The Ghost of Bud Parrott: a novel

A teen’s life is complicated.  Add an overworked dad, a distraught mom.Enter an old man from the wrong side of the tracks.He knows things.  He’s there when you need him. This happens to someone; it’s not a maybe thing.  People get hurt.  People die.  There’s a dad who loves his kid but works all the time.  When he doesn’t work, he drinks.  When he drinks he’s out of control.There’s a mom.  She knows dad is overworked, a good man carrying too much responsibility. The kid turns to the handy man to learn a man’s skills.  In the old man from the wrong side of the tracks, the kid finds unusual skills and terrible—but true—lessons.  He finds that his own safety comes at a cost to his unfortunate friend.  He finds growing up comes at a cost to himself.  This is the story of such a kid, told by himself after he has lived much of his life, come to terms with his parents’ weaknesses, and learned that seemingly insignificant people carry more pain than he can imagine, though he has already seen plenty.

Reader's Favorite

“A fine Southern novel, but much more than that, too; The Ghost of Bud Parrott is a racial-healing saga for the ages.”   ― Hon. Harry F. Barnes, U.S. District Judge, Western District of AR Reader's Favorite Book Award Winner In The Ghost of Bud Parrott, author Judson Hout has created a memorable glimpse into past Southern culture. Bud Parrot is a young Black man who has always worked in the cotton fields of Jackson County, Arkansas. He fashions a better life for himself, but he cannot do that in the South in which he lives. So, Bud travels to Birmingham, Alabama to seek his fortune in either a steel mill or a mine. Along the way, he is introduced to warm and caring strangers who teach him how to survive hobo style. When Bud reaches Birmingham at the age of 16 or 17 (he is not sure of his date of birth), he immediately obtains a job at an industrial mill and is invited to join the company Negro baseball team. Bud proves to be talented, both at work and at sports. He is soon noticed by a Northern sponsor who has already hired Satchel Paige for the newly-formed Pittsburgh team. Along with a new career and a new job, Bud befriends an elderly woman and her granddaughter who is the most beautiful woman Bud has ever met. They marry, have children and then, tragedy strikes. Bud leaves Pittsburgh, emotionally devastated and physically unmotivated. He goes back to his boyhood home in Arkansas, only to see that everything he knew and everyone he loved is gone. But, as fortune would have it, a White family named Wood takes to Bud, and he is incorporated into the family. Bud gets an education in farm management and, also, in the changing social conditions of the South. Judson Hout has created a memorable portrait of mid-century Southern culture. He mixes humor with poignant and painful moments in time. Those unfamiliar with life prior to Civil Rights acts will be mesmerized by the author's description of the Black experience in both Northern and Southern settings. The author probably best summarized the experiences when he concluded that, from the standpoint of the African American, Southerners disliked the race but they accepted the man, while in the North, whites accepted the race but rejected the man. Such insight is probably only available to a man who lived through the times with an open heart and insightful eyes. Reviewed by Karen P. for Readers' Favorite -- Karen P.

and an ethical study, too.”

“All the charm we have come to expect from Southern fiction

Rev. Lawrence F. Braden, M.D., Physician and Priest, Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas

“Remarkably entertaining while at the same time opening a window on the social disease that is bigotry.”

Billy D. Higgins, author of The Barling Darling

“An engaging and sure-to-raise eyebrows Southern coming of age novel by an experienced and sensitive author.”

Brian K, Hardwick, CEO, Regal Energy Corporation, Dallas, Texas

“Baseball fans and those who love a well-turned coming-of-age story will find themselves absorbed in this tale of life in small towns, farmlands, factories and ballparks  from Pennsylvania to Alabama to Arkansas.”

From the Back Cover

Novels / Coming-of-Age FictionThe Ghost of Bud ParrottRunner-Up, Reader’s Choice Best Fiction, 2011

About the Author

Judson N. Hout grew up in Newport, Arkansas, in the 1940’s and 50’s.  Since earning his medical degree at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Hout has practiced medicine on military bases and in communities in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas.  Dr. Hout has published two previous books and has served as a lay leader in Episcopal and Methodist Churches. This is his first published work of fiction.  Dr. Hout lives in Camden, Arkansas with his wife, Carolyn.

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