Off the Shelf

Trailblazing Beauty Queen

She was one of the most popular of a long list of Miss Americas. She had natural beauty, down-home charm and an intense focus on career goals. Those attributes served Phyllis George well—so well they allowed her to do her part to “shatter the ceiling” of resistance to women moving forward in previously gender-determined roles.

Authors Paul Volponi of New York and Lenny Shulman, who lives in Nonesuch (Woodford County), share an illuminating look at the first woman to regularly appear on a national sports show. But there’s much more about George’s dynamic life, which ended on March 14, 2020, from a blood disorder.

In Phyllis George: Shattering the Ceiling, readers learn of George’s close relationship to her mother, her diverse television opportunities, her passionate social initiatives, the “Camelot” experience of her marriage to John Y. Brown Jr. and serving as Kentucky’s first lady, plus behind-the-scenes stories of a woman confronting blatantly chauvinistic behavior. Strong and affable, she stood tall to the end, even as she fought the ravages of her terminal illness.

The book leaves us with what we always thought about George, a treasured soul who made us proud she became a part of Kentucky.

By Steve Flairty

Phyllis George: Shattering the Ceiling, by Paul Volponi and Lenny Shulman, University Press of Kentucky, $27.95 (H)

A Historical Look at Kentucky’s Largest City

Louisville is a city steeped in fascinating history. This book starts, as Louisville did, at Corn Island, the Falls of the Ohio, and the 1780 act by Virginia Legislature that established the town. The chapters of this 190-page book, filled with many photos, are arranged in chronological order by era and include the steamboat age, the rise of railroads, and the war years.

Through each era, author Bryan S. Bush takes readers to specific locations—many that still can be visited today—to introduce why it is important historically as well as what visitors can see there. Places such as Cave Hill Cemetery, the Louisville Water Company Pumping Station and Farmington Plantation are a few favorites.

Bush, who resides in Louisville, has written many books pertaining to history, particularly the United States Civil War, and he frequently contributes to the Kentucky Explorer section of Kentucky Monthly. He is the park manager of the Perryville Battlefield State Historic Site in Boyle County.

By Deborah Kohl Kremer

A History Lover’s Guide to Louisville, by Bryan S. Bush, The History Press, $21.99 (P)

Midlife Muddling

Middle-aged Dave Wertz would just like to get along with life, but it’s not happening. He’s lost his job, is not relating well with his wife and son, and had grown up with a bad connection to his own father. Baggage firmly on his shoulders, he goes on the road seeking to find himself, albeit a relatively short geographical distance—from Lexington to Frankfort.

And what the mixed-up sojourner encounters is the subject of another compelling Chris Helvey novel, Into the Wilderness. It’s a pageturner.

The individuals Dave meets in his personal wilderness have their own serious problems. First, a lifelong friend he thought trustworthy has changed. An eccentric but kind street preacher gives off mixed signals to Dave about soul redemption. A young homeless woman living under a bridge is treated with treachery by those without a conscience. Not ironically, Dave also meets a corrupt politician.

So where does Dave turn for meaning, or—at least—some modicum of solace to his tortured soul? That’s the question that Frankfort resident Helvey craftily answers in his narrative, and in so doing, he continues to demonstrate that he is one of Kentucky’s finest writers.

By Steve Flairty

All Roads Lead Home

Raised as an only child in the tiny community of Natlee in Owen County, a young girl carefully observed her surroundings and took mental notes. She held on to those memories tightly. In Georgia Green Stamper’s newest book, Small Acreages: New and Collected Essays, she craftily demonstrates that “the wise country people who raised me continue to remind me to pause and laugh at myself and the world in order to remain sane.” For her writing, it seems that all roads lead back to Natlee, her kin and the neighbors.

Included in the 59 memoir essays, each written with at least a touch of lightheartedness, are “Uncle Murf,” a man both inspiring and perplexing; “Father’s Day 1954,” a riveting story of being sneaked by her father into her dying grandfather’s hospital room; and “I’d Give a Hundred Dollars,” in which readers discover what doesn’t work for entertaining bored and restless children sitting in the back seat of a car on a long trip.

As always, Georgia’s writing both entertains and gently sneaks in life lessons. She portrays such with a clarity that sets her squarely amongst the finest in the state’s literary landscape.

By Steve Flairty

Small Acreages: New and Collected Essays, by Georgia Green Stamper, Shadelandhouse Modern Press, $23.95 (P)

Where Really Is Boone’s Body?

Daniel Boone is claimed by both Kentucky and Missouri as one of their legendary frontiersmen. He obviously had adventures in each of the states, but when he passed away in 1820, both states wanted him buried within their borders, so the grave could attract tourists.

