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

When I was a little girl, Dad told me about Alma. He announced, out of the blue, that his first wife committed suicide.

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...

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.

Reading through the reports from The Eastern Carolina Industrial Training School for Boys, I noticed a dramatic change in tone after the...

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.

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.

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.

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.

The Primitive Baptists were somewhat like the people in the "Footloose" movie. No dancing, musical instruments, or music for entertainment.