Dolly Parton died peacefully in Nashville, Tennessee, on Tuesday, at 80, Al Jazeera reports. No cause was given.

She was born in a log cabin in Tennessee, one of twelve children, to a father who could not read. Her grandfather was a preacher and gave her a place to perform in church. At thirteen she sang at the Grand Ole Opry, introduced by Johnny Cash.

The songs

She wrote hundreds of them, among them Jolene, 9 to 5 and Coat of Many Colours. She had 55 Grammy nominations and ten wins, the third-most nominated woman in the history of the awards, and entered the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999. She appeared in the 1980 film of 9 to 5 with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

The thing worth noting about that list is that she wrote them. Country music has produced many great performers of other people's material, and Parton was a songwriter first, in a genre and an era that did not particularly expect women to be.

Jolene is a song addressed to a rival, asking her not to take a man, and it never once insults her. Coat of Many Colours is about being mocked at school for wearing rags her mother had sewn from scraps. Both are about poverty and dignity, written by someone who knew the first at first hand.

The books

She founded the Imagination Library, which posts free books to children, beginning in Tennessee.

The connection to her father, who struggled to read, has been made often, and it is the right one to make. It is also the part of her life least likely to be remembered in the tributes, and the part that touched the most people who never bought a record.

What was said

Her nephew, Bryan Seaver, said: "Dolly also opened doors for generations of singers, songwriters, musicians, and dreamers." Kyle Young, chief executive of the Country Music Hall of Fame, said: "She shared her fortunes for the good of all of us."

President Donald Trump ordered flags flown at half-staff for a week.

What we could not establish

We could not establish the cause of death, her exact date of birth, the year she signed her first recording contract, the number of children the Imagination Library has reached, or funeral arrangements. We verified this account from a single publication, and several other outlets we attempted to read were unreachable.