Dolly Parton said it with the smile that made her famous: food first, men second. She never hid her priorities, and that honesty was part of what made her unforgettable.
Those who knew her say that on every set, on every tour, there was always a dish reserved for her before anything else. She loved eating well, without guilt, without magazine diets. She applied that same carefree attitude to everything else: to money, which she said was worth less than the simple things in life, and to love, which she approached with humor instead of drama.
Dolly helped more than 332 million books reach children around the world. But she also left something simpler: the idea that laughing at oneself, and enjoying a good meal, can be a form of wisdom.
