It is what it is: Aug. 27, 2026 Commentary – Jen Brien

by Jen Brien, contributing writer

The Art of Authenticity

.It’s not often I grieve for someone I’ve never met so when my best friend texted me “DOLLY PARTON DIED” a few days ago my heart sank. While I never met this amazing person and performer, I knew she was on assignment from God at a very early age and she was one of the “good guys”.

My mom was pretty stylish way back in the day and she drove this wild sports car. A loaded ORANGE COUGAR with brown leather seats and a crazy hi-tech sound system for a vehicle in 1978. It came with an 8-TRACK TAPE PLAYER! She wore out that 8-TRACK tape player and had great taste in music.

As we traveled from here and there, I listened to everything from Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Neil Sadaka, Donna Summer, Amii Stewart, Barbra Streisand, the Eagles, Elvis, Dinah Washington and… Dolly Parton.

She popped in the “Best of Dolly Parton” white 8 track tape one morning on a trip to MCarthy’s and Sears in Woonsocket and I fell in love. I heard her sing “Coat of Many Colors” in the back seat of that car – about her mother who stitched together a coat from rags for her, and it made my heart burst. I remember starting to cry because it touched me so deep and was such a beautiful story (and coincidently a TRUE STORY!!!) That was my first introduction to an artist that I paid attention to as the decades rolled on and the seasons came and went… she was there. In films, in music, in DOLLYWOOD, in song writing and in our culture. She has just always been out there for all of my life… and now she’s gone. It hit me hard.

While I have an emotional connection to her because of that very first experience as a child, (which probably sounds nuts to some of you) there are countless people who feel the same I’m sure, and then there are those who don’t understand it all and are complaining about all the attention and accolades she’s receiving and how its dominating the news cycle. (just go online and wade in the cesspool of hate if you don’t believe me) I don’t feel badly about those people being so hateful because it simply exemplifies why we loved this woman so very much and why she touched so many lives. She was never dark to others and was never ever those horrible people.

She gave without needing to be seen, she was kind and lifted others up, she helped people shine in a world where folks step on each other and defame each other climbing to the top and was disciplined, generous and professional in her craft. That’s an anomaly in 2026. We all know it’s true… which is why many feel the loss of her so acutely. She was just a good human.

Dolly Parton once said of herself (with a hearty laugh) “some people think I’m fake, but I always say the only fake things about me are my hair, nails and a few other things… it costs a lot to look this cheap”.

In a world full of ILLUSIONS… that made us all laugh too…

BUT… this is why my heart breaks today and why I will miss all she was. Dolly also said:

“I like trying to make people happy and lift people up and glorifying GOD. That’s my mission in life”.

Thank you, Dolly. For it ALL… for EVERYTHING.

DOLLY PARTON

1946-2026

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Jen Brien has over 20 years of radio broadcast experience having hosted shows on WPRO and WHJJ with Ron as well as her own shows on WRKO and WBZ in Boston, WXTK on Cape Cod and WHAM in Rochester, New York. Jen was born and raised in Woonsocket and served six years in the Army MP Canine  Unit.

To read more columns and commentary by Jen, Go HERE!