Starkville to pardon former jailbird Johnny Cash

Johnny Cash did the Starkville, Miss. police two favors after they arrested him in 1965 for public inebriation. Number one, he immortalized them in “Starkville City Jail,” tunefully laying out the defense he was simply “pickin’ flowers” at the time of the bust. Two, he gave the officers free tickets to his next in-town concert.

On the first weekend in November, Starkville will bring closure to the incident with an amiable gesture of its own by holding a “Pickin’ Flowers Festival,” intended to pardon and commemorate the Man in Black, who passed away four years ago last Wednesday. Headlined by Cash’s former son-in-law Marty Stuart and his band, the Fabulous Superlatives, the festival will also include a charity auction at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house Cash performed and partied at the night of his arrest.

“Cash lived a hard life through his drinking and drug abuse, but he learned from it and transcended,” first-time festival organizer Robbie Ward told Paste last month. “Before it was all over, he was showing people that it’s alright if you make mistakes in life. It’s just important to recognize your mistakes.”

A research writer for Mississippi State University, Ward has secured the blessing of Cash’s family and friends, including his former manager Lou Robin and bass player Marshall Grant, who plans to speak at the event about his book I Was There When it Happened: My Life With Johnny Cash.

For Saturday’s main event, government officials and a local minister will return to the spot Cash was arrested to issue symbolic pardons and a short sermon. The following morning, festival attendees are invited to a community church service spotlighting Cash’s favorite gospel music.

“Certainly, you can be redeemed with or without religion,” Ward said, adding that Cash just so happened to be a devoted Christian. “That’s really what the festival is all about, redemption on a number of levels. We all might need a little forgiveness ourselves.”

Click the links below for a full schedule of events.

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