The vast outpouring of grief and tribute after Dolly Parton’s death at eighty late last month owes much to the fact that she was probably the kindest genius America ever had—all the more astonishing because her genius and her kindness were inextricable from each other. She was loved as deeply, and seemingly for the same reasons, on rodeo grounds and in gay bars, in rural towns and major cities, and across the extremes of the political spectrum.
—my essay on Dolly Parton is online now at The New York Review; even if you’re not a subscriber, you can read it with this gift link! She’s one of my all time favorite artists (in any medium, think about that!) and it was an honor to share my thoughts on her.
After a little summer swirl, I’m back in the September saddle with these newsletters—which will be coming out weekly as the new season of “Private Life” launches later this month!
Until then I wanted to let you know:
TOMORROW NIGHT, September 11th 2026, I’ll be speaking about my late friend Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (alongside the inimitable Roxy Farman, screening Gen’s video “Pandrogeny Manifesto”) at E-Flux, 7pm, 172 Classon ave, Brooklyn, NY, 11205.
You can still buy tickets for a discount ($10) with the promo code “bird”! I’m using the occasion to reveal (for the first time) a secret conceptual artwork Genesis made in 1977, which she told me about before she died in 2020…with characteristic wit s/he dubbed it a “slow-release concept”…
Hope to see you there, or else out and about the next few busy weeks in the city.
this is perfection! a joy to read
I love this piece...I remember the Barbara Walter's interview...Dolly was like an angelic beacon...Walters so toxic.
Great writing Jarrett.