Tales From The Kentucky Room Lexington Public Library

Mariam sits down with Kim Wickens, author of Lexington: the Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America’s Legendary Racehorse, to discuss her book and Lexington’s impact on the sport of horse racing in the mid-19th century.
 
Kim tells us about Lexington’s racing career, how his racing career ended in 1855, and how his offspring fared in both war and the racetracks in the Northern Union States. Lexington: the Extraordinary Life and Turbulent Times of America’s Legendary Racehorse is available for checkout from the library and for purchase at your favorite book stores. 

Leo York joins us to tell us about the magical experience he had in Kentucky's forests.
 
Leo is a copywriter from Corbin KY. He writes commercial screenplays, and also writes all manner of narrative fiction, and helps assist inventors and entrepreneurs at Inventors Network KY. He is also cohost of the popular paranormal podcast, The 13th Floor. 
 
Theme song "Appalachian Lofi" composed and performed by Bryan Klausing and Christine Cole.

Yesterday, April 2, 2024, there were three confirmed EF-1 tornado touchdowns in three different Kentucky counties, with severe storm damage affecting many more, including Lexington. Today, April 3, 2024, is the fiftieth anniversary of the tornado super outbreak in 1974, with 7 F5 tornadoes attributed to this one storm. The super outbreak affected thirteen states with a total death toll of 319 people, with 75 of them in Kentucky. 
 
Wayne Johnson sits down with Mariam to describe his memories of day in Lexington, Kentucky, which was spared from the super outbreak, and the destruction in the counties that were not so fortunate, and to give important safety tips of always listening to the warnings, and getting to shelter as fast as you can because seconds can mean the difference in survival.
This episode discusses deaths and destruction a result of natural disaster, so please take care of yourself as you listen.

Librarian JP Johnson joins Mariam to discuss his research into the life of Ella Offutt Pepper, avid horsewoman and long-time owner of the James E. Pepper distillery. When her husband James E. Pepper took ill, he sold her the distillery to manage, which she did until after his death in the early 1900s. JP tells us about her widely-reported divorce from her first husband in Louisville, to the quiet ceremony of her second to Colonel Pepper, to her later years settling the Meadowthorpe estate.

Retha Hicks joins us with a tale of how she successfully protested the dress code for teachers in  Fayette County Public Schools in the early 1970's.
 
Retha Perkins Hicks is a writer, a tour guide at Waveland State Historic Site, and a retired public school teacher. She was born in an Eastern Kentucky coal camp and lived in several different coal camps until she was eight years old. Those coal camps are the background of many of her childhood stories. She is a proud mother of four sons and grandmother of four grandchildren. She lives in Lexington with her Miniature Schnauzer, Edgar.
 
Theme song "Appalachian Lofi" composed and performed by Bryan Klausing and Christine Cole.

Quilting Kentucky's Stories is a year-long series of autobiographical tales from Lexington Residents, some of them funny, some of them heartwarming and some heart wrenching, but all of them important as they build the quilt of Kentucky life.
 
Donna Carter joins us for our inaugural episode, performing the speech she gave on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for Winchester (Clark County), Kentucky. She recounts her 30 years in recovery, and how equity helped her to build the life she has now.
 
Donna resides in WInchester, KY with her husband of 23 years and their 14 year old daughter. Donna has over 20 years of HR experience within various industries.  Over her career she has been responsible for leading HR departments and DEIB initiatives in the manufacturing, non-profit, government, education and private sectors. She is currently the Director of Professional and Community Development at Internal Family Systems Institute, headquartered in Chicago, IL and also oversees the HR department.