By Steve Steiner

Managing editor

ssteiner@elkintribune.com

It was the noon hour and Twenty One & Main, usually open for the evening’s repast, had practically every table in the downstairs dining area filled. 

With one exception, every person at a table was female.

According to restaurant co-owner Emily Morrison, the people were members of a book club, and they were on hand for a book signing by first-time novelist Todd Johnson.

He was on hand to autograph copies of “The Sweet By and By.”

The occasion was, in part, a fundraising event for the Reeves Theater restoration project. It was also the first chapter in the fulfillment of a desire Morrison has had for nearly a year.

“I had been wanting to start author luncheons since opening the restaurant,” she said. 

Prior to opening Twenty One & Main, Morrison had been in public relations. Through her connections in that field, she contacted a person she knew in the publishing industry who connected her with Johnson.

Morrison looked around the room and toward the front door every time another person entered.

“We’re really excited,” she said. “Hopefully, in June, we’ll have the courtyard open.”

For Johnson, the occasion of the book signing was also a happy one. Born in Raleigh and raised in Charlotte, for nearly the past 20 years he had lived up north, beginning with New Haven, Conn., where he attended Yale University as a divinity school major. Afterwards, he lived in Manhattan, and now Litchfield, Conn.

“So this is a homecoming for me,” he said.

While in New York, he carved out a career as a musician, as a sessions player, which meant he played in recording studios. Of more recent note, Johnson was one of the producers of the Broadway musical “The Color Purple.”

Although “The Sweet By and By” is his first novel, Johnson said he has kept journals for many years. When “The Color Purple” opened, Johnson found he had time to begin writing.

His novel centers around five women who meet in a nursing home. Several are residents, one is an employee, another is the daughter of a resident and the fifth is a hairdresser.

Johnson said his novel is character-driven, not plot-driven.

“People have asked me, why a nursing home,” he said. “These women wouldn’t have met, otherwise.”

He admitted there have been comparisons to “Steel Magnolias,” “Fried Green Tomatoes” and “Driving Miss Daisy.” 

“All those are wonderful works that have touched millions of people,” Johnson said. “I can only be flattered.”

He would also be flattered if “The Sweet By and By” joins that pantheon

Future book signings

“I think this is really great we have a place to do this,” said Morrison. The next book signing, which will be in conjunction with Diana’s Bookstore, will be 11 a.m. - 1 p.m. on June 16. It will feature Patti Callahan Henry. Among her writings are “Driftwood Summer,” “Losing the Moon,” “The Art of Keeping Secrets” and others.

On the Internet

www.toddjohnsonbooks.com