Hey, Write Your Own Book

Last fall, Tim Parrish published Fear and What Follows: The Violent Education of a Christian Racist. Parrish’s memoir is an unparalleled story of the complex roots of southern, urban, working-class racism and white flight, as well as a story of family, love, and the possibility of redemption.

The problem with writing a memoir is that the author opens himself to criticism from readers who don’t agree with your interpretation or memory of certain events. This is doubly true of family members mentioned within the book, as the video below shows.

At a reading attended by Parrish’s friends and family, including Tim’s brother, there was some discrepancy over the details of Tim’s recounting of a family story. But Tim handles his heckling brother by doling out some straightforward advice: If you don’t like what's in my book, write your own.


Hey, Write Your Own Book from University Press of Mississippi on Vimeo.

Fear and What Follows is now available in paperback.