Lynn Oldshue

Kilauea volcano erupting on 3/11/25

Young voting rights marchers recall the days surrounding "bloody Sunday" in Selma. 2025 includes three key anniversaries in the Alabama civil rights movement. This December will mark seventy years since the Montgomery Bus Boycott. 2025 is also the sixtieth anniversary of the shootin...

This weekend is the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday in Selma and the many other area marches that sparked the 1965 Voting Rights Bill. Here’s my story about two Foot Soldiers who were teenagers when they marched for their parents to have the right to vote.

www.apr.org/news/2025-03...

Joe Cain Day Mobile,AL

I have been at rock bottom and know how it feels to be homeless • Our Southern Souls “I grew up on the prison grounds at Parchman Prison in Mississippi. My dad was a warden, and my mom was a nurse. A few trusted female inmates kept my brothers, sisters, and me while our parents worked...

We are helping nurses, a lawyer, a retired fireman, a former police officer. All living in their cars. One man can’t work because he needs a hip replacement. He can’t have the surgery because he lives in his car and can’t recover there. Stories change what homelessness looks like in our community.

Story research. Vietnamese new year at St. Monica Church.

Almost nine inches of snow. It was a fun day watching us make history. #southalabama #snowday

Historic snow on the Gulf Coast-most snow we’ve had in over 50 years. I’ll wait until Spring to go outside again. #fairhopeal

I was an Uber driver and saw the needs of the riders when I picked them up • Our Southern Souls “I see needs and have to do something about them. I’ve had my grandson since he was nine months old. My daughter was struggling. I thought she would get her son back once she got herself together. She...

“I was an Uber driver and saw the needs of the riders when I picked them up…Some would have me drop them off at the side of the road or a park, leaving them and all of their things. Some were elderly or veterans with small checks but no place to go. I had to do something.”

Allena #OurSouthernSouls

This is the 10th year of Our Southern Souls, and I want to save and share stories that are part of our history and culture before they disappear. Send me your suggestions for seniors over 90 (or close to it), veterans or those who served in the Vietnam War, and folks who had brushes with Elvis.

We're Getting Married in May • Our Southern Souls Kendarius: We met in college at the University of West Alabama. Christina: I had seen him on campus but had never crossed paths until we went on a school camping trip. There were scorpions in the guys...

Kendarius: We met in college at the University of West Alabama.

Christina: I had seen him on campus but had never crossed paths until we went on a school camping trip. There were scorpions in the guys’ cabin, so he stayed in our cabin. We had great conversations that night.

Story continues below.

If I was any better, I’d be twins • Our Southern Souls

“People ask what they can do for me. I'll tell you what you can do: laugh every day and smile. Listen to great music and sing. Love as much as you can.”

Harrison Not Ford #OurSouthernSouls

Sunset in the Valley of Fire State Park. #nevada

Last photos of 2024. Peace and love in the Winn Dixie parking lot.

The Bible is clear about doing what to do for the needy, the poor, and those who can't help themselves. We're first responders. • Our Southern Souls “I work in the roofing industry.  Zach Lambert, a good friend working with me, went to the City of Refuge rehabilitation program. He asked if he could return to work once he completed the program. Soo...

“Transformations start from showers and love. We bring clothes, and our church provides meals. These people have been overlooked for too long. We're the change in our community that we want to see. “

Shawn Littles, Co-founder of Showered By The Holy Spirit.

Fall comes between Christmas and New Years.

Thank you to everyone who bought a Souls book, came to a signing, or just read a story. It was a fun book season. Merry Christmas!!!!

We’ve been married for 26 years. Now we’re both police chiefs in small towns in Mississippi. • Our Southern Souls Quidell: “We’ve been married for 26 years. Now we’re both police chiefs in small towns in Mississippi. We made these Christmas decorations and are putting them in front of the Eupora Community Center....

“We’ve been married for 26 years. Now we’re both police chiefs in small towns in Mississippi. We made these Christmas decorations and are putting them in front of the Eupora Community Center. I want it to look pretty when people pull up and encourage kids to have a good time.”

Grief doesn't go away as time goes on, but it gets softer • Our Southern Souls “Skylar was my first baby. I was 24. She was born three months early. When I first saw her, I almost fell to my knees. She was in an incubator and on a high-frequency oscillating ventilator. It was su...

“It's healing for me to help give what I needed and didn't have, but the grief never goes away. Each holiday and birthday is a reminder of Skylar. But I also have two healthy children. My daughter is six–she’s a firecracker. My laughs like Skylar and has her dimples. That’s healing, too.”
Toya Blu

This may be the only time in my life to be on a top reads list, but it means even more happening in Mississippi.

#ithappenedonce

Thank you Lemuria Bookstore and Book Mart and Cafe.

Our Southern Souls, Vol. II is one of the “Top Books for the Holidays” in Mississippi.

Thank you Carolyn Abadie for having the Souls book at Book Mart & Cafe in Starkville and for being so kind to me.

God Told Me I Still Have Work To Do • Our Southern Souls “I grew up in Greater Ruth Chapel A.M.E. Church in Prichard and lived next door to the church–just six steps away. After the service, I would go under the big tree in my yard, reciting the sermon I ha...

“Did I retire too soon? God told me I still have work to do, and the love of kids drew me back. I started tutoring at Hope Community Center four afternoons a week, four hours a day. The kids call me ‘Rev’ or ‘Coach,’ and there is nothing like that 4:00 hug when they walk in.” Rev. Willie Burns

Join us tomorrow from 3-4:30 p.m. at The Haunted Book Shop to talk about the new Souls book and the connection of stories. I’m excited about just having some time to chat with the exquisite Kelly Finley.

Canton, MS

I made Barbeque for 36 years with fire, smoke, and love • Our Southern Souls “I grew up with my grandparents in the country. They were sharecroppers. I tried to help them pick cotton: more like picking at it and putting it in my grandmother’s sack. Half of the time, she was pu...

“I came to Mobile on the back of a truck in the third grade–barefoot and couldn’t read. I go from that point to today, thanking God for how far I’ve come. I watched my grandparents kill hogs and make ribs. I made Saucy Q Bar B Que for 36 years.”

oursouthernsouls.com/i-made-barbe...