Hi all,
Remember the San Antonio RiverWalk bench where Johnny carved “Johnny Loves Vivian” in the seat…. the one that the City of San Antonio promised to give to Vivian, and then changed their minds and locked it away in a warehouse? Well, Tuesday night in my own tribute to Johnny and Viv, I defaced ANOTHER public sitting place (with the exact same sentiment - “JOHNNY LOVES VIVIAN”). Let me explain…

Night before last, I had the pleasure of spending the evening at a (terrific!) bookstore in Blytheville Arkansas called “That Bookstore in Blytheville” (John Grisham’s favorite bookstore, by the way) to talk about and sign “I Walked the Line.”

Among the attendees was the mayor of Dyess, the town where Johnny grew up (and it’s pronounced “Dice”… not “Dy-ess” I’m told)… as well as several of Johnny’s fans and people working hard to preserve Johnny’s history in the area, and also women just plain interested in Vivian’s story. Anyway, we all had a wonderful discussion of the book, of Johnny and Vivian, of Johnny’s long career, his growing up in “DICE”… and also got to talking about the San Antonio bench. At the end of the evening, with everyone’s support and encouragement (including the Mayor!) with a magic marker, I wrote in all CAPS on the front of one of their chairs, “JOHNNY LOVES VIVIAN.” I don’t think THIS ONE will be locked away!