My appreciation for country legend Johnny Cash’s music is no secret to my wife. Before we married, I once e-mailed Jodi a love note that ended with a few verses from one of my favorite Man in Black standards:

“You’ve got a way to keep me on your side

You give me cause for love that I can’t hide

For you I know I’d even gladly turn the tide

Because you’re mine, I walk the line … “

Sure, I’ve spent years honing whatever talents I may have as a writer — but I didn’t think I could express what I felt as simply and honestly as Cash did in that haunting song.

Jodi felt hesitant about hitting me with the bad news when I awoke Friday morning. “I hate to tell you this,” she said, “but Johnny Cash died.”

Reports said the Man in Black succumbed to complications from diabetes that resulted in respiratory failure. He was released from the hospital Wednesday after being treated for the same illness that caused him to miss last month’s MTV Video Music Awards. Talented to the end, Cash had been nominated in seven categories, winning one, for his video of the Trent Reznor-penned “Hurt.” The video shows Cash reflecting on his life and long career as mortality looms.

I switched on the television Friday morning and saw “Hurt” play on MTV. Maybe another generation had latched on to Cash before his death because he offered something not readily available on MTV, CMT or VH-1. Cash didn’t dance, and had the talent to write and play his own music in a way that made you glad you listened.

I had never met Cash, never got to see him in concert and only knew him through news stories and his music. But his death saddened me, for the reasons Jodi pointed out. That strong, baritone voice with the smooth, Southern accent is gone — and there will never be another Johnny Cash.

The singer/songwriter’s obituary mentioned that he had battled a disease of the nervous system, autonomic neuropathy and pneumonia in recent years. A recent appearance on “Late Night with Larry King” illustrated how frail the Man in Black was, how “bent and old” he was, like the father in “A Boy Named Sue.”

Cash wasn’t in good health, to be sure.

But I think what killed him was a broken heart.

The Man in Black was used to hardship, having battled drug addiction and the perils of fame. Born Feb. 26, 1932, in Kingsland, Ark., during the Great Depression, Cash’s family was so poor that he almost starved to death as an infant. At 12, Cash lost his brother and hero, Jack, to an accident on the family farm.

June Carter Cash, who can be seen in “Hurt” watching her husband with a mixture of pride and concern, died in May.

In a recent interview, singer Roseanne Cash said her father intimated recently that, content with what awaited him in the afterlife, he wasn’t scared of death.

Maybe the passing of his beloved wife was just too much. The Man in Black didn’t want to continue his journey on earth alone.

I don’t consider people in the entertainment business to be heroes, nor do I attribute virtue to anyone just because they’re famous. But what I can say is that I love Johnny Cash’s music.



To contact City Editor Heath Griner, please call 244-3400; or, e-mail him at heath.griner@gaflnews.com.