Dolly Parton, the country music legend whose Imagination Library still mails free books to children across the Clear Lake area, died Tuesday, Aug. 25, in Nashville, Tennessee. She was 80.
Her nephew Bryan Seaver announced the death in a video posted to Parton's social media accounts. Seaver, who served as Parton's head of security for more than two decades, said she asked him years ago to deliver the news when the time came.
"As her head of security for more than two decades, a role my father Larry held before me, I have imagined the heaviness of this moment, but haven't truly felt it until now," Seaver said in the video published by USA Today. "… Sadness lies with us, not with Dolly. Dolly has lived in the light, and is in the arms of Jesus."
Seaver relayed Parton's request for her burial: to "rest in a beautiful bed of plush cotton, because after a life wearing heavy rhinestones, she finally deserves to be comfortable and have some rest."
Parton died peacefully following a "brief battle with cancer," according to her representatives.
Parton had faced health problems in recent months, canceling a planned Las Vegas residency in May 2026 and citing kidney stones and problems with her immune and digestive systems, according to USA Today. On Aug. 21, she told People magazine she was "still healin'" but "still workin'."
The local connection
For families in the Clear Lake area, Parton's name arrives in their mailboxes every month. Through Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, children from birth to age 5 can receive a free book mailed directly to their home. The Clear Lake City-County Freeman Branch Library offers in-person registration, as do all Harris County Public Library branches. The program is locally sponsored by the Imagination Library of Greater Houston and is completely free.
Parton founded the program in 1995 in her home county in East Tennessee, inspired by her father Robert Lee Parton, who could not read or write. She wrote on her website in 2020: "I wanted to get Daddy involved in it. I wanted him to help me with that so he could take the pride in that and so he did. He got to live long enough to hear the kids call me the Book Lady."
In three decades, the Imagination Library has mailed more than 300 million books to children across five countries.
A career that spanned six decades
Born Jan. 19, 1946, in a one-room cabin near Sevierville, Tennessee, Parton was the fourth of 12 children. She moved to Nashville the day after graduating high school in 1964 and first made her mark writing songs for other performers.
Her breakthrough came on "The Porter Wagoner Show," and she topped the country charts for the first time in 1974 with "Jolene." Her catalog includes "Coat of Many Colors," "9 to 5" and "I Will Always Love You," which became a global phenomenon when Whitney Houston recorded it for the 1992 film "The Bodyguard." Parton sold more than 100 million records and won 11 Grammy Awards.
She opened the Dollywood theme park near her hometown in 1986. Her husband, Carl Thomas Dean, died March 3, 2025, after nearly 60 years of marriage.
A small, private service will be held for immediate family, at Parton's request. The family has asked that donations be made to the Imagination Library in lieu of flowers.
Clear Lake families who want to register a child for the free book program can visit the Freeman Branch Library in person.
