I was saddened to hear about the passing of my old friend Dolly Parton.
I first met Dolly many years ago, back when Chainsaw Chicken was just getting started. I was backstage at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre and Alligator Ranch in Florida when Dolly spotted me.
She stopped, looked me over for a moment, and asked if she could have a picture taken with me.
I said sure.
I understood even then that people in show business sometimes get excited when they meet somebody.
We talked for a while and hit it off. Dolly was exactly the person people came to know over the years—warm, funny, gracious and completely comfortable being Dolly.
We stayed in contact after that and would get together whenever our travel schedules allowed. Usually we’d have something to eat. I especially enjoyed listening to Dolly order her meal.
One evening I told her how wonderful she looked.
“It costs a lot of money to look this cheap,” she said.
That was Dolly.
For all the success that came her way, she never seemed particularly impressed with herself. She helped people without making a production out of it, laughed easily, and never forgot where she came from.
She also never forgot the people she met along the way.
Including me.
Looking at that old photograph now, I realize how young we both were. Neither one of us knew where life was going to take us.
Dolly’s took her pretty far.
I’m glad she stopped that day and asked for the picture.
I’ll miss you, Dolly.