From the time that she first stepped onto the Grand Ole Opry stage, it was clear that the tiny girl from the Tennessee mountains was special. Johnny Cash introduced her, and she sang alongside her uncle — who had bought her her first guitar, and became her first songwriting partner, helping her create hits that would propel other country singers to the tops of the charts. Within a few years, Parton had redefined almost everything a country-music star should be, creating her signature platinum-blond bombshell look that she cheerfully acknowledged was based on the “town tramp,” and showing off a thrilling soprano voice so pure and perfect that it could be slowed by one-third without a hint of distortion.

Now that voice is quiet. Earlier this year, with little fuss or fanfare, Parton stepped back from a planned Las Vegas residency. Last week, she told People magazine that she’d been struggling with health issues that came up while she was caring for her late husband, Carl Dean. Tuesday afternoon, the news broke that Parton had died of cancer at the age of 80.

Looking back on her extraordinary life, few could have guessed how big that little girl could dream. She would go on to craft a career that spanned six decades and multiple genres, with songs that often featured distinct points of view — a child growing up in poverty but surrounded by love, an exhausted office worker summoning the power of pure sass against an abusive boss, a young woman terrified that her lover would be tempted by a rival’s emerald-green eyes and flaming hair.

And despite her professed love for the art of fakery, Parton’s greatest strength was her adherence to sincerity such as with the song “I Will Always Love You,” written the night after Parton took a step that at the time seemed like career suicide, walking away from a seven-year musical partnership with mega-star Porter Wagoner.

Instead of stumbling, she soared — not just with her music, but as an actor, with lead roles in 1980’s “9 to 5” and “Straight Talk” from 1992, and as a theme-park magnate, opening Dollywood in 1985. But one of her most surprising roles was that of producer: She cofounded the movie/TV company, Sandollar Productions, that brought the world “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” and its spinoff “Angel.”

Around the same time, Parton was developing a reputation for astute, often unheralded philanthropy through the Dollywood Foundation, which included big-dollar donations to disaster relief and health-related charities. But the jewel in her crown is clearly the Imagination Library, which — over the course of 30 years — has sent more than 300 million free books to children around the world. Parton has said the library is a tribute to her father, Lee, who never learned to read.

It was a life extraordinarily well-lived, overflowing with talent and guided by the desire to make people happier. But Parton leaves a legacy that soars above all all the songs and movies, all the delightful banter with talk-show hosts and all the beneficiaries of her boundless generosity. Throughout her career, she made a consistent point of treating people with dignity and respect, even during eras when it was more advantageous to capitalize on hatred. And though she steered clear of any overt politics, her innate empathy shone through brightly, with her early advocacy on behalf of AIDs victims making her an LGBTQ icon and her plaintive 1980 recording of Woody Guthrie’s “Deportee” seeing new life today as an acknowledgement of the heartbreak immigration policy is wreaking in this nation.

But even in reproach, Parton unites us. When her death was announced, the nationwide wave of grief knew few boundaries, with every living ex-president offering tribute alongside President Donald Trump, who ordered flags to half-staff nationwide in mourning.

In 2023, Parton told the Guardian, “This is amazing to me how people look to me, that’s a big responsibility. There ain’t nobody that good. I’m not all that. … I try to just be a decent human being, try to use love as my great tool and weapon.” As a warrior for kindness and a defender of hope, may Parton’s legacy never leave us.

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The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Executive Editor Roger Simmons and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Use insight@orlandosentinel.com to contact us.

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