Some people may not recognize the name Ronny Cox. If you were to search him and see his numerous credits for television and screen, he becomes immediately recognizable after his breakout role was as the character Drew in the 1972 film “Deliverance”. Since then, he has amassed an amazing resume, however, not many are aware of his talent behind the scene as a singer and songwriter.
Through the efforts of Dr. Jerry Holt, Assistant Professor of English at Purdue North Central, Mr. Cox put on a wonderful performance Wednesday evening at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts.
“In the courses that I teach, I try to bring in various actors/actresses that are not household names for the students to learn from. We have had a wide variety of personalities come in and speak to the students, and this became a challenge of mine when I gave the book to my students.”
“I used social media to contact Ronny, and after various conversations, we were able to schedule him to come to the area.”
The event was a small gathering at LCA, but a sold out one nonetheless. As the audience walked into the performance area, Ronny greeted each person with a smile and handshake.
“We have a partnership with PNC and once Dr. Holt was able to get Ronny to come to town, they needed a venue for the performance. We were really excited to have him come here and tell stories and perform,” said Amy Navardauskas, Marketing Director for LCA.
Mr. Cox is a great storyteller as he shared his memories of growing up in New Mexico with his siblings. He then went on to talk about his beloved wife Mary, who passed away just over seven years ago. One of his final touching stories was about his granddaughter who was born premature, and how she has grown into a strong twelve year old with a no-nonsense attitude. All of his stories rolled into his music, which as he described, “really has no specific genre”.
Amy Dyra and Tom Hornick, from Michigan City, were excited to read that Ronny was coming into town and jumped at the opportunity to get tickets.
“I have goosebumps”, said Tom. “I brought my guitar and hope that he will sign it for me after the show.”
Lucky for Tom, Mr. Cox was very accommodating and signed his guitar.
The LCA has several events coming up, and one of them is “First Friday” on May 2nd. Each event will have a different theme, and the first one is a poetry slam.