Part 22: Making A Brand New Start of It, New York, New York
If I had to point to a time when my father had some prestige and success, it would've been the years from 1944-1948. He was young, talented,
Part 20: WWll, Chicago, and Those Wacky Lectures
Dad was in his early 20s when the war broke out, healthy as a horse, tall, handsome, articulate. So why didn't he serve in that war?
Part 19: This is the Blog Where I Attempt to List All of Riley Shepard's Pen Names...
Since masks are on everyone's mind around here, what better time to attempt to list all the names my father used throughout his life.
Part 18: Riley's Journal Fragments: "There is Suffering and Misery Everywhere Throughout America."
The most productive nation in the world, yet unable to properly feed, clothe, and shelter a third of its population. --- Riley Shepard 1938
Part 17: Riley's Early 20s and His Journal: A Look Back
“They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by...
Part 16: Women, a Nudist Lawyer, Colonel Tom Parker, and Hillbillies.
My Dad introduced me to Colonel Tom Parker, telling Parker that it was my 16th birthday."Oh? Sweet sixteen and never been kissed?"
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.