Who was Dolly Parton's Jolene?

There are certain songs that once you hear seem to follow you through your life. There are probably few people who can ignore the haunting melodies of Dolly Parton's "Jolene". It never gets old for me and I have always wondered who the woman in the song was.

My friend just introduced me to an NPR interview with Parton where she talks about how she wrote this song. It's not what you'll expect for sure.

Check it out below. I have included a Dolly's auto-biography and and a DVD she made performing with friends in my store if you're interested. It goes without saying that I think Dolly is the bee's knees and I hope I can find lots of interviews with her, because she is always entertaining and wonderful.