Good golly, miss Dolly!
Photograph by Wes McFee via Unsplash
Rev. John Burns
In 1986, in the last days of my father’s life, as he lay in a nursing home bereft of the ability to walk or talk or feed himself, my mother put a poster on the wall at the foot of his bed. The poster was of a woman my mother once resented, at least a little.
My father worked most Saturdays. He got off at 4 and came directly home to watch “The Porter Wagoner Show.” He was not a Porter Wagoner fan, but the successful country singer had a woman on the show my dad did not want to miss. Porter introduced her as “The Pretty Little Girl from Tennessee.” I guess my dad agreed. He was highly entertained by Dolly Parton. My mother, less so.
Dad did not own any Dolly Parton records at any point in his life. Yes, I’m sure he thought she was beautiful but there was something more that drew him to watch her on TV. She was from humble beginnings, like my dad (he came from a two-room cabin in Arkansas). She often spoke of her faith, a faith my father also held. And she projected authenticity, a lack of pretense that my father found reassuring.
Authenticity is a strange word to apply to a woman who wore oceans of makeup and never appeared in her own hair. A woman who flirted with every late-night TV host and all her singing partners but stayed married for nearly 59 years to her beloved Carl Dean until his death in March 2025. A woman who spoke of her genuine love for those who went to her theme park, bought her recordings, and watched her concerts, TV shows, movies, and countless interviews, but never missed an opportunity to hawk her records, specials, concerts, books, theme park, line of beauty projects, wine, pet supplies, and array of foods to those same people. A woman who constantly reminisced with fondness of the values of her dirt-poor childhood while reveling in the luxurious, celebrity lifestyle she had achieved as an adult. A woman who claimed to speak her mind without reservation but never revealed her political affiliation, her church of choice or any information whatsoever about the rarely seen man to whom she was married.
Dolly Parton’s authenticity was in harmony with what Jesus taught in Luke 6:45: “The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.” She was loved by people of all ages, races, nationalities, genders, sexualities, political leanings, income brackets, and religions because her heart was abundantly good.
Sexuality, talent, financial success, humor, faith, generosity, beauty, fun, music, family, food, health, investment, kindness, fashion, dignity, respect, justice, and glamor, as Dolly Parton saw them, were all gifts of God to celebrate, as long as they were used for good.
That goodness was apparent even when she was telling jokes that made my mother blush and wince, selling a new brand of whatever to people who couldn’t afford what she was selling, singing in costumes meant to stun and allure, starring in movies that varied from great to awful, writing songs extolling saints and sinners, and monetizing everything she could get her hands on.
Her genuine goodness was manifested through the millions she gave to help children read, provide relief from natural disasters, supply tuition for college students, enable her fellow citizens to get vaccinated, entertain and inspire without malice, and provide an economic engine that employed hundreds of people and brought millions of dollars into her neck of the woods.
Possibly her innate goodness was most clearly revealed in her ability to overcome the toxicity, abuse, injustice, and meanness unleashed on women in her industry and build a multi-million-dollar empire without bitterness, corruption, or hate.
Dolly Parton’s goodness imprinted everything she did. Sexuality, talent, financial success, humor, faith, generosity, beauty, fun, music, family, food, health, investment, kindness, fashion, dignity, respect, justice, and glamor, as Dolly saw them, were all gifts of God to celebrate, as long as they were used for good.
In a world where we wonder daily what is in the heart of those who rule the world, Dolly Parton revealed in multiple ways what a heart filled with abundant goodness can do. Good golly, miss Dolly, you will be missed.
The Rev. John Burns retired in 2023 from University Baptist Church in College Park, Md. He is the author of “Modeling Mary in Christian Discipleship,” available from Judson Press.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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