Thanks Damion, I just realize that Richard Tomlin is accessible still. I might see if he'll comment on Dottie. She is truly a major figure. I love the Wordsworthian scene of how she began to write songs (as a girl) found in her husband Buck's biography of her:

"Once while sitting beside the stream deep in reverie, a feeling she had not previously experienced came upon her. She began to sing a song that she heard from within herself."

I have to credit Lilie Mae with some career smarts. Lily Tomlin could've been a much larger star if she'd remained closeted and drag queenified. In the Netflix show "Grace and Frankie" she's playing a straight women in hippie drag, with a lot of queer subtext.