One of the world’s most famous and most loved has personalities has sung the praises of Dunfermline’s newly acquired ‘City Status’ conferred last year on the ancient capital of Scotland.
From her home in Nashville Tennessee, country singing legend Dolly Parton sent the following message: "I want to congratulate Dunfermline on becoming Scotland’s newest city! Scotland holds a special place in my heart and I wish I could be there in person to celebrate this wonderful recognition and our connection through Andrew Carnegie!”
Director of Visit Dunfermline Billy George explained how the message to Dunfermline came about.
"On hearing of Dolly Parton receiving the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy in New York last October, and how proud she was of her Scottish roots, we reached out to her from Visit Dunfermline," he said.
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"The President of Dolly's wonderful charity 'The Dollywood Foundation', Jeff Conyers, was planning a visit to the UK from Tennessee, and we invited him to make a detour and come to Dunfermline to see for himself the home of one of the world’s greatest ever philanthropists, Andrew Carnegie."
Jeff brought a letter with him from Dolly in which she noted similarities between the work of Carnegie and herself: "I was honoured and humbled to receive the Carnegie Medal of Philanthropy this past October.
"This was truly special to me, as I feel that in some ways Andrew Carnegie and I are kindred spirits.
"He gave the gift of reading to almost 3000 communities by enabling libraries to be built around the world. My Imagination Library reaches 3000 communities across the world and gives a free book every month to over two million children.
"It is very special to know that we are building on his wonderful legacy."
Billy was delighted to receive such a glowing endorsement of Dunfermline from such an influential person.
“We are always looking at ways to market and promote Dunfermline and we were delighted to hear Dolly was aware of our new City Status and is keen to work with us," he said. "Her charity has donated over 197 million books so far which is truly remarkable.
"We were humbled that she took the time to write to us and we are grateful to Jeff for delivering her letter in person. We will help in any way we can to bring her project to Dunfermline”
Dolly outlined her vision further in her letter, saying: “I'd love for Dunfermline to become part of our Imagination Library Community this year. It would be a great way to celebrate your new city status and help your youngest citizens to dream big and make the world a better place in their own special way.
"Together we can put wings on those dreams! I wish you success, love and happiness for all your days ahead.”
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