by Rick Rofihe
Ever since that concert in the rink back then, my much-older brother Barry Rofihe likes to ask "Who in this room shared a drink with Johnny Cash?"
The story goes, he was in the front row at Johnny's show at the rink, drinking rum straight from the bottle with his friends, and they passed it to Johnny who took a swig and passed it back. (Johnny's daughter Roseanne Cash says the re-tellings of her father's life are often exaggerated, which may be her way of reminding us to keep our "eyes wide open all the time".)
As for Donald Sutherland, it's turned out that he and I have each lived in the same two communities for much of both of our lives, the second of those places being New York City. Back in Bridgewater when I was a toddler and he—"Donnie"—was a tall teenager, he used to ride me around on his shoulders. I'd like to see him try it now.
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Before I was Rick, I was "Ricky".
Before he was Donald Sutherland, he was "Donnie".
But Johnny Cash, probably he was always Johnny....
I went to college in the town where JC, properly pickled, was prosecuted for pilfering a petunia from someone's yard at 3 am. (spent the night in jail, he did).
Up until last year they had a Flower Pickin' Festival in remembrance of the blessed event.
That Flower-Pickin' tradition must be revived!
If only he had shot a man while at it...
Fun reminiscence.
A lot of fun.
Oh I liked this. And I like Matt's point, above, about how this man's "crime" started a festival. Awesome. Cash was the best and this is nice. -- * Q (I like Keifer and Donald too, yeah.)
That's Kiefer.
Love the layers of this story. My grandmother once told me that Bob Wills used to flirt with her sister Nan. *
It's the honesty in the voice, the faithfulness of it that makes this flash story stand out. Nice!
Fun memoir piece. Nice sense of voice. Love the question that also serves as the title.
Thanks, Christian, Susan, Jane, Quenby, Cherise, Bill, Matt -- I truly appreciate your responses.
-Rick