Her mother was white, her father black, and her family disowned her at birth. Marylin Atkins forged ahead in life, despite numerous obstacles, and ended up marrying the white ex-priest of her Catholic church.
She got her law degree and retired as a judge, and told her story in a memoir.
Now Ashland-based Nick Alexander Films is starting work on a film about Marylin Atkins.
One of her daughters lives in Ashland; we get to visit with the other daughter, Elizabeth Ann Atkins, Nick Alexander, and Judge Atkins herself.