Frankfort, which did not have a cemetery at the time of Boone’s death, wanted both Daniel and his wife, Rebecca, to be laid to rest in the Bluegrass State, and locals spent a few years trying to finalize a deal to bring his body back to Kentucky from the Show-Me State, where he had been buried.

Daniel and Rebecca’s remains were brought to Frankfort in 1845, but some Missourians question whether the move ever took place. Author Ted Franklin Belue of Murray explores the topic in depth and brings it to a conclusion.

Belue has edited two biographies about Boone, has written several history books, and includes information regarding the frontiersman that might not have been published before.

By Deborah Kohl Kremer

Finding Daniel Boone: His Last Days in Missouri and The Strange Fate of His Remains, by Ted Franklin Belue, The History Press, $23.99 (P)

Lifted by Faith

Drawing from the fertile memories of her life and family experiences, Linda Hawkins offers uplifting stories, poems and inspiring quotes in On the Wings of Words Given: Faith, Family, & Kentucky Life.

Within its 266 pages, Hawkins includes vignettes of challenge and hope, with titles such as “Stepping into Adulthood,” “Carolyn at Death’s Door,” “Two Influential Teachers” and “Called to Serve.” She adds poetic verse with “A Smile,” “Sister,” “Changes” and “Had They Known,” among others. Most reference her personal Christian faith.

A wide range of quotations collected from a variety of individuals, both well-known and little-known, enrich the book, which one might put to good use as a daily devotional or as a speaking topic. Hawkins is the founder of Heart to Heart Publishing Inc. in Morgantown (Butler County).

By Steve Flairty

On the Wings of Words Given: Faith, Family, & Kentucky Life, by Linda J. Hawkins, Heart to Heart Publishingw Inc., $14.99 (P)

Kentucky’s First Town

Just ask Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer if you want to know about the city of Harrodsburg and Mercer County’s heritage. She’s busy writing about it regularly and is preparing for its 250th anniversary celebration in 2024, sharing much of the town’s history in the process.

Recently, Rightmyer released an informative book about the early spas and hotels in the area. A History of Harrodsburg: Saratoga of the South spotlights the community that strove to bring tourists and economic benefits, starting in the late 1700s and continuing through 2019. The author begins with a helpful timeline, then divides the book into four sections commensurate with historical periods.

Readers may find particular interest in the origin of the iconic Beaumont Inn, a destination that has been in business more than a century. Well-researched accounts of such popular resorts as Greenville Springs, Harrodsburg Springs and Garden Springs add an interesting perspective of the first town of European heritage west of the Allegheny Mountains. Included are dozens of black-and-white photos of relevant historical aspects of the area, along with a section of bibliographical notes.

By Steve Flairty

A History of Harrodsburg: Saratoga of the South, by Bobbi Dawn Rightmyer, The History Press, $21.99 (P)

Twisted Tales

Western Kentucky has a reputation for its Southern hospitality, but throughout history, the region has been home to some bad characters, too. For proof, look no further than Richard Parker’s Wicked Western Kentucky.

Vice president of the Jackson Purchase Historical Society, Parker shares accounts of less-than-noble human activities in this wellresearched offering. From frontierera murderers Micajah and Wiley Harpe, whom many criminologists call “America’s first documented serial killers,” to the 1990s’ Rod Ferrell, the founder of a cult whose members drank each other’s blood and sacrificed animals, the author paints portraits of the worst examples of human nature.

Evidence shows that the James brothers, Jesse and Frank, played parts in bank robberies in Russellville, and “Buckskin Bill’s Wild West Show” in Paducah was more than wholesome family fun. Readers might not realize that the illegal moonshine business did as well in the western part of the state as it did in the east. In sharing the history of the Night Riders, a racist vigilante group purportedly fighting for the rights of the region’s tobacco farmers, Parker demonstrates how noble causes can turn corrupt with the wrong kind of leadership.

By Steve Flairty

Wicked Western Kentucky, by Richard Parker, The History Press, $21.99 (P)

Horticulture Meets Humor

Get ready for gardening season with this down-home collection of practical advice and personal anecdotes from Kentucky Monthly’s gardening columnist, Walt Reichert. Organized by the seasons, each chapter offers color photography and straightforward tips for everything from combating critters to pairing plants. The Bluegrass State’s green thumbs have proliferated, thanks to Walt’s encouraging and down-to-earth morsels of gardening wisdom.

WW_fullpg.indd 51 Horticulture meets humor in shopkentuckymonthly.com 888-329-0053 gardening columnist Walt Reichert’s collection.

o o o o o To order: kentuckymonthly.com 1-888-329-0053