Linda Rae Johnson has taken her childhood memories, southern fried them and serves them up in a complex narrative that walks us down the paths of her childhood. She evokes the bittersweet humor of a small Louisiana town in the late 50's and early 60's as seen through a child's eyes. The vignettes are embellished where names and events have faded from her memory and to protect the innocent and not shame the guilty. The stories are voiced by "Linda Rae" from age nine to thirteen, the sassy know-it-all personification of Ms. Johnson's reflections. They are depicted in tones of innocence tainted by darkness, but kept alive by her offbeat humor.

LOOK FOR LINDA RAE'S STORIES ON CD On Sale beginning at Artspace on June 9, 2001

Peanut visiting his girls in Louisiana, summer of 1956 FAMILY PHOTO E-mail: raewriter@aol.com

Ms. Johnson credits her first summer in 1997 at the Nimrod Writers Retreat in Bath County Virginia, where she wrote "Monopoly at Twelve," as the beginning of her "Ouachita Girl" series, now totaling eighteen vignettes. In the time since, she has enjoyed reading and performing her stories throughout Virginia. In November 1997 she won first place in the semifinals at the Open Stage Theater competition in Richmond. She performed these serio-comic monologues for two weekends in November 1998 at Windy River Winery and was a featured reader at Borders Books and Music that year. In June of this year, Ms. Johnson will give her third annual performance at Artspace Gallery where she is a member. She was also an interviewed guest on WCVE Public Radio's "Gallery" with John Porter. In April of last year, she appeared at Roanoke's Mill Mountain Theater where she shared the stage with two other Virginia storytellers. She was also part of the "Arts Unite" benefit show at the Barksdale Theater in September. Ms. Johnson especially enjoyed her second engagement at the Greenbrier Resort during the 200 Christmas holiday. Two of her stories have been published in the Allegheny/Bath County literary journal, "Lumina." Her writings and performances have been covered in Richmond Magazine, Style Weekly and Punchline.