By Marlow Stern
Plus IconMarlow Stern
Chief Correspondent
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Getty Images The inimitable, irreplaceable Dolly Parton died Tuesday after a brief battle with cancer. She was 80. The country legend and cultural icon was perhaps our last universally beloved celebrity, bridging the widening political and social divide in America.
In addition to creating classic tunes like “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You,” selling over 100 million records, taking home 11 Grammy Awards and starring in celebrated films such as “9 to 5,” “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “Steel Magnolias,” Parton worked tirelessly away from the cameras to make the world a better place.
Here are some extraordinary things Parton did that you probably didn’t know.
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She Inspired Millions to Read
Image Credit: Getty Images In 1995, Parton founded The Imagination Library, a charity that gifts books to children under the age of 5 for free, in honor of her late father. The Imagination Library was the result of a partnership between her Dollywood Foundation and local organizations, and began distributing books to kids in her local Sevier County, Tennessee, before expanding worldwide. Last year, the Imagination Library announced that it had gifted over 300 million books since its inception, including 40,356,668 in 2025 alone, or a book every 0.78 seconds). Parton created The Imagination Library in honor of her father, who couldn’t read.
“Before he passed away, my Daddy told me the Imagination Library was probably the most important thing I had ever done. I can’t tell you how much that meant to me because I created the Imagination Library as a tribute to my Dadd,” Parton wrote. “He was the smartest man I have ever known but I know in my heart his inability to read probably kept him from fulfilling all of his dreams. Inspiring kids to love to read became my mission.”
The Imagination Library received a $2 million pledge from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce as part of their $26 million in charity donations in honor of their wedding. Following Parton’s death, the Imagination Library stated that it would continue gifting books to kids, despite Republican legislatures in states like Indiana and Missouri cutting its funding. Parton’s family asked that fans make donations to the Imagination Library in her memory.
