Among My Klediments

by June Carter Cash

"Klediment is mountain language for anything that is precious and has earned a right to be a part of things close to you," says Jun Carter Cash as she begins her delightful autobiography. "In these pages I want to share with you some things which are precious to me, my loved ones and special moments, my hard times and my good times" And share she does. From her earliest childhood memories in the mountains of Virginia... to her ambition and success as a comedienne and country music performer... to her life with husband Johnny Cash and their seven children. Woven throughout her personal story are treasured photographs and her own homespun poetry. June's heritage from her father Ezra and her mother Maybelle Carter - one of the most beloved figures in country music - is a living part of the American legend. Because of this, June Carter Cash is a fascinating combination of down-home country girl and famous entertainer. While she has performed for presidents and queens and mingled with those who make the headlines, she is first a dedicated Christian wife and mother. Warm, witty, and intensely honest, June is just about everything you'd look for in a good friend. Now she invites you to pour a cup of tea and relax with this book. And you'll be certain she is sitting across the table from you as she shares herself in this album of her klediments.

Genres: Music, Biography Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography

152 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Valerie June Carter Cash was a singer, songwriter, actress and comedian and was a member of the Carter Family, and the second wife of singer Johnny Cash. She played the guitar, banjo, and autoharp.

Reviews

[Tim Armstrong · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was interesting enough. There wasn't a lot of ground covered here. June doesn't elaborate much on things (her two marriages previous to Cash each garner no more than a sentence). It was full of poems and pictures which made it a very quick read. I was excited to reads it but ultimately I am left wanting more.

[Bren fall in love with the sea. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mom has always loved Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash so I gifted her with this book and I read some (not all) of it. It was an honor to read and I loved June's writing and reading about both her and Johnny Cash. Highly recommended.

[Kristy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it a lot. June Carter has an interesting story apart from being married to Johnny Cash. It is written in her own voice, as if she’s talking to you.

[Booklover · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know if I would enjoy this book, but I ended up liking it very much! Sometimes it can be tedious or boring hearing somebody talk about themselves and their life, but June Carter is such a character that she makes even the mundane details of her life hilarious.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I actually wondered if the Carter family were a bunch of mountain hicks, and to find out that they were actually highly cultured even if they were poor.. made me feel ashamed that I ever feared they could be hillbillies. Not that it devalues them if they were, but it does help me relate to them better. They were good Christian people, we need more people like them on this Earth.

I will say, June is maybe not as honest about some of her darker sins as Johnny is. Her "rededication to her faith" and her looking back at her life, lamenting how many years in her early life she wasn't living for God... That might be the closest we get to the truth of what happened in the affair between her and Johnny Cash. And what Vivian Liberto told. I also think her admission that she felt "like the ugliest woman alive" after her first divorce, might be a clue to a vulnerability that could explain how she fell into a entanglement with the man.
Christians were very harsh and judgmental of June in her lifetime for her failed marriages. I get the feeling June was afraid to open up about things she did along the way that were wrong, that were hurtful. Not that it's any of our business, I just say that of the two of them I think Johnny was more honest about his stumblings in life. It's easy when you're unhappy, surrounded by creeping drug use and exhausted by the show deadlines to let men adore you, whether they're married or not. I do feel June was afraid to admit how much she slipped up.

I have to say, the more I learn about June from herself and from others, the more I admire her! How fun to see that some scenes of Walk the Line did happen, such as the tractor accident at Johnny's House in Nashville and June being convinced to stay to help him. Interesting June credited her father Ezra for giving her the strength to stand by Cash in the early days, I had always wondered how a pretty, young June had such strength to tolerate him. I also respected her beyond belief hearing her story of how she left Hollywood after getting propositioned or worse by a new York Hollywood producer. I wondered why her Hollywood career abruptly stopped, and I was so proud of June that she didn't stoop to their level and lose her principles. It had to have taken great courage.

And now, having read the Man who Carried Cash by Julie Chadwick, the picture of June I have is very complex but even with it I still think of her as a good woman.

June Carter Cash was a rare woman, funny, charming, had a spirit like very few. I'm going to look for her when I get to heaven. I felt like I was reading a book about myself, with her yearning to see more of the world and finding out at the end of her life that it wasn't all that great as what she had in that simple mountain life in Virginia. She was a great woman.

[Nowell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think what I liked best in this short autobiography was June Carter's use of poems and lyrics.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book and will read it again! Touches my heart and roots!

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An intimate look into the life of a First Lady of country music. A must read.