How I convinced Chris Wallace to interview Dolly Parton

“Should I interview Dolly Parton?” 

I looked up from my desk to find Chris Wallace standing in my office.

This was not a particularly unusual occurrence, since Wallace’s office was next to mine, and we would sometimes pop in on each other to compare notes. I was the managing editor of Fox News’s D.C. bureau at the time, while Wallace hosted “Fox News Sunday.”

“Yes,” I replied without knowing further context. “You should absolutely interview her. She is nothing less than a national treasure.”

Wallace expressed surprise at my enthusiasm, saying I didn’t strike him as a country music aficionado.

“I’m not,” I replied. “It’s not about the genre. It’s about her songwriting.”

Wallace was known for hard-hitting interviews on policy and politics, so I worried that he might consider Dolly Parton a bit out of his lane. I decided to put on the full-court press.

“You have to interview her,” I blurted. “I honestly believe she’s one of the greatest songwriters America has ever produced.”

I stipulated that I was not an expert on songwriting or country music or even Dolly Parton. But of the dozen or so country songs I’ve ever downloaded (amid thousands of songs in other genres), all of them are by Dolly Parton.

“Not just made famous by Parton,” I emphasized to Wallace. “Actually written by her. I mean, you just cannot ignore the enormity of her songwriting.”

For starters, it is........

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