Dolly & Tim

Dolly & Tim
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August 28, 2026
Friday
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Hello friends!
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Please excuse the relative quiet here over the past few days. we have been primarily focusing on managing Lead Safe Mama, LLC’s legal matters. The good news is… we do have some amazing news to share (the Judge’s ruling on Wednesday — August 26, 2026). We have decided that the best way to share that update will be in a video or two, and we plan on recording those today and publishing them in the coming days, so please do stand by.
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Being present to the losses of Tim Curry and Dolly Parton has not helped my focus much of course. If you want to share, please comment below with your favorite quote or memory from either Dolly or Tim (or Frank as it were!) They were each a big influence on my life – in different ways – as I am sure is the case with so many of you.
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Some of my first drawings (when I started doing more advanced figurative drawings when I was maybe 10 years old) were of Dolly. I used to draw her in her different outfits and spent hours upon hours on making her hair and face just right — trying to perfect the sketches. I think I must have seen her first on Johnny Carson when I was about seven years old, and was inspired by her grace, kindness, humor, talent and beauty.
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Tim Curry and Rocky Horror were also a significant part of my life from very early on — Rocky Horror was a primary inspiration for my work in off-off-Broadway costume design in New York (c. 1987/88/89), and also for all of the costume design I have done for friends and family — and especially for my children over the years — including my recent work choosing pieces for my sons’ musical performances now that they are adults (if you have seen my sons’ work as the musical performers for The Boston She Party burlesque show you know what I am referring to!)!
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My mother saw Rocky Horror in London when I was young (c. 1977) and brought home the record album, which I played constantly. I probably had all of the words memorized before I was nine years old! When I was older (in College in the 1980s) I lived near the Waverly theater and went to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show (at midnight with my friends) more times than I can remember. While I never had the opportunity to meet Tim, meeting Susan Sarandon a few years ago at an advocacy event was a highlight of my life.
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Both Tim and Dolly have been significant inspirations for me in my artistic and performance journey and in turn they also inspired and entertained my children (through their music and film and tv performances and also with their brilliant voice acting for so many children’s shows).
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To see each of these brilliant icons pass in the way they did (Dolly with cancer, and Tim after more than a decade of health challenges following a stroke and paralysis), strengthens my resolve to continue doing the work we do here at Lead Safe Mama, LLC — work which hopefully influences people’s health for the better, in whatever small ways it can.
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Stay safe out there folks. Stay healthy.
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Thank you for being part of our community.
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Tamara Elise Rubin
& The Lead Safe Mama Team