Keeping Your Eye on the Ball: Writing about Sports with Jerry Tipton, Doug Brunk and Dorian Hairston

Presented by The Kentucky Book Festival and Kentucky Humanities, this program is part of the main festival on November 2.

Jerry Tipton

Déjà Blue: A Sportswriter Reflects on 41 Seasons of Kentucky Basketball

After a Hall of Fame career that spanned nearly 50 years, veteran sportswriter Jerry Tipton is best known for his no nonsense coverage of University of Kentucky men’s basketball, challenging questions, catchy leads, and legendary exchanges with Coach John Calipari. In Déjà Blue, he shares a behind-the-scenes look at his career in sportswriting, from his early years at the Huntington Herald-Dispatch (W.Va.) through over four decades covering the highs, and lows, of the Wildcats for the Lexington Herald-Leader including three national championships, nine Final Fours, and six head coaches.

Doug Brunk

They Call Me Goose: My Life in Kentucky Basketball and Beyond

Doug Brunk is an award-winning journalist who has written hundreds of articles for trade and consumer publications. They Call Me Goose presents fans with the powerful story of a husband, father, mentor, businessman, and ambassador for Kentucky—who also just happens to be an iconic sports legend.

Dorian Hairston

Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow

Poet and scholar Dorian Hairston is a former University of Kentucky baseball player and a member of the Affrilachian Poets. His debut poetry collection, Pretend the Ball is Named Jim Crow explores the Black American experience through the lens of basebal legend Josh Gibson’s life and seventeen-year baseball career while addressing social change, culture, family, race, death, and oppression-while honoring and giving voice to Gibson and a voiceless generation of African Americans.