MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The queen of country music, Dolly Parton, is being remembered around the world, and not just for her contributions to music, but also to children's literacy, education, business, disaster recovery and public health. It's hard to decide what to focus on in reflecting on who she was and what she meant to us, but music journalist Tom Roland says there's one thing about her that resonates with him the most, and he's here with us to tell us about that now. Welcome, Tom. Thanks so much for joining us.
TOM ROLAND: Thanks for having me, Michel.
MARTIN: And I'm sorry for your loss. I mean, we all thought we knew Dolly, but you did know Dolly. And it's a tough day. We met you because you co-wrote Dolly Parton's final book, which came out last year, "Star Of The Show: My Life On Stage." And across all the stories she shared, you told us that there was a theme of resilience. Why do you say that?
ROLAND: You know, we all have hard times in our lives and stuff, and she always seemed to manage to bounce back and do it in a way that she, you know, advanced even farther than maybe she had before. I mean, you think about, like, the hard times she had in her duets with Porter Wagoner, and, you know, then when she broke out as a solo artist. She was in severe debt to him, and it was a really hard climb back. And, of course, we all know she did very well in terms of her wealth.
There was a period in 1982 when she had some health issues, and she was trying to work through them and a doctor had told her not to go onstage, and she did anyway, and ended up having to have major surgery and was off the road for a number of months. And that incident, she really did a lot of reflecting while she was laid up.
And if you'll remember, in 1987, when she took over the ABC variety show, there were all these media stories around how much weight she had lost and how skinny she was (laughter). And she had basically, during that period sort of made a prayer and committed herself to do a better job of taking care of herself - sleeping better, eating better. And even after she took some time off from touring in the early 2000s, she came back, and she was playing stadiums in Europe at the end of her touring career.
MARTIN: Wow.
ROLAND: So she always bounced back and did something bigger when she solved her issues.
MARTIN: Wow. You know, we all know her as this larger-than-life bedazzled superstar. You had this very close experience working with her on the book, which is a much more intimate sort of project. What was she like offstage?
ROLAND: Well, she was kind of like - you know, offstage, she was kind of the same person - not quite as big - but she was personable and quick on her feet. And, man, she was full of those Southernisms that, in a way that only Dolly can, you know, say.
(LAUGHTER)
ROLAND: So I had asked her at one point, you know, what's your sort of ritual before you go onstage? And she said, well, I pee and I pray.
MARTIN: Oh, wow.
ROLAND: And...
MARTIN: Yeah.
ROLAND: ...I said, well, what is that prayer? And she said, well, I pray every time that God can work through me, and, you know, the show can be of benefit to the people who are there.
MARTIN: Oh.
ROLAND: So it's like, well, that's cool.
MARTIN: You know, I've spoken with Dolly several times over the years, and one of the things that always struck me was how supportive she was of other artists reinterpreting her work. I mean, of course, you know, Whitney Houston, "I Will Always Love You," and more recently, Beyoncé's cover of "Jolene," which she appeared on and supported, even though, you know, there are some people who, you know, were throwing shade at it. And that made me think about an interview I had with her in 2009 when she told me how she approached her songwriting as a business. And let me just play that for you.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
DOLLY PARTON: My songs are my children, as I say, and I expect them to support me when I'm old (laughter). And, you know, it's like my publishing and my songs is what I'm going to leave for my family. And to me, I'm - I was building a company. I'd already recorded that song and I already had it published. I had 100% of the publishing.
MARTIN: She sure did. But did that business savvy come across when you worked with her?
ROLAND: Yeah, it definitely did. And she was aware. We were working what the time frame was and, you know, how much time she had allotted to me and those kinds of things. And it was very clear (laughter) that she was the one in charge, you know, and I made that clear to her as well that it's like, yes, I'm helping you on this, but it's your book. And invariably, that, you know, she would make a business decision. But part of that business decision was not only about her money, but it was also about her audience and what her story might mean to them.
MARTIN: You know, one thing I was curious about is that, you know, people called her Saint Dolly, right? I mean, she's that rare celebrity who becomes very wealthy, very famous but still manages to be really beloved by seemingly everybody. And I just wonder why you think that is or how is that?
ROLAND: I think a lot of it's because she invariably found a way to put a positive spin on it, even if she was sort of, like, putting somebody in their place. You know, she never lost her sense of humor, even in the middle of a whirlwind or something. She had a chapel in her office, and I got a chance to go in there way back a few decades ago. I had a personal crisis and saw, you know, a counselor, a minister where I was living. And I walked into his office and felt this incredible calmness. And I think that she was just connected in that way and ended up reflecting that in the way that she conducted herself.
MARTIN: Tom, before we let you go, she obviously had a passion for literacy, especially children's literacy. And we talked about that when I interviewed her in 2024, and she told me she was inspired by her father to establish the Imagination Library, which mails free books to children from birth to age 5. And here's what she said.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR CONTENT)
PARTON: He couldn't read and write, and he felt really, really embarrassed and bad about that - tried to kind of keep it a secret, so to speak. But Daddy was so smart and always wondered what all he might have been had he had an education.
MARTIN: So you were working with her on a book. Did that passion for literacy come across?
ROLAND: Yeah. Her whole business was built around reading and writing. You know, she didn't have children, so I do believe that that's one of the things that she did to try to reach out and help children 'cause she obviously loved them. Yeah. And so we - you know, we had talked about her business savvy. And, you know, she signed contracts. She knew what was in them. You know, you can't read a contract and protect yourself if you don't know how to read. So I think that she saw that as a growth tool but also a defense mechanism.
MARTIN: That's Tom Roland. He's a longtime country music journalist who worked with Dolly Parton on her final book, "Star Of The Show: My Life On Stage." It published last year. Tom Roland, thank you so much.
ROLAND: Thanks, Michel.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TRAVELIN' THRU")
PARTON: (Singing) Well, I can't tell you where I'm going. I'm not sure of where I've been. But I know I must keep traveling till my road comes to an end. I'm out here on my journey... Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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