We will always love Dolly Parton

In this time of doom and discord, there's one bright, pink sparkling light that can bring us all together: Dolly Parton. When she died on August 25th, we lost a great spirit, and the whole world mourned her passing with flags hanging at half staff in every American embassy throughout the globe. So we felt it was only fitting to dedicate this episode to all the things we love about Dolly Parton. What does she have to do with eating, drinking and knitting, you ask? Full disclosure: she was not a knitter as far as we know, though the lovely white hand-crocheted shawl she's wearing here attests to her appreciation of the handmade. But she and her sister Rachel Parton George did collaborate on a best-selling cookbook, Good Lookin’ Cookin’: A Year of Meals—a Lifetime of Family, Friends and Food. Make her Country Ham and Biscuits, and let that flaky warmth melt in your mouth while you listen to the five songs that best capture Dolly's spirit.

"9 to 5" is the anthem for all working women. When we learned she wrote "I Will Always Love You" to explain to Porter Wagoner why she had to leave his show and strike out on her own, we loved it even more. But it's how she champions embracing who you are that we find the most inspirational. A moment alone, singing in an old abandoned church, surrounded by crude "dirty pictures," Dolly describes her own spiritual awakening:

“I didn't hear it like a voice, it came to me as a feeling that was as strong as a voice, though, and I felt like I found God that day. And I felt like I knew who I was that day . . . In this place of confusing images . . . I found God, music and sex. My fascination was complete. I sang with a strengthened conviction that only God could have understood the joy of the truth I found there. It is with me to this day. I found God, and I had found Dolly Parton.”

(Quoted from the wonderful podcast, Dolly Parton's America, episode 9)

Dolly's revelation that God loves her for being herself gave her the faith and confidence to embrace everyone--men and women, young and old, from the cowboy to the drag queen. This is why Nelson Mandela asked the guards to play "Jolene" in prison. For Dolly, when you accept who you are, you find the Godly within, and that's always worth fighting for. So thank you for all you gave to us, Dolly--the great embrace of your music and your divine spirit. We will always love you.