Johnny Cash’s Son Remembers the Late Legend as a ‘Dedicated Father’ and Mentor: ‘Miss You, Still’ (Exclusive)

John Carter Cash remembers American legend Johnny Cash, the icon we called the Man in Black – the man he called his father.

Cash Sr., a contemporary of rock and roll pioneers like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis, passed away 20 years ago on September 12, 2003 at the age of 71. However, his legacy lives on. It lives on in country music classics like “I Walk the Line” and “Ring of Fire.” And it lives on in his five children, including daughter Rosanne Cash, 68, a music star in her own right, and son John Carter, 53, a singer-songwriter and musician.

John Carter is the only son of Johnny and his second wife, June Carter Cash, who died six months before Johnny. He’s making sure his father’s legacy as one of country music’s greatest singer-songwriters continues to shine through a new book Johnny Cash: Life in Verse (out now), which brings together 125 Man in Black compositions and tells the stories behind them. It also includes rare photographs and previously unseen writings.

Johnny Cash and his son John Carter Cash in the mid-70s.

John R. revokes the trust in cash

The words are a window into the soul of a man John Carter, father of five, loves and admires – as a fan, as a fellow musician, as his son. In this exclusive essay for PEOPLE, he talks about his father’s enormous influence on him — and on all of us.

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Dad,

Since you passed away, I see you every day. Modern times have given a blessing. The Internet has become a lifeline to history, media and society, and if I wonder how you felt about something, I just have to “log in”. The whole world is at my fingertips. I’m just “looking”. It’s easy to find your interviews on radio, print, film and television. Johnny Cash is everywhere, but honestly, you guys have moved on.

Nashville has boomed in a way I don’t think you expected. Although your presence remains in the Country Music Hall of Fame — where, in its hallowed rotunda, your plaque reminds visitors of your membership — much has changed.

Johnny Cash performing with his son John Carter Cash in 1994.

Rob Verhorst/Redferns

Now, newly built skyscrapers overwhelm the once modest skyline. “Nashvegas” is not the same city we knew years ago. Hundreds of thousands of tourists walk the streets of the city every year. There are billboards everywhere, many of them displaying advertisements for museums, restaurants and advertisements with the names of celebrities.

Perhaps the most dominant is wearing your character, leading fans to the Johnny Cash museum. It opened in 2011, before the cranes went up. Yes, our hometown is alive in unknown and astonishing ways, but surely your legacy started this boom. Yet it’s still a place where dreams can come true, and the heart of Nashville, thankfully, endures. Your music and soul are very much alive in that heart.

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Thirty minutes north of the city center, I often walk the land that was once yours. Your presence is there. When I record music in the Cash Cabin studio, your spirit continues to inspire the musicians, technicians and my creativity.

When I sit quietly and read a spiritual book, perhaps Kahlil Gibran, Og Mandin or the Bible, I remember your voice. I read the words and remember them as your own teachings. Now these records give me faith in myself and remind me to try to be good to everyone, like you and mom always were. You taught me if we want, we are all teachers and students. I am still your student and thank you. But I miss you, still.

You’ve lived several lives in your 71 years, but they all boil down to two: first, John R, Cash, devoted father, husband and family mentor; and second, Johnny Cash. I love and always have loved them both, and I never lose sight of the other, but how do I stay in touch with you, Dad – with who you really were? I did this by studying your lyrics, poetry and other writings.

Ravenous

You chose love and left behind your voice and your words, Now, they breathe beauty not only into the lives of your children and family, but also to the people who love and respect you around the world. I’m not the only person who thinks it’s important to get to know you better. And so, with a lot of help, I put it together Johnny Cash: Life in Verse. The book collects 60 years of your writing, from “Hey Porter” and “Big River” to “The Man Comes Around” and “Like the 309.” Studying your writings has helped me to remember you more clearly, even better than before you left this world.

Dad, although you are very much alive in many ways, I feel that I have come closest to you through your words, I continue to read, listen and learn. And I appreciate you more and more every day.

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Source: HIS Education