What has cartoonist Jimmy (Arlo & Janis) Johnson’s ex-wife, Rheta Grimsley Johnson, been up to? That’s the subject of her new book, Poor Man’s Provence: Finding Myself in Cajun Louisiana. Rheta is the author of the only authorized biography of Charles M. Schulz published in his lifetime.
For over a decade, syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson has been spending several months a year in southwest Louisiana, deep in the heart of Cajun country. Rheta fell in love with the place, bought a second home, and set in planting doomed azaleas and deep roots. She has found an assortment of beautiful people right on the edge of the Atchafalaya Swamp.
These days, much is labeled Cajun that is not, and the popularity of the unique culture’s food, songs, and dance has been a mixed blessing. Poor Man’s Provence helps define what’s what through lively characters and stories. The book is both personal odyssey and good reporting, a travelogue and a memoir, funny and frank.
I assume she and Jimmy and still are good terms. Boy, can I relate to that book title! When I came to central PA, it was major culture shock for me! (State College doesn’t count, as it is a huge college town). In Mifflin County, where I live, most people don’t go on to college, and it is extremely rural. OK, REDNECK.
Here I was, fresh from working with Nobel laureates at MIT, working for an optometrist (my ex) at a store in front of an aging steel mill (where my future second husband worked). I learned quickly that most people here are born, grow up, and die here. I never talk about my past, because they just stare. Many don’t even KNOW about MIT or Harvard! I also had to get used to living and working along side the Amish and Mennonites. They don’t shower! 😉