{"id":29361,"date":"2026-08-25T23:27:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T03:27:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/?p=29361"},"modified":"2026-08-28T23:30:21","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T03:30:21","slug":"dolly-parton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/2026\/08\/25\/dolly-parton\/","title":{"rendered":"How Dolly Parton Helped My Family Get Through Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Dolly
Dolly Parton by Greg Cook, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are so many of you that I have to thank for helping me and my family successfully get through cancer. And it turns out one of you I have to thank is Dolly Parton. <3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last winter, after being out of work basically since July, as I had endured six weeks of radiation and the first months of chemotherapy, it looked like we were soon going to run out of sick leave pay, with months of cancer treatment still ahead. So we set up an online store to sell some of my art prints, and many of you folks kindly bought some, which was a great relief. Then out of nowhere my sweetheart Kari Percival <\/a>got a check in the mail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Kari\u2019s first children\u2019s book, \u201cHow to Say Hello to a Worm,\u201d was published in 2022, it was amazingly picked up by Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library, a literacy program that gives books to children ages birth to five. The program pays the publisher to print lots of books to give away\u2014which results in a substantial check for the creator, often more than they were paid to make the book. That money was an amazing help to our family then, and it was such an honor to be part of this great program, a classic Dolly Parton effort, that quietly improves so many lives. Since Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library started in 1995, they have given away more than 300 million books. (The entire U.S. population is about 342 million.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So last winter, as it looked looked like we were going to run out of sick leave pay, that check arrived out of the blue, a surprise, an amazing coincidence\u2014a second check for Kari\u2019s participation in Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library. The money would miraculously cover all the months I\u2019d not receive sick pay. In those dark days of cancer, in a moment of terrible worry and need for our family, it was an incredible relief. I know Dolly wasn\u2019t directly picking the books and writing checks (I think), but it was due to the program that she had created to help people. And, goodness, it has helped us. <3<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn lieu of flowers,\u201d when Dolly Parton died of cancer today at age 80, \u201cthe family asks for donations to be made to Dolly Parton\u2019s Imagination Library at imaginationlibrary.com<\/a>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures, and nature that you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon<\/a>. And sign up for our free, occasional newsletter<\/a> so that you don’t miss any of our reporting. Follow us on Instagram<\/a> and tell us what you really think on Facebook<\/a>. (All content \u00a9 Greg Cook 2026 or the respective creators.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are so many of you that I have to thank for helping me and my family successfully get through cancer. And it turns out one of you I have to thank is Dolly Parton. <3 Last winter, after being out of work basically since July, as I had endured six weeks of radiation and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,101],"tags":[1479,90],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29361"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29368,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29361\/revisions\/29368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gregcookland.com\/wonderland\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}