| ||||||||||
 
Dr. Ronald P. Rogers CHIROPRACTOR Support for your body's natural healing capabilities 270-384-5554 Click here for details 
  
Columbia Gas Dept. GAS LEAK or GAS SMELL Contact Numbers 24 hrs/ 365 days 270-384-2006 or 9-1-1 Call before you dig 
Visit ColumbiaMagazine's Directory of Churches Addresses, times, phone numbers and more for churches in Adair County Find Great Stuff in ColumbiaMagazine's Classified Ads Antiques, Help Wanted, Autos, Real Estate, Legal Notices, More... 
|
Tom Chaney: Facts, Facts -- More Facts Of Writers And Their Books: Facts, Facts -- More Facts. Tom points out all the treasures of Clark's Kentucky Almanac and Book of Facts, 2006 which unhappily has not appeared in subsequent years. This column first appeared 5 February 2006. The next earlier Tom Chaney column: What Might Have Been: ‘Brokeback Mountain’ and the Oscars By Tom Chaney Facts, Facts -- More Facts Late last year saw the publication of a new book all about Kentucky -- and I do mean Its 770 pages are guaranteed to provide you with more than you ever wished to know about Kentucky. Want to make a Shaker lemon pie? Turn to page 403. Want to know who lived in Paris (Kentucky, that is, not France) and invented gas masks for World War I? See a note about Garrett Morgan on page 432. Want to get in touch with Representative Terry Shelton? His home phone, his Frankfort phone, and his email address are on page 94. The finest section of the book is the Foreword by Dr. Thomas D. Clark who died this past year. This is certainly one of the last pieces Dr. Clark wrote about his adopted state. It is as ever lucid and fresh, summarizing the history of the state in a few pages. It ends thusly:"Collectively Kentucky has undergone fundamental changes which may be symbolized by the construction of a single family house in a new suburban rural community, alongside a decaying tobacco barn, all of this giving a fresh connotation to Stephen Collins Foster's deep spiritual lament." The book is a good blend of the old and the new, of the rural and the urban, of Native Americans and modern technology. There are chapters on each county. The one on Hart County is particularly well written by Virginia Davis, Director of the Hart County Chamber of Commerce. One of the editors of the Almanac told me at a reception last December that the Hart County piece is the one they use for an example of what a county description should be. The Almanac is full of state and regional maps. Following a "State Profile," the book continues with the year's top news stories, a summary of the history of Kentucky, and a compendium of information about state government and politics. I particularly liked the section, "Historical Documents," by Ron Bryant. He describes the Kentucky Gazette, the first newspaper west of the Allegheny Mountains. Of interest is the text of Kentucky's constitution as amended to 1980. I do not think I had ever read our state's Bill of Rights. The section on the federal government provides useful thumbnail sketches of the state's congressional officers as well as a discussion of the federal military installations in Kentucky. Two of the strongest points of the Almanac are the sections on tourism and the arts. Kentuckians have ever been adept at enticing flatland tourists to our state -- bidding them farewell with a satisfied touristy smile and an empty wallet. The regional guide to both historical and recreational tourism is exceptional. The arts are, of course, closely related to tourism. It is both startling and heartening to see the mass of the arts of the entire state treated in one segment. Arts organizations have, in the past half century, put Kentucky on the nation's cultural map in music and theatre as well as the plastic arts of sculpture and painting. All told, this book is invaluable for the Kentuckians who would be informed about their native land, as well as the visitor within our gates. The plan is to issue a new edition annually. [Ed.: This has not been done.] The current Almanac is available at your local bookseller for a mere $19.95 cover price. And, Oh, yes! It is a proper almanac. There is an "Astronomical Calendar" for those who plant and reap by the signs of the Zodiac. Tom Chaney can be found telling stories, planning his next meal, and occasionally selling books at THE BOOKSTORE Box 73 / 111 Water Street Horse Cave, Kentucky 42749 270-786-3084 Email: Tom Chaney - bookstore@scrtc.com http://www.alibris.com/stores/horscave This story was posted on 2016-01-03 04:08:54
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know. More articles from topic Tom Chaney: Of Writers and Their Books:
Tom Chaney: What Might Have Been Tom Chaney: Manhunt Tom Chaney: Murder in Scandinavia Tom Chaney: Me Growed from a Pumpkin Seed Tom Chaney: Jim Lowe's Reading Suggestions Tom Chaney: Stories Rise Like Smoke Tom Chaney: I Don't Go To Church - Kneeling Bags my Nylons Tom Chaney: Understanding the Enemy Tom Chaney: Literature and the Plague Tom Chaney: The First Black Novel (More than Likely) View even more articles in topic Tom Chaney: Of Writers and Their Books |
 
115 Jamestown St. Columbia, KY. 270-384-2496 
  
   
 Provided by the Adair Co Fiscal Court and the Adair Co. Emergency Mgt. Agency 
|
||||||||
|
| ||||||||||
|
Quick Links to Popular Features
Looking for a story or picture? Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com. | ||||||||||
|
Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728. Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.
| ||||||||||
