Don’t You Know Who I Am?

Vestal Goodman
December 13, 1929 - December 27, 2003

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(I will forgo the use of third person until the end of the post…)
On Friday, October 10, 1980 (yes, 1980) I was at the Tri-Cities Airport in Blountville, Tennessee around 7:00 am waiting to see President Jimmy Carter.
I had just turned 12 years old a few weeks prior and was so excited to see a […]

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JohnnyBerry™ has lived in Central Florida for a long time and although Orlando might seem new, there’s a little bit of history here.
Granted, most of our architectural history is slowly disappearing, but JohnnyBerry™ is not talking about that. JohnnyBerry™ is talking about some of the television personalities that grace (or graced) the television airwaves […]

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On this beautiful Sunday morning and every other Sunday morning, the “her” in question is Vestal Goodman, the Queen of Gospel Music (Southern).
Most of you will not know who this woman was, but JohnnyBerry™ does.
JohnnyBerry™ grew up listening to her sing.
In person, at concerts in churches and school gymnasiums.
On recordings.
On the radio.
And every Sunday morning […]

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JohnnyBerry™ grew-up, for the most part, in a cold climate.
Well, from 1968 to 1971 JohnnyBerry™ lived in East Stone Gap, Virginia and experienced cold weather.  Then we moved to Lake County, Florida in 1971 and lived there until June 1977.
The weather wasn’t too bad in Florida.  It was a little “nipply” from time to time but […]

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NASHVILLE — Porter Wagoner, who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, has been released from the hospital and moved to hospice care on Friday, a spokeswoman for the Grand Ole Opry said.
Wagoner, 80, a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1957, was hospitalized Oct. 15. Hospice workers will now do what they can to […]

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Glenn Ford
(May 1, 1916 to August 30, 2006)
 
Sorry I am a few weeks late with this tribute.

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As I am still recuperating and working from home, I mentioned to BetaMike in a telephone conversation this morning that I was going to have a “tomato sandwich” for lunch.
I admit I was a little shocked that he did not know what I was talking about. After all he grew up in a rural […]

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Way back in 1981 when I was thirteen years-old I started watching “Falcon Crest” on CBS.  There I was every Friday night at 10:00 pm camped out in front of the television to watch Jane Wyman as Angela Channing.
Of course, one of the reasons I liked Jane Wyman was because she had sense enough to […]

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I have been called racist all my life.
Always by white people.
Never has an African-American or someone of color ever called me racist.
Now, I have been called a “Cracker-Ass-Cracker” by an African-American, but he meant that as a joke, and I accepted it as a joke.
So please understand that in sharing this God-awful discovery with you, […]

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Here we are on the back of the train that took you from the parking lot to the park. I am the one in the red handkerchief (not an ascot like some pretentious people would wear). I am being held by Mother, and precious Vicky is with our Uncle Eddie, my Aunt Juanita’s husband.
Uncle Eddie […]

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My goodness-gracious!
What a wonderful time was had by all at last night’s outing. I was graciously invited to share a lovely evening with Jeff “33″ Lindberg and friends.
Old friends after all of these years, old friends like a rare piece of gold, just old friends, isn’t it great to grow old, old friends what a […]

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I am not sure if the Easter “spirit” has moved me to think of certain song lyrics to be like poetry, but I heard “He Will Hide Me” for the first time last night while laying in the bed.I do not remember downloading it, and Michael certainly would not have.
But I laid in the in […]

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Had a wonderful time at “Taste” visiting with Jeff Lindberg, his BF the lovely Dan, and a bunch of other tallish folks.
Yes, it was windy and my hair blew away (By the way if you found a grayish hairpiece laying in the middle of Edgewater Drive on Saturday night, please let me know).

In the photo […]

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I am not a big sports fan or anything, but I grew-up not too far from Marshall University. In fact, I fly into the Huntington Airport every time I visit home.
This story has always been around me, and I have met a lot of folks over the years that were impacted by the tragedy depicted […]

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