Part 15: Women, Sid Grauman, and Hillbillies.
In 1937 I went to California. I felt the need to explore new possibilities. Sid Grauman saw me perform at a theater and agreed to be my agen
Part 14: Alma Anderson, Riley’s First Wife’s Suicide
When I was a little girl, Dad told me about Alma. He announced, out of the blue, that his first wife committed suicide.
Part 13: A Wedding, A Short Con, and Drifting
Riley started this journal late in life, maybe in the 1980s. With some pages, he begins with his age, then he includes not only personal...
Part 11: Writers, Thinkers, & the Past is Never Dead
In the 1960s and early 70s, my father was writing a series of sex books under the pen name Zachary Quill. The books were classified as porn.
Part 10: Riley's Real Troubles Begin
Reading through the reports from The Eastern Carolina Industrial Training School for Boys, I noticed a dramatic change in tone after the...
Part Nine: "Looking For Good Christian Men Who Have a Strong Interest in Boys..."
I was nervous and had trouble focusing when I entered the Wilson Library to study the place where my Dad was sent when he was a kid.
Part Six: "I Often Wonder What Went Wrong..."
Years later, when my father died in 2009, I was contacted by Dave Sichak, who wanted to write up an obituary for a Hillbilly music website.
Part Five: My Father Put A Fake Name on My Birth Certificate & More Fact Checking.
I took a good look at my birth certificate. I wanted to see if my father put his real name down, Riley Shepard. He did not.
Part Four: The $10,000 Question and Riley's Detailed Journals
If I hadn't submitted my story to the Hidden Brain podcast, I don't think I would have ever been reunited my father's missing boxes again.
Part Three: Riley Shepard's Early Years & His Maternal Grandmother, Martha Tindal
The Primitive Baptists were somewhat like the people in the "Footloose" movie. No dancing, musical instruments, or music for entertainment.