The University of Tennessee Press Announces the Publication of “Howdy! The Minnie Pearl Story” by Mary Ellen Pethel and Don Cusic

The University of Tennessee Press Announces the Publication of “Howdy! The Minnie Pearl Story” by Mary Ellen Pethel and Don Cusic

The University of Tennessee Press is proud to announce the forthcoming publication of “Howdy! TheMinnie Pearl Story” by Mary Ellen Pethel and Don Cusic, available in hardcover and ebook formats on Friday, October 3, 2025.

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 and stayed with Mattie Burden, who became the inspiration for the iconic persona Minnie Pearl—a w