Kansas City remembers Dolly Parton: 'She would make anyone feel at ease who met her'

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Folly Theater in Kansas City was the last stop Dolly Parton made when she visited the city for her book campaign — and for those who met her there, the memory is one they won't soon forget.

Dr. Leetta Felter, chair of the Dolly Parton Imagination Library of Kansas, met Parton in August 2024 during the expansion of Parton's book giving campaign.

"All the kindness and warmth that you would want her to have — it was really Dolly, she wasn't putting on that face, it was Dolly," Felter said.

Felter remembered Parton not only as a philanthropist, but as someone who embodied her own words.

"She would always say, 'Its hard to be a diamond in a rhinestone world.' I would say she totally nailed it," Felter said.

The Imagination Library program launched in 1995 in honor of Parton's father, who was unable to read or write.

"My dad was a little bit embarrassed by the fact he couldn't read and write as a grown up, and he thought it was something he couldn't learn to do," Parton said.

Kansas City country music radio host Dale Carter of KFKF said his connection to Parton stretched back decades.

"I will tell you this: I've been playing country music on the radio since I was 15, 1979, and it started with Dolly Parton records back when we played vinyl," Carter said.

Carter had the honor of giving Parton a career achievement award in person and said she had a rare ability to make everyone around her feel comfortable.

"She would make anyone feel at ease who met her. I mean, you would think you're meeting this ginormous star, and she was just a real person, you know?" Carter said.

Felter said Parton's passing left her with a sense of loss over what could have been.

"I feel a little bit robbed, because if we had one more decade of Dolly, think what might've happened," Felter said.

Carter pointed to the national recognition that followed Parton's death as a measure of just how singular she was.

"What entertainer gets that honor for a week — to have the United States flag lowered to half-staff? Dolly Parton gets that," Carter said.

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