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Sarasota Honors Dolly Parton With Memorial, Book Drive

9/6/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Dolly Parton died on Aug. 25, 2026 at age 80 after battling cancer.
Sarasota, Fla., held a Sep. 5, 2026 tribute, converting a planned “9 to 5” celebration into a memorial.
The Bazaar event featured a book drive for Parton’s Imagination Library, which had distributed over 300 million books by 2025.
She donated $1 million each to Vanderbilt University for COVID-19 vaccine research and pediatric infectious disease research.

History

Historical Context

Dolly Parton founded the Dollywood Foundation in 1988 and the Imagination Library in 1995, mailing a free book each month to children; the program grew from Sevier County to over 1,600 communities and more than 300 million books by 2026. Her 2020 $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University funded COVID-19 vaccine research, a legacy echoed in the 2026 Sarasota tribute.

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Story summary

Dolly Parton died on Aug. 25, 2026 at age 80 after battling cancer.
Sarasota, Fla., held a Sep. 5, 2026 tribute, converting a planned “9 to 5” celebration into a memorial.
The Bazaar event featured a book drive for Parton’s Imagination Library, which had distributed over 300 million books by 2025.
She donated $1 million each to Vanderbilt University for COVID-19 vaccine research and pediatric infectious disease research.

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