Spring Break
City to honor, pardon legend Johnny Cash with festival
By: Kathy Hanrahan
Issue date: 9/5/07 Section: News
JACKSON, Miss. - More than 40 years after the late singer Johnny Cash was arrested in Starkville, residents of the east Mississippi town plan a festival in his honor that will include a ceremonial pardoning for the "Man in Black."
The Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival is scheduled for Nov. 2-4 with some events on the campus of Mississippi State University, said Robbie Ward, executive director of the festival.
Ward, a research writer at MSU, started talking to residents two years ago about a festival _ and a pardon for Cash. He gathered 500 signatures on a petition and headed up a committee of 25 residents, including a local pastor, alderman and a bar owner.
"A lot of people would laugh at me and act like I was kind of crazy," Ward said.
"I think it would be fun to have John honored even though it started out as kind of a negative reason," said Lou Robin, Cash's manager for 31 years, now handles business affairs for the Johnny Cash Estate. Cash died in 2003.
There are different versions of what happened the night of May 11, 1965, in Starkville.
One told by Cash himself in his autobiography is that he was arrested by police while walking from his motel to a grocery store after attending a party at a fraternity house on the Mississippi State campus.
Another version is that Cash was arrested while picking flowers in someone's yard.
Cash said in his book, "I was screaming, cussing and kicking at the cell door all night long until I finally broke my big toe. At 8 a.m. the next morning they let me out when they knew I was sober."
Cash wrote a song about the ordeal calling it, "Starkville City Jail," and later performed it for the inmates at San Quentin Prison.
"Starkville is now known by fans by virtue (of the song)," said Bill Miller, founder of the Web site http://www.JohnnyCash.com.
Ward said the message of the Starkville festival will focus on redemption, something he feels Cash exemplified. "We believe the pardon is not about his arrest in Starkville, it's recognizing that when people make mistakes what matters is what they learn from those mistakes," Ward said.
The Johnny Cash Flower Pickin' Festival is scheduled for Nov. 2-4 with some events on the campus of Mississippi State University, said Robbie Ward, executive director of the festival.
Ward, a research writer at MSU, started talking to residents two years ago about a festival _ and a pardon for Cash. He gathered 500 signatures on a petition and headed up a committee of 25 residents, including a local pastor, alderman and a bar owner.
"A lot of people would laugh at me and act like I was kind of crazy," Ward said.
"I think it would be fun to have John honored even though it started out as kind of a negative reason," said Lou Robin, Cash's manager for 31 years, now handles business affairs for the Johnny Cash Estate. Cash died in 2003.
There are different versions of what happened the night of May 11, 1965, in Starkville.
One told by Cash himself in his autobiography is that he was arrested by police while walking from his motel to a grocery store after attending a party at a fraternity house on the Mississippi State campus.
Another version is that Cash was arrested while picking flowers in someone's yard.
Cash said in his book, "I was screaming, cussing and kicking at the cell door all night long until I finally broke my big toe. At 8 a.m. the next morning they let me out when they knew I was sober."
Cash wrote a song about the ordeal calling it, "Starkville City Jail," and later performed it for the inmates at San Quentin Prison.
"Starkville is now known by fans by virtue (of the song)," said Bill Miller, founder of the Web site http://www.JohnnyCash.com.
Ward said the message of the Starkville festival will focus on redemption, something he feels Cash exemplified. "We believe the pardon is not about his arrest in Starkville, it's recognizing that when people make mistakes what matters is what they learn from those mistakes," Ward said.
Be sure to include your name, major, and class year. Submissions without this information are subject to deletion.
By submitting a comment, you agree to thebatt.com's Terms of Use.
You may also send a Mail Call to The Battalion at mailcall@thebatt.com