08/25/2026
In 2010, I was given the opportunity to photograph my icon, my Tennessee queen, the singular angel that was the great Dolly Parton.
The first song I remember hearing as a toddler was ‘Islands in the Stream.’ The first movie I remember is ‘9 to 5’ (it was one of just 4 vhs tapes that my family owned). In my family, Dolly was a hero. A Tennessee woman who forged her own path in a field notorious for diminishing women.
To say I was starstruck meeting her is an understatement. And everyone always wants to know what she was really like. I love telling this story because she was everything you dreamed she’d be and more. She was kind. She was funny. She was glamorous and beautiful and her energy filled the room. After being introduced, she called me by my name multiple times when speaking to me. She held eye contact. She was gracious and generous and absolutely delightful.
At one point, she said to me, “Now honey, don’t go shootin me from behind. My best assets are in the front!”
She wore this iconic electric purple skirt suit, with 3” hot pink nails, clear Polly heels, and rhinestones for days. Her hair & makeup? Flawless of course. She had a big smile for every person she encountered that day.
I will never forget getting to meet my hero and to capture her beautiful smile and energy. Thank you so much to Rebecca for including me in this day. I have many more photos that are a sweet, intimate look into how Dolly truly loved her family, and how happy she was to celebrate her niece and goddaughter.
I love you so much Dolly. Your incomparable spirit and kindness will never be forgotten by this world. You are my glamour goddess, more influential on all of us than you will ever know. You taught all of us brash women that we have a place in this world being exactly who we’re meant to be: ourselves.
Fly high angel.
