Overview
- Parton, who died on Tuesday, Aug. 25, at age 80, was described by her family as having 'died peacefully' and by her publicist as having died after a brief battle with cancer.
- In a July 3 video that is now being widely revisited, Parton thanked Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce for a $2 million gift to her Imagination Library and joked about the couple's future child.
- Swift and Kelce's $2 million donation was part of a larger $26 million round of wedding-related giving that also supported Kansas City charities and hospitals.
- Parton’s family asked that donations be made to the Imagination Library instead of flowers, a request that highlights concerns about funding and continuity after reports this year that Missouri paused new enrollments because of budget cuts.
- The Imagination Library, founded by Parton in 1995, has distributed more than 200 million books worldwide and the renewed attention to her final message and memorial request could drive further support for the program.