Town to pardon the Man in Black 40 years after arrest

MORE than 40 years after singer Johnny Cash, who died in 2003, was arrested in Starkville, residents of the US town plan a festival in his honour that will include a ceremonial pardoning for the “Man in Black”.

The Johnny Cash Flower Pickin’ Festival is scheduled for November 2-4 with some events on the campus of Mississippi State University, said Robbie Ward, executive director of the festival.

Mr Ward started talking to residents two years ago about a festival — and a pardon for Cash. He gathered 500 signatures on a petition.

On August 7 the Starkville Board of Aldermen approved the closing of downtown city streets for pedestrian traffic during the festival. The board also agreed to serve as a sponsor of the festival, meaning the city will donate fire, police, electric and sanitation services for the festival, Ward said.

The Board of Aldermen authorised Starkville Municipal Court Judge William Eshee to review the symbolic, posthumous pardon of Cash. Mr Eshee promised a fair and impartial review of the pardon, Mr Ward said.

There are different versions of what happened on the night of May 11, 1965, in Starkville, Mississippi. One told by Cash himself in his autobiography is that he was arrested by police while walking from his hotel to a grocery store after attending a party on the Mississippi State campus.

Another version is that Cash was arrested while picking flowers in someone’s yard.

Cash admitted in his book, “I was screaming, cussing and kicking at the cell door all night long until I finally broke my big toe. At 8am the next morning they let me out when they knew I was sober.”

Cash wrote a song about the ordeal called 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 website www.JohnnyCash.com.

Mr 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 recognising that when people make mistakes what matters is what they learn from those mistakes,” Mr Ward said.