By Steve Flairty
Special to NKyTribune
I was saddened by the recent death of journalist Carl West, who helped fledgling writers like me have a chance to get our words out in public.
He founded the Kentucky Book Fair, now annually attended by thousands in downtown Frankfort. I’ve participated in the event six times as an author with my books, along with numerous times as a regular attendee. The KBF never ceases to be fun, inspiring, and a great networking experience for meeting authors, other book lovers, and people in the book business.
It also reminds Kentuckians that, in many ways, the state of Kentucky has a literary landscape that is operating at a higher level than is often portrayed in national discourse. Nationally recognized writers like Wendell Berry, Barbara Kingsolver, Bobbie Ann Mason and Silas House are all rooted in the fabric of the state, and, going further back, who hasn’t heard of Robert Penn Warren, from Guthrie—America’s first National Poet Laureate—and a fellow from W-Hollow by the name of Jesse Stuart.
Carl West understood that and his passion to portray and foster literacy led him to establish the KBF in 1981 from his post as the editor of the State Journal in Frankfort. This came after he returned to his state in 1978 from Washington, DC, where he worked as an award-winning journalist for Scripps-Howard.
Connie Crowe worked closely with Carl as the director of the KBF from 2002 until February of 2015.
“Carl was my mentor, boss, and friend,” she said. “I had no idea what I was doing (at first) or getting into,” she said. “Carl taught me to be a better writer and a better reader. He was the heart and soul of the Book Fair and we can only hope to carry on his legacy.”
To my unabashed sense of pride, Carl was raised in my old stomping grounds, Grants Lick, and he graduated from my alma mater, Campbell County High School. I recognized Carl’s name long before I began my own writing career about 15 years ago. I recall his byline in the Kentucky Post back in the ‘60s, and Aunt Doris and Uncle Donnie talked about going to school with him. A well-known journalist coming from Grants Lick was pretty exciting, I thought.
And though I certainly couldn’t rightfully call him a close friend, I enjoyed seeing Carl at least once per year at the KBF, or at events surrounding KBF. I introduced myself there in 2005 when I brought my first book, Tim Farmer: A Kentucky Woodsman Restored, and noted being from Grants Lick, like him.
He immediately starting asking me questions about my uncle and aunt, who he remembered from Campbell County High School. He seemed genuinely interested, and he never failed to remember me from that point forward, including this past book fair in 2015.
Though I’m not sure he researched it and it probably isn’t a fact, I still beam thinking about one thing he told me after first meeting him:
“You’re the only author who ever came from Grants Lick.” To be told that by Carl West, a Kentucky Journalism Hall of Famer, gave me inspiration to continue writing. I’ll never forget him, and Carl will be an important part of the state’s heritage for future generations.
With the Kentucky Wildcats entering postseason play and Tubby Smith recently being named Big 12 Coach of the Year, it brought up memories of a special woman I interviewed in 2006 who was 103-years-old. Her name was Della Jones, an African-American person who was a study in perseverance.
She loved watching and rooting for her beloved Wildcats, and she was a big fan of coach Smith. She had a picture of him and other Wildcats on her living room walls at her home in Williamstown.
Ms. Jones endured many years of racial prejudice, yet proved she could outlast her haters. She was a public school teacher-librarian for over 37 years in northern Kentucky schools, and she had many stories to tell me.
One of the most amazing ones had to do with her desire to get her college teaching degree, which she finished after starting her classroom experience with a provisional certificate.
Her dream of a college degree continued to be intense, so late into her 30s, the determined Jones began taking summer classes at Kentucky State University in Frankfort, a place she had previously attended. Besides doing correspondence and some extension work at Georgetown College, Jones attended summer school at KSU for an amazing 17 years. During those summers, she explained that she “put my little girl in a training school while I was in classes there.”
Finally, in 1957, Della Jones proudly accepted her bachelor’s degree diploma in education from KSU — and heard an inspirational commencement address from a relatively unknown young civil rights activist and minister by the name of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ms. Jones died on July 14, 2009. Her life was both long and inspiring.
With the U.S. presidential race in full swing, here’s a little contest to help you win a free copy of one of my books, Kentucky’s Everyday Heroes for Kids. I will make three available and the first three individuals who send me the correct answer via email, sflairty2001@yahoo.com, will win.
Here’s the question: Name all the counties in Kentucky that have the last name of a former American president. (They don’t necessarily have to be named after that president, however.)
Steve Flairty is a teacher, public speaker and an author of six books: a biography of Kentucky Afield host Tim Farmer and five in the Kentucky’s Everyday Heroes series, including a kids’ version. Steve’s “Kentucky’s Everyday Heroes #4,” was released in 2015. Steve is a senior correspondent for Kentucky Monthly, a weekly NKyTribune columnist and a member of the Kentucky Humanities Council Speakers Bureau. Contact him at sflairty2001@yahoo.com or visit his Facebook page, “Kentucky in Common: Word Sketches in Tribute.” (Steve’s photo by Connie McDonald)