This image was lost some time after publication, but you can still view it here.

So this morning we learned that Warren St. John's non-relative Ron St. John is suing the Times reporter for putting a photo of Ron's RV, nicknamed "The Toad," on the cover of his Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer paperback and, in some doing, somehow behaved in ways that "are atrocious and utterly intolerable in civilized society." Among the several fun things about this case — the complaint itself, from which we quoted this morning; the fact that Ron's lawyer is named "Cracker" Waldrop — is Ron's personal website, Toadstuff.com, which features prominently on its front page the book cover that has so inflamed his delicate sensibilities.

On the main index page, we clicked on "How did the Toad get on the cover of the book?" We were ready for a tale of avarice and betrayal, intolerable behavior and uncivilized goings-on. This is what we got:

In the beginning of the 1999 season, I had "THE TOAD" ready for another great year of ALABAMA FOOTBALL tailgating. I met Warren at our first game, the LA.TECH game in Birmingham's Legion Field. He introduced himself and said he was planning to write a book about football tailgating....

Afterwards, when I would see Warren, he would tell me how the book was coming along and promised that one day it would be published. We still thought he wanted free beer, but it was good to see him. When the book came out, I was glad to see it do so well and we talked about it several times.

Then one day, Warren calls me and tells me a paperback edition is in order. He also said that they wanted to change the cover. He said that they wanted to put a motor home on the cover and that the motor home they wanted was "THE TOAD".

For this, I am very honored. On top of that, then he tells me that "THE TOAD" could go on the road to help promote the book. I look forward to the challenge and to the adventure that this experience will provide.

Hey "Cracker"? Think you missed some due diligence.

Toadstuff.com
Earlier: 'Rammer Jammer' Gets Warren St. John Sued