Dolly Parton Checks In with Woman’s Day February 2015

She’s the definition of showbiz longevity and Dolly Parton opens up about her life and her belief that there is good in everyone.
On her rural upbringing, the “I Will Always Love You” songstress explains, “When I was a girl growing up in the 1950s in the Smoky Mountains, there were plenty of people who didn't know what to make of me. I had 11 brothers and sisters and no electricity in my home, yet I knew I was gonna be a star.”

“I had a big, outgoing personality and even then I dressed a little bit trashy—my grandfather, who was a Pentecostal preacher, told me I looked like Jezebel! Some people thought I was a freak, and I was sensitive. But I was always myself—they couldn't beat it out of me, they couldn't scare it out of me, they couldn't scold it out of me. I just couldn't help it! I didn't know how else to be. Still don't.”

Dolly also discusses her view of people- “They say your first impression of someone is always right, but I've found that that's not true. You just don't know. It can be as simple as how a person dresses. You make a judgment about that person, but if you spend a little time, you find that they're different from what you thought, and you forget how they look. I know I look totally artificial, but I'd like to think I'm real where it really counts. It's how people treat one another and what they do and the way they do it—that's what should matter.”

Furthermore, “When I meet someone, I look at their eyes and their smile and seek out the good first—it's easy to find when you're looking for it. You let a person shine with their own light and try to connect it to yours. As soon as I say hello, I go right to that light and I don't care who you are! I know we're all pieces of the same thing—I go for that common light because I know it's in all of us.”

Ms. Parton even has her own charity- “A lot of the things I see in this world aren't right, and I set about trying to make as many things right as I can. My daddy was very smart and funny, but he couldn't read or write, so I started Imagination Library. We send children a free book each month from birth until kindergarten. Of all my accomplishments, my daddy was most proud of me for being the 'Book Lady,' which is what the kids call me."