NOW AVAILABLE – “Howdy! The Minnie Pearl Story”
Tells the story of the witty, trail blazing “Queen of Country Comedy”
NASHVILLE, TN — The performer known as Minnie Pearl was born Sarah Ophelia Colley in 1912 and grew up in Centerville, Tennessee. During the Great Depression, Sarah moved to Nashville to study theater at the Ward-Belmont School. After graduating, she joined a touring theater company and performed throughout the Southeast. It was on the road, in 1936, that she met Mattie Burden, who became the inspiration for the iconic persona Minnie Pearl — a witty country girl known for her signature greeting and straw hat with a dangling price tag. Years later, Minnie Pearl would be crowned the “Queen of Country Comedy” at the Grand Ole Opry, share the stage with Johnny Cash and Patsy Cline, and blaze a trail for generations of female performers who followed in her footsteps.
With Howdy! The Minnie Pearl Story, authors Dr. Mary Ellen Pethel and Dr. Don Cusic have delivered the definitive biography of this country legend. Rich with 155 historic photographs and drawing from archives and interviews with those who knew her, Howdy! covers the many chapters of Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon’s life, capturing both her enduring humor and the woman behind the laughter. Sources include Dolly Parton, who says, “Minnie was more than a big laugh. She was a big heart, and I will always love her,” and k. d. lang, who notes, “Minnie understood where country music needed to go and who it needed to embrace. She was a visionary.”
Mary Ellen Pethel and Don Cusic’s book is the 18th in UT Press’s Charles K. Wolfe Music Series, edited by Ted Olson. The series was launched in honor of the late Charles K. Wolfe (1943–2006), whose pioneering work in the study of American vernacular music brought a deepened understanding of a wide range of American music to a worldwide audience. In recognition of Dr. Wolfe’s approach to music scholarship, the series includes books that investigate genres of folk and popular music as broadly as possible. Previously released titles in the series include Waylon: A Biography and The Story of the Dulcimer.
Howdy! The Minnie Pearl Story is available for purchase at utpress.org and wherever books are sold.