by Lynn Oldshue | Apr 5, 2026 | A Southern Soul
“My name is Vinson, but everyone calls me Duke. That came from mom. When I played football, it was never Vinson Flowers. It was always Duke Flowers. Even out here, I’m Duke.” I started out parking cars for Topeka’s music festivals, dancing, and talking with everyone....
by Lynn Oldshue | Apr 4, 2026 | A Southern Soul
“I always tell folks my roots are in a place called Eutaw, Alabama, but I was born and raised in Mobile. I’m named after my grandmother—Tempey Daisy Hamilton—and I’m the granddaughter of a sharecropper. My mom was the baby of thirteen kids. She was too young to pick...
by Lynn Oldshue | Mar 29, 2026 | A Southern Soul
“We got out of Central Vietnam on barges during the Vietnam War. Dad was a South Vietnamese officer who worked closely with the Americans on special missions, so we had to leave. All I knew as a child was that he was a secret serviceman, our hero. The most challenging...
by Lynn Oldshue | Mar 15, 2026 | A Southern Soul
“I grew up in a sweet little place in the suburbs of Atlanta. I didn’t have many dreams or aspirations growing up. Everything was provided for me, so there was no incentive or vision for what I needed to do. But I was an only child and had my parents’...
by Lynn Oldshue | Mar 8, 2026 | A Southern Soul
“I grew up in Davenport, Iowa, which is on the Mississippi River. My dad was a welder. He welded tanks in the Second World War. John Deere tractors came from Moline, across the river. I was born in 1934. I had three uncles in World War II. Two were in Germany; they...
by Lynn Oldshue | Feb 22, 2026 | A Southern Soul
“I turned 44 today. Back in 2020, I almost lost my life to multiple pulmonary embolisms. I had clots in both lungs and a large clot from my right ankle to my right knee. My son and mother rushed me to the hospital, and the first thing I was told was, ‘We are not sure...
