Press Kit
Short Bio
Jason Parker is the fifth of seven children born to Wade and Sarah Parker. He is now retired from the legal system and resides with his wife Elizabeth, with whom he has been happily married since 1987. Jason and Elizabeth are the proud parents of three daughters.
Long Bio
Redhawk Publications, a division of Catawba Valley Community College, is pleased to announce the release of Prosecutor Boy, a compelling new memoir authored by Jason Parker, a retired attorney and former prosecutor for the State of North Carolina. This work marks Parker’s debut publication, offering a deeply personal and historically rich examination of a life shaped by the realities of the American justice system, as well as the complex realities of race in the South.
Prosecutor Boy narrates Parker’s trajectory from his formative years in a small town in Western North Carolina, during the periods of segregation and integration, to his academic pursuits at North Carolina State University in the 1970s, and, subsequently, through a distinguished legal career spanning decades in the courtrooms of North Carolina. Parker’s being the first Black attorney in his region is a significant achievement, one marked by both pride and persistence.
“I wanted to write the story I never saw growing up,” Parker says. “So many of my experiences—whether growing up in the South, being a Black student at a predominantly white university, or walking into a courtroom as the only person of color—are part of our shared American history. This book is my way of putting that truth on the record.”
Filled with encounters, Parker’s memoir offers readers a candid glimpse behind the scenes of the American legal system. “Writing this book was fun in many ways,” Parker reflects, “but it also forced me to confront difficult memories—especially the racism, both overt and subtle, that shaped my life and career.
A mix of coming-of-age story and professional retrospective, Prosecutor Boy resonates with readers from all walks of life, whether those familiar with small-town dynamics, the legal profession, or the legacy of race in America.
Attorney Jason Parker in the Catawba County Courthouse.
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Radio Interviews & Podcasts
Redhawk Publications Podcast — Listen to this lively conversation with Redhawk’s Patty Thompson & Richard Eller with Jason and editor Tom Rash recorded on Thursday, September 25th.
An Excerpt from Prosecutor Boy
Our new home wasn’t finished when we moved in during the winter of 1961. In fact, you could feel the cold wind blowing through the cracks in the walls. It was bitterly cold that winter. Fortunately, Pop installed two chimneys in the middle of the house that had outlets for pipe fittings on opposite sides. One side of a chimney was connected to the stove located in the living room, while the other side was connected to the adjacent boys’ room. The other chimney was connected to the girls’ room and the kitchen, which were adjacent to each other. The kids’ bedrooms and the living room each had its own stove and provided heat independently to those rooms. The wood stove in the kitchen was mainly used for cooking but also added warmth in the winter months.
Until my parents upgraded to electric baseboard heat several years later, every winter Daddy made a fire in each bedroom before we went to bed at night. Everyone should experience the comforting warmth of a wood stove. It was much better than electric heat. The main drawback was that the fire usually died out during the night, so it was always freezing cold when we woke up the next morning. The first thing Pop did every morning was start a fire in the living room stove. If we wanted to get dressed in a warm room in the winter months, we always ran to the living room.