It was the French bread that did it

• By GREG LANGLEY
• Books editor
• Published: May 11, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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When you write a book about the place where you live, you almost inevitably rub some folks the wrong way. That’s not been the case for Rheta Grimsley Johnson, at least so far.

“I talked to everybody I wrote about,” Johnson said in a phone interview. “Nobody has taken issue, even Mr. Doug — Big Ears. Most everybody has loved the attention.”

That’s partly a testament to Johnson’s skill as a writer, partly an affirmation of her affection for the Cajuns she writes about and partly proof of the tolerant nature of her subjects.

“So far so good,” Johnson laughs. She’s coming to the Acadian Cultural Center, 501 Fisher Road in Lafayette, for a signing 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, May 17. She’ll be at Bayou Booksellers, 201A W. Thomas Street in Hammond, at 5 p.m. Thursday, May 22. She’ll also have Louisiana signings in Alexandria and Pineville, May 13. Johnson said she’s already had signings in North Alabama and Memphis, Tenn. She was surprised by the turnouts.

“You would not believe the Cajun connections everywhere,” she said. “There are a lot of transplants in Memphis and even in Florence, Ala.”

One man at an Alabama signing turned up wearing the school colors of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Johnson said. She’s gratified that the book has received a warm reception. While she has a long history writing newspaper columns, she wasn’t sure her skills would translate well into the longer form.

“Even if I write a letter, I seem to write in 750-word increments,” she said. And one or two of the chapters in the book actually had their origins in columns she had published. “I forgot that I can be more expansive (in a book),” she said with a laugh.

It was a good experience, she said. “I’m really quite excited about trying another book.” It probably won’t be about Louisiana, she said. But you can bet at least some of the book will be written here. Johnson, who is a native of Colquitt, Ga., and her husband, Don, still have that little house they bought in Henderson nearly 13 years ago.

“We’re pretty much there full-time, from Thanksgiving to January,” she said. The cooking and the companionship keeps them coming back. They can’t get that anywhere else, especially not the French bread.

“There’s not any decent bread north of Jackson, Miss.,” Johnson said.