, but she amassed an estimated net worth of $450 million US over a career that spanned more than six decades, according to Forbes.
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"She saw it as her duty in a Christian kind of way, that this was her calling," Oermann told CBC News, referring to her philanthropy and overall kindness.
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"She had this gift and she was to use this gift to glorify her fellow man.
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Her considerable charitable contributions included the creation of her Imagination Library, which has provided some 300 million books to kids around the world.
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She also spent millions supporting health care, providing scholarships for higher education, donating to disaster relief and helping to fund the development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
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The Coat of Many Colors and 9 to 5 hitmaker told People in 2021 that she was "kind of addicted to the feeling of giving," but that she didn't want to be "worshipped" for it.
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In fact, that's why we may never know just how generous she truly was, says Dustin Kidd, a professor of sociology at Temple University in Philadelphia.
"She didn't do it in big, public ways, and yet she gave a tremendous amount of money," he told CBC News.
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That's something he says goes against contemporary celebrity culture, where there's a "sense of wanting to show off the amount of wealth that you've produced as a sign of your success."
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Kidd says Parton epitomized a phrase popular in country music: "Don't get above your raisin'."
That's not a reference to the dried fruit, he joked, but instead a reminder to not forget where you come from — something Parton never did.
He suggests that's what inspired her "profound commitment" to help others throughout her life.
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The 'common people's superstar'
Kidd says it's also notable that Parton was able to advocate for certain causes she cared about without upsetting people who may not have shared her convictions, something that hasn't been as easy for other stars to navigate.
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He says celebrities are often pressured to "take one stance or another," and notes that artists have also been criticized for opting not to speak about politically-charged issues.
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Country singer Kacey Musgraves, for example, recently faced backlash from critics who told her to "shut up and sing" after she encouraged concertgoers to consider donating to the Young Center for Immigrant Children's Rights.
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The legal aid organization supports children whose parents Musgraves said had been "deported unfairly" from the U.S.
Oermann says Parton managed to stand up for the downtrodden and those who are overlooked by society — including women, children, people in the Black and 2SLGBTQ+ communities and many others — by keeping her political preferences private.
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He says her advocacy was primarily motivated by her own poor upbringing and roots in rural Tennessee, something that made her "a common people's superstar."
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"Common people all over the world recognize that, here is this woman born in a shack who stood for them, who advocated for them, who believed in them and accepted them for whoever they were."
That's not something just any celebrity can replicate, Oermann says, but it's also not up to any one person to follow in Parton's footsteps.
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Rather, he says, it's everyone's duty to "carry that torch."
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"She represented the best of who we can be and we need to know that and we need to carry that forward ourselves," Oermann said.
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