At a time when everyone was bumping rock ‘n’ roll music, Joyce Maynard was tuning into a folkier sound.
The author, journalist and New Hampshire native did her time with the classics – Joni, Joan, Bob, Leonard – but there was only one voice that consistently tugged at her heart, one set of melodies that etched deep into her bones: Dolly Parton.
When Maynard heard Parton would be performing at a fair near Hanover in 1973, she was determined to speak with her. At the time, she was living in Hillsborough and had just catapulted into a career in journalism.
But she hadn’t been assigned to interview the singer for any publication.
“There was nothing in it for Dolly to sort of have me promote an album or something,” Maynard said in a Thursday phone interview. “I was 19 years old, living in New Hampshire, went to the fair, and I got a message backstage that I'd love to meet her.”
A few hours later, she found herself on the porch of the Hanover Inn, chatting with Dolly Parton.
Parton didn’t treat the complete stranger in front of her as just another adoring fan. She took an hour of her time to speak with the young Granite Stater, learning about life in New England.
“She was curious, she was open-minded,” Maynard recalled. “And you see that when you see all these tributes…How she got around and all the people that she knew and embraced and sought out and, you know, honored. People from all different worlds.”
After that first encounter, the women met on two more occasions – once when Maynard was on a trip to Nashville, and again when she was working as a reporter based in Keene.
On that final meeting – this time, actually on assignment to write up a Parton profile – Maynard took out her cassette tape recorder and asked the country star to record a message for her children.
“She pushed the button, and she said, ‘Hi kids! This is Dolly, and I'm sitting here with your mama. And I just want to tell you that…I can't tell you to do everything your mama says, but…have a good time, and always be kind.’”
It was that commitment to kindness and connection that has stuck with Maynard since the summer of 1973.
“I think, in that way, you know, people in New Hampshire can really recognize something in her,” Maynard said.
Beneath her flashy appearance was an authenticity – an unpretentious attitude toward life – paralleling the rugged, community-minded culture found in many corners of the Granite State. This was the grand irony of Parton’s dolled-up outer shell, Maynard explained.
For other New Hampshire natives who may be feeling the weight of Parton’s absence, Maynard recommends a lesser-known Parton tune from her album “Trio,” with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt: “Wildflowers.”
“I just went on a long hike on Crotched Mountain today with my daughter,” Maynard said. “And the wildflowers are out, it's not a cultivated garden. And [Dolly] was not a cultivated person. She was a wildflower.”
Help us celebrate Dolly’s musical legacy
Dolly’s music reached Granite Staters far beyond those early trips to New Hampshire.
After the news of her passing, NHPR staff and listeners sent in their all-time favorite Parton songs.
On Saturday, Aug. 29 from 6 to 8 p.m., NHPR’s live music show Saturday Request Live will feature some of those picks.
If you have a song you’d like to hear on the air, send in your request to music@nhpr.org or call in during the show at 603-513-7729.
