RIP Dolly Parton

[elsmere241]

We lived on the same street in Nashville at one point.  She launched a big pink spotlight from her house.

That would have to have been between 1976 and 1980 - I was three when we moved in to that house, and nearly eight when we moved out.  It was probably early on in that period - I think I would remember the spotlight.

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

None of my immediate family or grandparents made it to their 90s.

A decent number of my relatives made it. My Great Grandmother on my dad's side of the family lived to be 101. She was living in Lawton, OK before Lawton was officially established as a town. My dad's mother almost made it to 97. My mother's mother passed away at 94. I've had some other great aunts and uncles make it into their 90's. Plenty of other relatives died considerably younger. My dad had five siblings; now my dad and my Uncle John are the only ones still living.

Back to the news of Dolly Parton passing; they say celebrity tragedies happen in threes. Earlier today I heard Tim Curry died -also at the age of 80. I wonder who is going to be next.

Shelly Fabares died either Sunday or Monday

[akt85]

None of my immediate family or grandparents made it to their 90s.

A decent number of my relatives made it. My Great Grandmother on my dad's side of the family lived to be 101. She was living in Lawton, OK before Lawton was officially established as a town. My dad's mother almost made it to 97. My mother's mother passed away at 94. I've had some other great aunts and uncles make it into their 90's. Plenty of other relatives died considerably younger. My dad had five siblings; now my dad and my Uncle John are the only ones still living.

Back to the news of Dolly Parton passing; they say celebrity tragedies happen in threes. Earlier today I heard Tim Curry died -also at the age of 80. I wonder who is going to be next.

Shelly Fabares died either Sunday or Monday

I think the 3s started with Hayden Panatere

[I-57/Route 66 Fan]

None of my immediate family or grandparents made it to their 90s.

A decent number of my relatives made it. My Great Grandmother on my dad's side of the family lived to be 101. She was living in Lawton, OK before Lawton was officially established as a town. My dad's mother almost made it to 97. My mother's mother passed away at 94. I've had some other great aunts and uncles make it into their 90's. Plenty of other relatives died considerably younger. My dad had five siblings; now my dad and my Uncle John are the only ones still living.

Back to the news of Dolly Parton passing; they say celebrity tragedies happen in threes. Earlier today I heard Tim Curry died -also at the age of 80. I wonder who is going to be next.

Shelly Fabares died either Sunday or Monday

I think the 3s started with Hayden Panatere

Hayden, Shelly, Dolly, & Tim make 4.

[Roadgeekteen]

I wonder if they rename the Nashville airport (BNA) after her. It's not named after anyone else.

[kphoger]

I wonder who is going to be next.

Samuel Monroe Jr.

[Max Rockatansky]

I wonder who is going to be next.

Samuel Monroe Jr.

Ending up being Optimus Prime.

[wxfree]

Some people are iconic.  By that, I don't mean famous, I mean they aren't vapid celebrities, they actually matter.  Robin Williams always seemed to be "in character."  Maybe in real life he was always funny and entertaining, but whenever I saw him, he always seemed to be acting, so I never felt like I knew him.  He appeared to have a complex and difficult history.  This isn't a criticism.  Great art is often driven by great adversity.  But I didn't have any sense of loss over him.  Aretha Franklin has some great music, but I know nothing about her.  I know her only by her work.  Since her music was recorded, to me she was just another famous artist who died.  Dolly and Betty White are different.  They showed us what they believed in.  They let us get to know them (or at least did a very good job of faking it).  It is, in part, that they were (or seemed to be) good people, but more than that it's that they were real people.  I'm not suggesting that they were better people or more worthy of their fame than other celebrities we know much less about, but they were more than their acting and singing.  Losing them is a real loss.  Dolly Parton is in the top tier of iconic personalities.  She used her fame to elevate people and spread a message of beauty.  Anyone who does that, from whatever platform they may have, is a heroic character to me.

[ZLoth]

[elsmere241]

I wonder if they rename the Nashville airport (BNA) after her. It's not named after anyone else.

Officially, it's Berry Field (hence BNA).  But I have no idea who Berry was.

I could see the Metro Council naming a street after her.

[gonealookin]

I wonder if they rename the Nashville airport (BNA) after her. It's not named after anyone else.

Officially, it's Berry Field (hence BNA).  But I have no idea who Berry was.

I could see the Metro Council naming a street after her.

As with everything involving air travel, delays are likely.

The Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority, which oversees the airport and controls its name, has rules that prohibit naming any property after a person who has not been dead for at least two years. The policy also dictates that the honoree should have contributed to aviation in Tennessee or made a "substantial personal contribution" to the airport authority.
...
Tennessee politics also add to the bureaucratic tangle: Local and state leaders are battling over who oversees the airport. The Republican supermajority in the General Assembly approved a law this year giving the state power over major municipal airports. Nashville leaders have challenged the law and refuse to recognize the state-controlled authority.

As to the "Berry" of "BNA":

Nashville International has only had its current name since 1988. The airport opened in 1937 as Berry Field — after Col. Harry S. Berry, a World War I veteran who ran the Works Progress Administration in Tennessee — and still uses the three-letter code BNA.

[Scott5114]

Dolly was from East Tennessee, so if any airport would be named after her, I'd expect it'd be the one in Gatlinburg or perhaps Knoxville.

[Bobby5280]

I think they should re-name the portion of I-40 from Knoxville to Exit 407, the exit for Sevierville where business is booming. Sevierville is the nearest substantial town from Locust Ridge where the legend was born. Or maybe name I-40 from Knoxville to the split with I-81. Dolly Parton would be worth it.

[akt85]

Isn't the road in Pigeon Forge that goes by Dollywood already called Dolly Parton Parkway?

[wxfree]

Is it too soon to remind us of the Dennis Miller joke about renaming the Grand Tetons the Grand Partons?  Grand Tetons means "large breasts," so it isn't much of a name change.

Let's do it before anyone changes the name to the Grand Americas.

[hbelkins]

Isn't the road in Pigeon Forge that goes by Dollywood already called Dolly Parton Parkway?

No, that's US 411 in Sevierville.