Saul Holiff, former manager of Johnny Cash, dies, interesting quotes inside

Promoter Saul Holiff, former manager of country legend Johnny Cash, dies
NANAIMO, B.C. (CP) — Former concert promoter Saul Holiff, who managed Johnny Cash’s career in the 1960s and 70s from an apartment in London, Ont., has died. He was 80.
Holiff, who also managed Tommy Hunter and the Statler Brothers, left Cash in 1973, when he thought his career had peaked.
“I was guilty for underestimating him repeatedly,” he admitted in 2003, after Cash’s recording and video of the Nine Inch Nails song Hurt received accolades and numerous award nominations just before his death.
He also recalled that Cash “didn’t start out to be Johnny Cash. Sometimes he sang dreadfully, if he had too much to drink or too many pills. We were treated with casual indifference for much of the time for a long time.”
But his material evolved, Holiff said, “and suddenly he was another American hero.”
Holiff grew up in London, Ont., had a fruit and vegetable business and dabbled in acting before becoming a concert promoter and manager.
In 1970, RPM weekly magazine awarded Holiff a special award as the Canadian music industry’s man of the year.
A year later, after representing the Tommy Hunter show for five years, Holiff severed his ties with the hugely popular CBC show and the star, considered the top TV personality in Canada at the time.
He said his association with Cash forced him to be out of the country most of the time and that he could no longer devote the required time and attention to Hunter and the show.
In his late 40s, Holiff retired from show business and studied at the University of Victoria, eventually earning a BA in history.
He died at his home in Nanaimo, B.C., on March 17. His health had declined in recent years.
He is survived by his wife Barbara and two sons, Jonathan and Joshua.