Dolly Parton

On Wednesday afternoon, a few short hours before Sarah Palin was to take the stage for her big speech, Jeff Greenfield, the senior political correspondent for CBS News, sized up the Alaskan Governor.

His mind turned to cinema. "I'm trying to think of all the cultural examples about feisty women from nowhere who show up and beat the guys," said Mr. Greenfield. He did a mental IMDB. There was Judy Holliday in "The Solid Gold Cadillac." Sally Field in "Norma Rae." Geena Davis in "Commander in Chief." Dolly Parton in "Nine to Five."

Ms. Palin was an archetype, thought Mr. Greenfield. She was the plucky American underdog.  read more »

When reports emerged a couple of weeks ago that Dolly Parton had to postpone an upcoming tour due to back pain caused by her enormous breasts, it seemed that the Parton sideshow would once again overshadow the real Parton, the singer who bravely, and successfully, tackled bluegrass a decade ago when the country establishment had basically shunned her. (No Jack White necessary for her comeback!) Parton, however, is too versatile an artist with too strong a personalty to be defined by any one thing, including a humongous set of knockers. (Pamela Anderson, she is not.) For starters, she's a rather sound businesswoman: Ms. Parton plans on releasing her newest album, "Backwoods Barbie," on her own label (Dolly Records, of course), which she created for this very task. It may be the "first mainstream country record Dolly has done in 17 years," as her manager put it, but Ms. Parton has learned some new tricks, both musically and professionally. Rest those "puppies," hon, you're gonna be busy!  read more »