Maybe her best lifetime contributions!
I have to admit I was not aware of this side of her long career!
P.S. I just learnt that Dolly Parton died about within one year of her husband Carl Dean (died at age 83? Born 1942?) with whom she was married for over 60 years.
"Dolly Gave Away More Than She Kept
Dolly Parton, who died Tuesday at 80, built a $450 million fortune from a childhood in a one-room Tennessee cabin. By some estimates, she gave away even more, roughly $500 million.
Her defining deal was one she turned down. In 1974, Elvis Presley’s manager demanded half the publishing rights to I Will Always Love You. “Something in my heart says, don’t do that,” she later recalled. Whitney Houston’s 1992 cover of that song earned Parton an estimated $20 million.
She kept her name on the rest of her business, too: half of Dollywood, her Tennessee theme park empire, and a 3,000-song catalog valued at $120 million.
Her philanthropy was lifelong, and much of the giving went through her Dollywood Foundation, established in 1988. Its Imagination Library, a tribute to her father, who never learned to read, has mailed more than 330 million free books to children."
Dolly Parton in 1970 (Source)
