Key Figure in Rollins Divorce Case Responds To Interview Request With a Tirade

Zac Parrish

(Editor's Note: The following post contains language that some readers might find offensive.)

The former stepson of Campus Crest Communities CEO Ted Rollins exploded with profanity-filled rage when I asked to interview him earlier this week about issues related to the Rollins v. Rollins divorce case, which was decided here in Alabama and has become a regular topic on this blog.

Zac Parrish first invited me to meet him in person. When I said I would be happy to conduct an in-person interview and offered to meet him the next day, Parrish became more or less unhinged. He cussed me out, refused to answer questions, hung up on me twice, and warned me never to contact him again or to write about him.

What makes Zac Parrish think I can't write about his connections to a public court case? Why did Zac Parrish display such venom when asked about Ted Rollins? Since Parrish obviously cannot keep me, or any journalist, from writing about him and Rollins v. Rollins, what does he plan to do about it--sue me, act out in violence, hire a hit man, put me on double-secret probation? I'm not sure about the answers to any of those questions.

We've written before about Zac Parrish's role in the Rollins drama. We've reported that he is the intermediary Ted Rollins has used to issue threats to Sherry Rollins about family support for her and the couple's two daughters, Sarah and Emma, who live with their mother in Birmingham. We've reported on Zac Parrish's threats to sue me in order to keep me from reporting on Rollins v. Rollins. And we've reported on Parrish's efforts to start mountschnauzer.com, a Web domain apparently designed to counter my reporting.

Parrish, 33, is the managing member of Parrish Building Company and McMichael and Parrish Homes LLC in Birmingham. He is one of two sons that Sherry Carroll Rollins has from her first marriage, to a Birmingham insurance executive named Allen Parrish. During the 14 years that his mother was married to Ted Rollins, Zac Parrish was Mr. Rollins' stepson.

That must be a sensitive subject, based on Parrish's reaction when I called him on Wednesday.

I've had several e-mail communications with Parrish, which he has initiated, and he apparently has made several anonymous comments on this blog--all seemingly supportive of Ted Rollins. But I had never spoken with Parrish until Wednesday.

According to numerous conversations I've had with Sherry Carroll Rollins, her youngest son was a central figure in several incidents that helped lead her to file for divorce from Ted Rollins in Greenville, South Carolina, where the family lived. Ted Rollins somehow managed to file for divorce in Alabama, and Shelby County Circuit Judge D. Al Crowson--acting completely without jurisdiction--issued an unlawful judgment that is so absurd it left Sherry Rollins and her daughters on food stamps.

You might think that Zac Parrish would be outraged at how his mother and half sisters have been cheated in Alabama courts. But you would be wrong; he seems outraged that I am reporting on the case and the favorable treatment Ted Rollins received. Parrish clearly expressed that rage when I called him Wednesday to request an interview.

We soon will be reporting more fully on my encounter with Zac Parrish. But for now, here are a few snippets. When Parrish asked why I had an interest in the Rollins divorce case, I explained that I'm a journalist with 30 years of professional experience and a special interest in Alabama courts--and public documents show that Rollins v. Rollins was corruptly decided in Shelby County, where I live and have been cheated myself in courts. When Parrish continued to question my interest in a public court case, I offered to let him interview me, at his convenience. Here is that exchange (ZP is Zac Parrish; LS is me, Legal Schnauzer):

ZP: Roger, I personally don't give a shit about interviewing you because I have a life of my own and a family to raise, and I have no reason to give a shit what you do, Roger. You're a loser, plain and simple. You should feel ashamed of what you do, Roger. You should feel ashamed. You're a piece of garbage, you're a piece of garbage, Roger. I hope you're recording this . . .

LS: Can I ask you some questions?

ZP: No, you cannot ask me a question . . . get your fucking facts straight.

And then there was this:

ZP: I don't know why I'm even stooping to your fucking level. But if you've got something you want to know from me, or about my family, why don't you come fucking meet me face to face?

LS: I'll be happy to. You want to set up a time?

ZP: Uh . . . yeah, sure do. Name the time and place, Roger--name it.

LS: Tomorrow? I'm open . . . I'd like to do an interview with you. I would be glad to take notes, tape record it, whatever you're comfortable with. That's what reporters do; that's what I've done for 30 years.

ZP: Roger, you're not a reporter, you're a fucking idiot. You're a fucking fool that relies on real, hard-working American citizens to pay your fucking bill--you piece of garbage.

LS: Well, Zac, I'm sorry you feel that way, but you asked me . . .

Then I heard a dial tone because Zac Parrish had hung up. But that was not the end of the conversation.

Stay tuned.