The lyrics of over 500 songs written by a songwriting and performing icon are contained in the new book, “The Complete Johnny Cash: Lyrics from a Lifetime of Songwriting.”

John Carter Cash, the son of Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter, will discuss that book and his parents, along with author Mark Stielper and Chicago radio legend Terri Hemmert from WXRT, at 7 p.m. Oct. 30 in Hammerschmidt Memorial Chapel at Elmhurst University.

Tickets to the event at 190 Prospect Ave. in Elmhurst are $10; free to Elmhurst University students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Attendees are encouraged to wear black to honor Johnny Cash, who was known as the Man in Black.

John Carter Cash, who is an award-winning record producer, singer-songwriter, film producer, and director, was involved in the decision-making for the volume about his father.

“We knew we wanted all my father’s creations to be included, but how far do we go?” Cash said. “Do we include his cowrites? Do we include versions that he created from some old traditional standards? Those were questions that I answered.” Some songs from both of those categories are included.

In addition, 70-some of Cash’s father’s unreleased writings were included.

Like the songs that were released, those unreleased songs are pure poetry offering a peek into the singer-songwriter’s ups and downs at various periods of his life.

The book includes biographical sections to explain what was going on in Johnny Cash’s life in the various periods of his songwriting. Cash didn’t contribute to those sections because he trusts author Stielper, he said. The author has been studying and writing about Johnny Cash for nearly 40 years.

Cash said that he wanted this book to show his father’s writing skill. “He was so many things,” Cash said. “He was a great performer, he was an artist, he was a singer. But he was a poet. He was a wonderful writer.”

In terms of his father’s writing, it would “come and go,” Cash explained. “There would be times in his life where he wrote a lot and there would be times where he didn’t write at all. There would be times where he didn’t pick up a pen for three or four months.”

Johnny Cash is joined by his wife, June Carter, and son, John, 6, at the dedication of a star honoring him in the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles on March 10, 1976. (AP Photo/File)

Cash noted that he is similar to his father in that way, because there are even some years that he didn’t write songs.

Johnny Cash collaborated with his wife June Carter on a number of songs. “It was fun to them and it was connection over God or over poetry,” Cash said. “They would write songs in a form of something that they loved. It was quite common for them to be writing together.”

Cash said his parents were very supportive of his career.

“I wanted to be a writer/producer from when I was 28 years old,” Cash said. “That’s the only thing I wanted to do. They let me follow my own path.” That included when he had a heavy metal band as a teenager.

“We would come to my bedroom and turn the music up extremely loud and my parents would sit down the hall in the living room and turn their television louder so they could hear it,” Cash recalled.

Cash is looking forward to speaking about his father as a songwriter at Elmhurst College on Oct. 30. “My father was a wonderful songwriter and I’m glad to share that with the world—his brilliance and genius,” Cash said.

John Carter Cash will speak about his father’s life and songwriting during a discussion of the new book, “The Complete Johnny Cash: Lyrics from a Lifetime of Songwriting,” along with author Mark Stielper and Terri Hemmert of WXRT, on Oct. 30 at Elmhurst University. (David McClister)

Elmhurst graduate Terri Hemmert hadn’t received her copy of the book a couple of weeks before the event, but she was already looking forward to talking about Johnny Cash.

“In my hometown of Piqua, Ohio, when I grew up, I was not a big fan of country and western music,” Hemmert said. “But I saw (Johnny Cash) on TV and I thought, ‘Ooh, he’s different.’”

In college and beyond, Hemmert got more attracted to his music.

“Then I found out about his life and it was quite inspirational,” she said. “He was a remarkable man so I’m thrilled to be able to do this. It’s my way of paying homage to him because he was more than just a singer. He stood up for people in prisons and Native Americans. He was an incredible guy.”

Hemmert said she admired his honesty through his ups and downs.

She is also a fan of his wife June Carter because she liked the Carter Family, with which June Carter performed. “She was the funny one in the group,” Hemmert said.

Hemmert called Johnny Cash and June Carter “people I admired my whole life even though I was never a big country fan. They went beyond their genre and they were both really great people.”

Tickets and information are at elmhurst.edu/event/johnny-cash-lyrics-and-legacy.

Myrna Petlicki is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/10/21/johnny-cash-terri-hemmert-elmhurst/