From the courtroom to the footlights, John Parker has spent a lifetime discovering the power of a good story.

What do criminal justice, club feet, John Adams, Atticus Finch, and small-town Mississippi theater have in common?

John Parker, of course.

In this episode of Stories from Cold Springs, Doc Beam sits down with John Parker, veteran actor, former president of Hattiesburg Civic Light Opera, and champion of community theater, to explore a life that has taken him from Laurel to Hattiesburg to Sumrall, Mississippi, with plenty of unexpected turns along the way.

Born with bilateral club feet, John discovered confidence through music before pursuing a career in criminal justice and law enforcement. But the stage kept calling, and what began as a creative outlet grew into a lifelong passion for storytelling, character, and the magic of live performance.

John recalls some of his most memorable roles, including John Adams in 1776, a performance that sent him digging into American history, and Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, where lengthy courtroom speeches demanded more than memorization. They demanded conviction. (Pun intended!)

Along the way, he shares lessons from New York theater workshops, the art of “acting while singing,” and why understanding a character's motivations can transform an ordinary performance into something unforgettable.

But perhaps John's greatest contribution isn't a role he's played. It's helping create opportunities for others to discover the stage.

From seasoned performers to first-time actors, John believes Mississippi's small towns are filled with “closet actors” just waiting for someone to open the curtain.

It's a conversation about resilience, reinvention, the craft of acting, and the extraordinary things that happen when a community comes together to put on a show.

Because sometimes the most important role you play is helping someone else find theirs.

Subscribe, share with a friend who loves radio, and leave a review to help more listeners find these stories. Your voice keeps this community strong.

Links to Stephen's incredible novels:

The Death Letter
The Bondage of Innocents

Roots & Roads | Cary Hudson, Part One

A town can look quiet until you learn what happened behind the storefronts and down the back roads.

In Part One of our conversation with Mississippi musician and songwriter Cary Hudson, we travel from his childhood in Sumrall through the people, places, and stories that helped shape a creative life. Cary remembers growing up around family businesses, church, the school band room, and a small town with a colorful history of its own—experiences that would eventually find their way into his songwriting.

But music wasn't immediately the plan. Cary earned a degree in psychology and went to work in Mississippi's mental health system before a solo backpacking trip through Western Europe gave him enough distance from home to recognize what he really wanted: a life built around the guitar.

That decision eventually led him to Oxford, Mississippi, and one of the most remarkable creative communities in the South. Cary takes us inside the late-'80s and early-'90s Oxford scene, where bands rehearsed in living rooms, visiting musicians crashed on couches, writers lived next door, and one introduction could lead somewhere no one expected. From The Hilltops and the beginnings of Blue Mountain with Laurie Stirratt to a record deal and relentless touring, Cary remembers a time when music, literature, and friendship seemed to share the same few streets.

The Hilltop house is still there. John Stirratt recently shared a photo of the house—and some remarkable memories of the musicians, writers, and characters who passed through its orbit. Read the Instagram post and see the place where so much of that musical camaraderie unfolded, with writer Barry Hannah living right next door.

And the writers were every bit as important as the musicians. Cary remembers Barry Hannah, Square Books, and his friendship with writer Larry Brown—including afternoons spent riding the back roads of Lafayette County in Brown's old pickup, experiences that sometimes felt less like real life than stepping inside one of Brown's stories.

Through it all runs a theme Cary returns to again and again: place matters. The towns we come from, the roads we travel, and the people we meet along the way have a way of becoming part of the stories we eventually tell.

Join us for Roots & Roads, Part One of our conversation with Cary Hudson—and come back for Part Two as the story continues.

Subscribe, share with a friend who loves radio, and leave a review to help more listeners find these stories. Your voice keeps this community strong.

Links to Stephen's incredible novels:

The Death Letter
The Bondage of Innocents

What do you do when the dream you've chased for years isn't unfolding the way you imagined? For Lana Larson, the answer wasn't giving up—it was giving herself permission to reinvent the dream.

In this episode of Stories from Cold Springs, Lana traces an extraordinary journey from Hattiesburg, Mississippi, to the stages of the University of Southern Mississippi, summer stock musicals, and the audition rooms of Los Angeles, where every actor carried a headshot, a résumé, and hope. She reflects on the exhilaration of pursuing a career in film and television, the uncertainty of waiting for a break, and the quiet realization that dreams sometimes need a new direction rather than a final goodbye.

That realization led Lana to law school, where she balanced the demands of earning her degree while raising three young children. Her second act became a distinguished legal career that includes federal court service and complex construction litigation. Along the way, she discovered that the skills she honed as a performer—listening closely, understanding people, and telling compelling stories—proved just as valuable in the courtroom as they ever had on stage.

But some dreams never disappear. More than three decades after stepping away from performing, Lana found herself back under the lights, rediscovering the joy that first captured her heart as a young actress. Her story is a reminder that reinvention doesn't erase the past—it builds upon it.

Whether you're standing at a crossroads, considering a career change, or wondering if it's too late to return to something you once loved, Lana's journey offers wisdom, encouragement, and the quiet confidence to believe that life's second act can be every bit as meaningful as the first.

If this conversation resonates with you, subscribe to Stories from Cold Springs, share the episode with someone navigating their own turning point, and leave a review to help others discover these remarkable stories.

Subscribe, share with a friend who loves radio, and leave a review to help more listeners find these stories. Your voice keeps this community strong.

Links to Stephen's incredible novels:

The Death Letter
The Bondage of Innocents