I would love to hear from anyone with a connection to him.
I will tell you a little about why I wrote the book, and the book itself.
I have read a ton of weird and strange books. The more obscure, the more regional and local- the better. I get so excited when I travel, and I find some odd book about that place's legends. The more DIY, the better.
I have a nice collection of such books. If you have ever seen my bookshelves (and various bookstacks throughout my house) you know.
I organize them by state too. All states are represented, even the few I haven't visited yet. Sure, I have an impressive collection of Civil War books, and biographies of politicians.... but most of my books are about bigfoot, ghosts, haunted houses and just strange stories.
There are some regional authors I love (Vermont's Joseph Citro, Troy Taylor from Illinois, and Kentucky's own Keven McQueen are well represented in my collection). There are also many self-published books. Some are full of misspellings and have some errors- but thats OK- it gives them character.
I treasure some of those unedited self-publications... some of them held together by staples.
Some are better than others. I have been frustrated by some books that have mostly reprinted Wikipedia articles while utilizing Wikicommons and other public domain photos.
I was born in Owensboro. I have lived most of my life in Kentucky. I am constantly taking road trips throughout the state..... I kind of felt like I was uniquely qualified to write a very authentic book on some of the strange stories in Kentucky.
So, I started writing about my favorite "weird" spots in Kentucky. I started organizing my pictures (I have tens of thousands). I started work on putting my book together.
It became a bit of an obsession. There are literally hundreds of interesting and strange places, and stories. The book I wanted to write would be thousands of pages. Even edited down, I was looking at hundreds.
I have tried to be selective too. A friend of a friend's story about a shadow person their grandma saw was not what I wanted to include. I wanted to only include the well-known, and well documented stories.
Also, I wanted this to be a bit of a travel guide. So, I give a brief retelling of the legend, then I try to give addresses of places associated with the legends. I tell about my own experiences at each site (I have been to all of them- most of them many times). If there is a cool shop or coffee shop there, well, I will mention it too!
AND, I have included photos, all taken by me (or someone in my party during a visit). Again, I wanted this to be real, authentic, and very DIY. No wiki sources here. Pictures are in color too.
"Strange Kentucky Travels: The Haunted and Unexplained" has info on the hauntings at Carter Caves, Waverly Hills, The Seelbach Hotel, Leah Smock, Pearl Bryan and Bobby Mackey's Music World, Caver Floyd Collins, and Portal 31. I have a chapter on the last legal public hanging in the US, which happened in Owensboro.... a story I grew up with. There is a chapter on the legends of the Red River Gorge. I also included a chapter on Adams Tennessee's Bell Witch. Yes, that legend is generally not associated with Kentucky, but it is only a few miles out of the state. Most Kentuckians can visit Adams in a day or weekend trip easily.
I am working on more volumes.
Check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks!
Sometimes on weekends, my dad and I would go out and visit just about every pet store around in Owensboro. Danny's was probably my favorite. I was there all the time. A knowledgeable family ran the place and I always loved talking to them. Their prices were good too.
Annette's was always a winner too. She was a very nice lady and always had interesting fish and aquarium critters.
Other shops would come and go. I remember E & L Pets by the old Lincoln Mall, then they would move later on. They still have a Madisonville location. There was a pet shop in the Rockport area I remember visiting a time or two.
Tropical Breeze was over by Gabe's Tower. At some point, I got this coupon for 10 percent off of everything. I don't remember how I got it, but it was reusable. I carried it in my wallet for some time.
I found this one while flipping through a very old scrap book recently.
Very briefly, General Burbridge was put in charge of Kentucky late in the Civil War, with the support of some heavy weights of the time (Lincoln, Sherman, etc). Well, he orders (and has carried out) the execution of southern sympathizers and guerillas through the state.
It seems that, in an effort to really upset the masses, he also gets involved in a weird pork scam with the government, upsetting farmers. He also gets his hands dirty with some election tampering. Another move not particularly popular with the masses at the time involved his push to allow blacks to serve as soldiers in the military.
The story is very complicated.... but author Bryan Bush tries successfully to keep the story followable telling about the General's movements and actions. Other Kentucky notables like Sue Mundy (Jerome Clarke) and John Hunt Morgan are major characters in the story.
As the book ends, it is obvious that some see Burbridge as a hero, and some don't. A very notable act of admiration came from the 56th US Colored Cavalry who presented Burbridge with an impressive gift of a sword and spurs valued at $1,000 at Camp Nelson.
The top photo is of an old postcard I have, showing the cool, and massively huge Executive Inn which used to be an icon in Owensboro. They knocked it over in 2008.
The next few photos are of a flyer advertising the old hotel.
As a fan of the old spot, any little collectibles like this are treasured.
