Mississippians recall Dolly Parton’s ties to state after her death

Mississippi residents are reflecting on Dolly Parton’s connection to the state following her death Tuesday at age 80, Mississippi Today reported.

Sam Haskell, a longtime friend and collaborator, told Mississippi Today that his shared small-town Southern roots with Parton helped form an immediate bond. Haskell said their first conversation in the early 1980s turned on his hometown of Amory and the University of Mississippi, prompting Parton to say, “Ole Miss, that’s my husband’s favorite football team. Sit down here.” Haskell told Mississippi Today that he later became Parton’s agent as she wrote, recorded and produced award-winning television projects.

Haskell recounted to Mississippi Today a 2000 visit to Amory when Parton called him from the landline at a local ice cream shop to “check it out and see where you’re born.” He said the singer told him she could go unnoticed when she took off her wig and wore a baggy shirt. “These are your people,” Haskell said Parton told him, according to Mississippi Today. Haskell said about 10,000 people attended the October 2000 Stars Over Mississippi concert that Parton headlined.

Others who worked with Parton described a similar warmth. Producer Hudson Hickman, who worked with Parton on television projects, told Mississippi Today that she greeted crew members by name and often dispensed hugs on set. Hickman said Parton once broke into song during a meeting and that “it is the voice of an angel,” according to Mississippi Today.

Gov. Tate Reeves ordered flags to be flown at half-staff in her honor and called her “an American music icon. An even better person,” on social media, his office said. Mississippi Today noted Parton’s philanthropic reach in the state, including the Imagination Library, which sends books to children and partners with organizations across Mississippi. The Ole Miss Women’s Council for Philanthropy selected Parton for its 2020 Legacy Award, an honor delayed until 2022 by the pandemic; Elizabeth Randall, then chair of the council, told Mississippi Today that Parton’s willingness to come to Ole Miss was itself an act of philanthropy. Haskell told Mississippi Today that Parton often lent her star power to fundraisers, suggesting auction items such as dinners with her that raised as much as $75,000 for local causes.

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