It is being reported that Dolly Parton’s posthumous memoir will talk about her unconventional marriage to Carl Thomas Dean.
For those unaware, the late singer-songwriter and actress and the late businessman crossed paths outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1964, when she was just 18 years old. The couple eloped in Ringgold, Georgia, on Memorial Day in 1966 and remained married for six decades until Dean passed away on March 3, 2025.
Notably, Parton once stated that they both have committed to being faithful with each other despite having an “open and free” relationship.
An insider told Radar Online, “Dolly and Carl had a marriage that fascinated people for decades, largely because it was so different from what the public expected of a major celebrity – and it was effectively an ’emotionally open’ relationship.”
“Even though the pair of them didn’t have physical affairs, they both agreed they were allowed to flirt and form serious emotional bonds with other people outside of their marriage. Dolly was on the road a lot, whereas Carl liked to stay at home, so this arrangement suited them both.”
“There were aspects of their relationship that remained deeply private, and her memoir is set to explore those boundaries, which will provide a fascinating insight into how they managed to stay together for so many years,” the source claimed.
It is pertinent to mention that Dolly Parton, who passed away at the age of 80 after a brief battle with cancer on August 25, 2026, was working secretly on her memoir, which has neither a title nor a release date yet.
