Dorothy

In a press release, the governor’s office said Lee spoke with Dolly’s team about the proposal this week. Her team said they were touched by the idea and are open to continuing the conversation, according to Lee. In keeping with the way Parton lived her life, “her team believes she still has a special way of bringing people together for good, and they hope this tribute can be another example of that enduring legacy,” the release said.

Lee spoke with Parton’s team about the proposal this week and they expressed “their appreciation,” the governor said.

Dolly Parton's success in show business gave wings to her natural generosity. She helped families rebuild after floods; sponsored scholarships; funded the development of a COVID vaccine; and started a program that sent books to more than 300 million children around the world.

First, here are three new stories from The Atlantic’s Books section: Stories about Parton’s generosity are spreading widely: She helped fund a COVID-19 vaccine and filmed herself getting the shot when many Americans were hesitant. She opened a sanctuary for bald eagles! She did so many things for so many kinds of Americans, and especially Tennesseans, that I find it hard to keep track. But she said, many times, that she’d be happy to be remembered not as a generational talent or a dolled-up diva but as “the book lady.” Parton grew up in poverty in East Tennessee, and she frequently cited her illiterate father as the inspiration for her books program, which she founded in 1995.

Dolly Parton was a woman who tapped her long acrylic fingernails together on a movie set to find a rhythm that became the basis of one of the best-selling songs in history. She then used the proceeds to build a business empire estimated at around $650 million that supports roughly 23,000 jobs in her impoverished home region of Appalachia. She didn’t lift up herself or her community through collective ownership or a workers’ revolution, but by making the most of every opportunity the free market offered her. She got there by refusing to hand Elvis Presley’s manager half the publishing rights to “I Will Always Love You” when he demanded them as the price of securing a recording from the King of Rock and Roll. Instead, she walked and kept her royalties.

Streams of Dolly Parton's music have skyrocketed since the country legend died on Tuesday

Parton died Tuesday following a “brief battle with cancer,” her representatives revealed, as fans gathered outside her Nashville home to mourn the loss of one of country music’s most beloved stars.

The proposal to rename the airport will be addressed at the Metro Nashville Airport Authority’s meeting Sept. 17.

The name change technically goes against airport policy, which only allows a rededication to someone who's made contributions to the airport or the field of aviation. The Metro Nashville Airport Authority Board is pushing forward with the change anyway.

Since 2017, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has provided more than 24.6 million free books to young children across the state through North Carolina's Smart Start network. More than 241,000 children are currently enrolled in the program statewide, WFAE reported this week.