{"id":5579,"date":"2026-09-02T09:10:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=5579"},"modified":"2026-09-02T09:10:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T09:10:59","slug":"my-christmas-with-dolly-a-love-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=5579","title":{"rendered":"My Christmas with Dolly: A Love Story"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

When Dolly Parton arrived at the studio to record an interview for the Christmas special I was writing and co-producing, I figured it would be the most memorable day of my radio career. I was wrong. Dolly saved that for later.<\/p>

Read more Did the Blue Angels Get a Good Deal?<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Graphic: Author<\/p>\n

Against long odds, my partners and I had convinced Columbia Records to loan us their biggest country star, along with a mix of her upcoming Christmas album. We would use those ingredients to produce an hour-long Christmas radio special and syndicate it around the world. In that pre-Internet era (1990), shows were pitched and placed on stations one at a time. For us it was an incredible business opportunity. But first we had to deliver the goods.<\/p>\n

Production lead times being what they were, our session was on a roasting hot July day so the show could be finished and sold by December. It didn\u2019t feel anything like Christmas. To add a little holiday cheer and whimsy, we decorated the studio with lights, snow globes, cotton balls, and Santa with his reindeer. We even had a little stack of wrapped presents to exchange.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I was simultaneously confident and nervous. Creatively and technically, I was ready for anything imaginable. But Dolly was a superstar. What would she be like to work with? What was she expecting? Past experience taught me that some stars were wonderful on the job while others were a handful. For example, there was the Household Name arriving for a two-hour session whose first words were, \u201cYou\u2019ve got thirty minutes.\u201d Or the one who called from his car in the parking lot to say he \u201cdidn\u2019t feel like working today.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Succeed or fail, we were out thousands in expenses. We wanted to look professional and get off on the right foot. We all wore jackets, ties, and name tags. We double- and triple-checked the equipment, the script, the flowers in the ladies\u2019 room. We were as ready as we would ever be.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watching out the window for her limo, we were slightly miffed when, just before she was due, a Honda sedan pulled into the VIP spot at the front door. But then the car door opened and out stepped Dolly — a quick reminder to us that real stars don\u2019t need the props.\u00a0<\/p>\n

She walked in on the dot at the top of the hour. Her \u201centourage\u201d was one\u00a0high school friend who drove her there and stayed to keep her company. Her thousand-kilowatt smile was even more fabulous in person, the hair even more spectacular. She greeted everyone warmly, shook hands all around, and was ready to work. Her only request before we got started: \u201cFellas, you can take those name tags off!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was a glorious day, one of those rare sessions when everything fell perfectly into place. Instead of giving her specific text to deliver, I sometimes asked her to talk in her own words about the Christmasy feelings and memories the songs in the album brought to light. She was a joy to work with, cheerfully taking directions and suggestions from us unknowns, eagerly re-doing anything we asked, and keeping the energy and effervescence going full tilt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

We worked straight through until lunch, then had sandwiches together in the control room. Dolly loved the token Christmas presents. I can\u2019t remember now what any of us got, only that the atmosphere was an unforgettable mix of excitement and celebration.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Read more Science is not the ultimate authority<\/a><\/p>\n

We wrapped up our work, and then she was gone, with genuine thanks and cheery good-byes to each of us. On tape was everything we needed to produce a knockout program. We had no excuse for falling short.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the fall, there was a reception a few blocks up Music Row at the Columbia studios to celebrate signing our 700th<\/sup>\u00a0station to carry the show. We had refreshments and a photographer along with our whole team, plus executives from the label. During the event, a preliminary mix of the show was playing quietly through the PA system.<\/p>\n

I happened to notice Dolly across the room alone, facing the wall. I walked over to her, just the two of us standing in a quiet corner. When she turned to me, tears were streaming down her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The show segment playing in the background was Dolly\u2019s answer when I asked her to tell me about her favorite Christmas. She was thirteen, and it was the first Christmas after they\u2019d gotten electricity, the first time they had lights on the tree. It was also the year her father asked all the children if they would give up presents so he could buy their mother the wedding ring he had never been able to afford. Of course they said yes. On Christmas morning they played a game. Her dad hid the ring on the tree, and the one who found it got a prize. Dolly found it (\u201cof course\u201d) around a bubbling light in the back. She cried with joy, her father cried, everybody cried, and it was the best Christmas ever.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Listening now to that recollection in her own words, backed by a little soft music, she was crying again. Megastar though she was, she was also still the same grateful, humble, compassionate person she had been all those years and Grammys and Oscar nominations before. In that quiet moment, she had the rare chance to reconnect with a long-ago, sweet-spirited self that had never changed and a memory of the family she loved so much, celebrating once more with tears of joy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fame makes some people hard and insufferable. Fame made Dolly Parton a legend the world will love forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For me, the day was half a lifetime ago. But I have never forgotten the gift of that moment I spent with the real Dolly Parton. And I\u2019ll love her forever.<\/p>\n

John Perry is a ghostwriter and collaborator as well as the author of more than a dozen books, including\u00a0The Detroiting of America: What Happened to the Motor City, Why Other Cities Followed, How Detroit is Coming Back<\/em>\u00a0(Fidelis Publishing).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>

Read more OpenAI reports disturbing behavior from AI agents<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Dolly Parton arrived at the studio to record an interview for the Christmas special I was writing and co-producing, I figured it would be the most memorable day of my radio career. I was wrong. Dolly saved that for later. Read more Did the Blue Angels Get a Good Deal? Graphic: Author Against long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2083],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-dolly-parton"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Christmas with Dolly: A Love Story - Interstate Logistics Hub<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/interstatelogisticshubs.com\/?p=5579\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Christmas with Dolly: A Love Story - Interstate Logistics Hub\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Dolly Parton arrived at the studio to record an interview for the Christmas special I was writing and co-producing, I figured it would be the most memorable day of my radio career. 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