BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – Sitting on the shelves of a local Baton Rouge bookstore, residents can find a memoir titled “Stardust Dreams”.
The memoir is written by Baton Rouge native, and former LSU track star, Arthur Price who is on a mission to share his experiences in order to inspire the upcoming generation, especially in the local area.
“Our youth population does need extra motivation and crime rate is very high here. And we’re trying to educate these young kids that there are more opportunities instead of the streets essentially,” he said.
Price said that the inspiration for wanting to motivate is to give back, just like he had when growing up.
“I think a lot of like that, is just having someone kind of like people were to me. Just having someone in your ear is like, ‘Hey you can be what you want to be’ and you don’t have to be obligated to what the world is telling you to be,” he said.
“I think if I can be that person to other people, especially kids, sometimes these little kids are growing up and want to be all these great things and you have the world telling them they can’t,” he said. “So it’s like, how would they know where their calling is?”
In the book, Price speaks about dealing with depression as an athlete.
“Things that I go through kind of like influenced that, it can be from the athlete side, from the student’s side because I’m in grad school, life side, feeling responsibilities and stuff,” Price said.
“I think especially with sports, we’re I guess expected to achieve something great and when we don’t achieve it, all of a sudden that’s our worth and that’s how people measure us by and it’s kind of unfair, especially through the athlete side but I think it can drift to the personal life as well,” he said.
Overall, Price says he wants readers to take away that they can overcome adversity.
“Just the overarching theme that you can basically get through whatever you’re struggling, through perseverance, working hard, and surrounding yourself with the right people,” he said.
“Stardust Dreams” is not the only piece of writing under Price’s belt. He has another memoir and plans on doing more publications on overcoming adversity and self-improvement.
The book is sold inside Red Sticks Reads, a local bookstore in Baton Rouge. Price says he is thankful for the local support.
“Just to walk in and see your book on the shelf and have people look at it, read it, and know that you can really be a part of this amazing atmosphere, a bookstore, especially a local one, its something that it’s really beautiful,” he said.
James Hyfield, the owner of Red Sticks Reads, says it’s important to support local authors like Price and refers to it as a must.
“Local always supplies an avenue for local. We support each other. He’s going out to beat the streets to sell the book and I’m going to provide the space for people to come by and get the book,” Hyfield said. “It’s a community effort.”
You can find “Stardust Dream” on the shelf at Red Sticks Reads, which is located at 541 S. Eugene St in Baton Rouge, or click here.
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