Lynne Tolley: A Taste of Lynchburg

12:32 p.m. June 18, 2025

HALEY PAYNE ROBERTS
MCO Senior Staff Writer

When folks around Lynchburg hear Lynne Tolley’s name, they think of a true Southern lady. She checks all the boxes and is the epitome of the good-natured Southern image.

From listening to her dialect to her ability to cook up true Southern cuisine, Lynne is the very definition of the Lynchburg lady. When welcomed into her spaces – be it while she was the former proprietress at Miss Mary Bobo’s or as the host of her home – you are wholly welcomed and feel as if you have known her your entire life.

Lynne has roots that run deep in Lynchburg, connecting her to our most well-known icon. However, this is far from her only claim to fame. Lynne has created quite the name for herself through her career and personality, reaching folks throughout the Jack Daniel’s brand and beyond.

I can attest to Lynne’s living legacy. She was my dear grandmother’s neighbor and soon established herself as our family friend. Now, she brings my grandmother treats, and we still see her quite often.

I visited Lynne in her home, and it’s hard to articulate just how rich her stories are. Let me tell you, folks, this is as real as it gets.

The Life of a Legend

“I tell people I was born in Lynchburg, and I’m going to die here because I already have my plot at the cemetery, which is right beside Jack Daniel. My great grandmother was Jack Daniel’s sister, so there’s a little relationship there that helped me with my job,” Lynne said.

Her journey would take a detour from Lynchburg as she entered her teenage and adult years. “I went to high school in Mississippi at a girls’ school in Vicksburg. After four years, I was ready to find some boys!” Lynne said.

“I went to the University of Georgia, which was just big enough. It wasn’t anywhere near as big as UTK, which I wasn’t too interested in anyways. I stayed at Georgia for four years and really loved it.”

However, it wouldn’t be long until she grew into the Lynne Tolley we now know.

“I had several jobs. One was as a nutritionist for Head Start in 10 counties in southern Middle Tennessee,” she said. “I traveled around and made sure the schools were serving nutritional meals to the children. After a year and a half, I thought that I was never going to meet anybody, just calling on people at schools, and I was ready to start having fun!” Lynne said.

“I went to the Jack Daniel’s marketing office, which was in Nashville at the time. They were willing to give me a job as a sort of hospitality person. I would meet people, like our distributors from France, at the airport, drive them to Lynchburg, and take them to dinner that night. That was a lot of fun. I met a lot of people that way.”

Later, Lynne would cement herself as the head of Miss Mary Bobo’s. “Then, Miss Mary Bobo died in 1983, and the distillery decided to buy the boarding house. That was a perfect job for me,” she said.

“I told the distillery that I didn’t really want to move to Lynchburg; I wanted to stay in Nashville. I’d gotten into the big city and wanted to stay there. They said, ‘No, no, you’ve got to go back to Lynchburg,’” Lynne said.

“Of course, I moved in with my mother, which was perfect, and went back and forth to Nashville as needed. Not only did Jack want me to be the manager of Miss Mary’s, but they also
wanted me to be a brand ambassador and travel.”

As a result of these experiences, Lynne accumulated quite a resume, having interacted with and visited people from all over the world.

“I toured 36 countries for Jack Daniel’s, which was great. I loved it! I’m such a food person, and I couldn’t wait to try all the different foods,” she said.

“I was the manager of Miss Mary Bobo’s for almost thirty-some years. It would be real fun for somebody to come in from, say, Portland, Oregon, and say, ‘What is okra?’ It was fun explaining Southern foods to people who’d never had it.

“I’ve also been a taster at the distillery for over 25 years, and I love that. I tell people that I have the best job in the world because I get paid to drink Jack Daniel’s.”

As one could imagine, Lynne’s time at Jack Daniel’s has allowed her to accumulate quite an array of tales. She shared just a few with me, though I know there are an endless number to be told.

A Family Claim to Fame

As introductions go, Lynne has one that can’t be beat for a lady from Lynchburg.

“When I would travel for Jack Daniel’s, I would usually do presentations for retailers or distributors or for Jack Daniel’s dinners that Brown-Forman sales reps had set up. I would start off everything with ‘My name is Lynne Tolley, and my claim to fame is that I am related to someone everyone in the world has heard of,’ ” she said.

“It’s really fun to be related to Jack because, no matter where I was, whether it was Australia or Slovakia, they had heard of Jack Daniel. Did you know that Jack Daniel's is still the number one selling whiskey in the world? Isn’t that something? All made in little Lynchburg, Tennessee. I just love that, so I would talk about that, too.”

A Recipe for the Ages

We all know Jack’s range of brands, but did you know that one of them was created by Lynne?

“We have several brands of whiskey, now more than ever – the rye, the Fire, the Honey, and all of those. We have one called Winter Jack, which is seasonal. It’s only on the market in cold weather because you serve it warm in a mug. It’s really nice. Well, that’s my recipe!” she said.

“They called me up from Germany and said that they needed a hot drink with Jack Daniel’s to promote in the wintertime. It’s cold in Germany, and they have the Christmas markets. I said, ‘Well, let me work on it, and I’ll let you know.’ We worked it out, and I sent them several recipes. We changed it a bit, but it’s my recipe. I’ve got an award from Brown-Forman for coming up with Winter Jack.”

Her Southern Accents

If you know Lynne, you’re familiar with her drawl that is so common in Lynchburg. Though it’s mundane to us, that accent isn’t so recognizable outside of the county.

“When I was traveling for the distillery, I did a lot of cooking demonstrations to promote the cookbooks. I had to go to Cincinnati, Ohio, of all places, and I was by myself. I’d go to the grocery store and buy all my groceries to prepare them the next day at the TV station,” she said.

“So I went to the store to buy something in the deli. A young lady helped me that was very nice, and when I got ready to leave, I thanked her. And she said, ‘Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?’ I said, ‘Well, okay.’ She said, ‘What nationality are you?’ I was flabbergasted! I said, ‘What nationality do you think I am?’ She said, ‘Australian.’ Oh my!”

Lynne Tolley is the cover feature of the June 18, 2025, edition of the Moore County Observer. To read the complete article, pick up a copy of the newspaper at Real Deal Designs, Velma's Candy, Woodards Market & Deli, The Ice Cream Shoppe-Prince's Parlor, or Lynchburg Gifts and More.