Published: November 01, 2009 11:50 pm      

Kentucky Book Fair scheduled for Saturday

FRANKFORT — Ashland’s Stacy Nelson and David Palmore will be among 200 writers participating in the 28th annual Kentucky Book Fair on Saturday.

“Once again the Kentucky Book Fair has something not available anywhere — a broad selection of books and authors reflecting with words and pictures the state’s unique history, culture and workplace,” said KBF Inc. President Carl West, adding that more than 400 titles will be available.

This year’s lineup includes former U.S. Sen. George McGovern, who ran unsuccessfully for president in 1972 and wrote “Abraham Lincoln/The American Presidents Series: The 16th President, 1861-1865,” and Ann B. Ross, a novelist known for her “Miss Julia” series, the latest being “Miss Julia Delivers the Goods.”

Nelson is the author of “Beneath the Weeping Skies,” a novel well-grounded in the realities of the post-Civil War period, as Capt. James Stuart administers his own kind of justice while pursued by paid killers and in conflict with local law-enforcement officers.

Palmore’s republication of “Stories by Jesse Stuart,” after it has been out of print for more than four decades, is eagerly anticipated. Stories and poems about the warm-hearted people of eastern Kentucky is written by Stuart, one of the state’s pre-eminent storytellers.

The free event will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m at the Frankfort Convention Center. Several symposiums will be throughout the day featuring McGovern, Canedy, Allan Eckhart and Kathleen Kent as well as panel on writing fiction with Ann H. Gabhart, Karen Robards, Jan Watson, Mary Ann Taylor-Hall and Jim Tomlinson.

Besides McGovern and Ross, other nationally known writers include Sarah Ivens, Phyllis George, Kathleen Kent, Allan Eckert, David Scott, James Reston Jr. and Robert Morgan.

Other noteworthy Kentucky authors include George Ella Lyon, Tori Murden Mclure, Charles Bracelen Flood, Silas House, James E. “Ted” Bassett, Bill Mooney, Tom Parrish, David Dick, Bobbie Ann Mason, Holly Goodard Jones, Liz Bevarly, Heather Henson, Ed McClanahan, William Lynwood Montell, Marcia Thornton Jones, Paul Prather and Erik Reece.

“We anticipate our best book fair ever,” said KBF manager Connie Crowe. “We have a stellar group of national, regional and state authors that will appeal to a wide range of tastes for book lovers this year.”

Profits from the sale of books provide grants to Kentucky school and public libraries to purchase books, and occasionally, for literacy-related causes. Proceeds to date have been used to award more than $300,000 in grants to public schools and libraries, including $7,500 this year to the Louisville Free Public Library, which sustained more than $5 million in damages from flooding.