Browse A-Z Authors: As-Az

Biography; 283 pages, includes index.

Biography; 266 pages.

American wit and humor; 270 pages, includes index.

History, biography; 60 pages.

Volumes. Kentucky Culture Series. Author's autograph presentation copy to the Cincinnati Public Library.

Beyond the Reservation is the first in-depth examination of the American Indian presence in local courts during the nineteenth century. Through examination of Washington Territory's district court records for 1853-1889, as well as other archival materials, Brad Asher provides a detailed portrait of Indian-white contact within this region. Overturning the conventional notion that Indians were confined to reservations during the latter half of the nineteenth century, Asher shows that most Indians in Washington Territory never moved to reservations or resided on them only seasonally. As the central mechanism for governing interracial contact outside of reservations, the courts were the primary vehicle for creating and policing racial boundaries. Initially denied legal standing in white courts, Indians at first attempted to resolve disputes with settlers and with other Indians according to their cultural traditions. In the 1870s, when they did gain access to legal institutions, they began using these for their own ends. The legal systems remained far from race blind, however, and few Indians gained satisfaction in American courts. By focusing on contact between Indians and whites, this book challenges the emphasis of most histories on the exclusion and separation of Indians during the settlement period. In addition, by conceiving of law as a mode of governance, it sheds new light on the role of the state in the colonization of the American West.

Cecelia was a fifteen-year-old slave when she accompanied her mistress, Frances "Fanny" Thruston Ballard, on a holiday trip to Niagara Falls. During their stay, Cecelia crossed the Niagara River and joined the free black population of Canada. Although documented relationships between freed or escaped slaves and their former owners are rare, the discovery of a cache of letters from the former slave owner to her escaped slave confirms this extraordinary link between two urban families over several decades. Cecelia and Fanny: The Remarkable Friendship between an Escaped Slave and Her Former Mistress is a fascinating look at race relations in mid-nineteenth-century Louisville, Kentucky, focusing on the experiences of these two families during the seismic social upheaval wrought by the emancipation of four million African Americans. Far more than the story of two families, Cecelia and Fanny delves into the history of Civil War--era Louisville. Author Brad Asher details the cultural roles assigned to the two women and provides a unique view of slavery in an urban context, as opposed to the rural plantations more often examined by historians.

Early settlers thought Kentucky a kind of paradise; Daniel Boone and others called it "a good poor man's country." Abraham Lincoln once famously said during the Civil War that while he hoped to have God on his side, he had to have Kentucky--a testament to this state's important position straddling the border between south and north (and, for that matter, east and midwest too). Borderlands beget abundant mythology, and Kentucky is no exception. Brad Asher, a scholar of Native American history, goes beyond the myths (or stereotypes) of the colonel in white who drinks mint juleps and breeds thoroughbreds and the barefoot hillbilly who knows caves and moonshine to explore the rich, complicated history of a state that has been home to figures as diverse as Robert Penn Warren, Muhammad Ali, and Wendell Berry. From the bluegrass of the heartland, to the hills and hollows of the east, to the flatlands of the west, and to vibrant Louisville, Asher shows a Kentucky beyond the world's largest cave and most famous race track.

For the last third of the nineteenth century, Union General Stephen Gano Burbridge enjoyed the unenviable distinction of being the most hated man in Kentucky. From mid-1864, just months into his reign as the military commander of the state, until his death in December 1894, the mere mention of his name triggered a firestorm of curses from editorialists and politicians. By the end of Burbridge's tenure, Governor Thomas E. Bramlette concluded that he was an "imbecile commander" whose actions represented nothing but the "blundering of a weak intellect and an overwhelming vanity." In this revealing biography, Brad Asher explores how Burbridge earned his infamous reputation and adds an important new layer to the ongoing reexamination of Kentucky during and after the Civil War. He explains that Burbridge's use of measures, including retaliatory executions, to quell guerrillas and Confederate partisans fell within the range of tactics used by Union commanders faced with irregular fighters in other areas and within the bounds of the laws of war as articulated by the Union high command. Burbridge jailed, banished, and harassed those who expressed anti-Lincoln, anti-war, or pro-Confederate political sympathies. Most importantly, however, he oversaw and sped along the destruction of slavery by administering the recruitment and enlistment of enslaved people as soldiers. This reassessment illuminates how Burbridge -- as a Kentuckian and the local architect of the destruction of slavery -- became the scapegoat for white Kentuckians, including many in the Unionist political elite, who were unshakably opposed to emancipation. Beyond successfully recalibrating history's understanding of Burbridge, Asher's biography adds administrative and military context to the state's reaction to emancipation and sheds new light on its postwar pro-Confederacy shift.

Backpacking Kentucky is your personal guide to 34 of the best trails in the state. Endowed with a proliferation of natural bridges and sandstone arches, rhododendron thickets, towering hemlocks, spring-fed creeks, gorgeous wildflowers and hardwood forests, Kentucky has an impressive array of overnight options for the backcountry adventurer. Each backpacking entry includes explicit directions to the trailhead; a detailed map with topo lines and suggested campsites marked; comprehensive trail and route description; plus interesting tidbits about the ecology and culture of the area. Hikes are divided into three categories for those wanting simple overnight trips, multi-day forays into the wilderness, or shorter trails to introduce the next generation of hikers to the joys of backpacking. Full color maps and photographs for each entry.

Known as the City of Parks, Louisville has long valued the natural landscape and the provisioning of outdoor recreation. In 1891 Frederick Law Olmsted, the father of American landscape architecture, was commissioned to develop an extensive park system for Louisville that eventually included 18 parks and 6 interconnecting parkways. Since that time, Louisville has continued to invest resources to build a first-class park system. Nestled within the Ohio Valley, and bordered by the knobs regionto the south and the heavily forested areas of Indiana to the north, Louisville lies at the heart of an endless array of hiking opportunities. Five-Star Trails: Louisville showcases many of the hiking trails and walking paths within the city or within easy driving distance in central Kentucky and southern Indiana. Designed specifically for day trips, this book includes several of the area's most popular parks, as well as many of the lesser-known hiking trails in nature preserves, wildlife management areas, and national forests.

Fly Fishing Kentucky is the only book on the market that focuses exclusively on flyfishing in the Bluegrass state. Provides detailed descriptions of the top 36 trout streams, lakes and tailwaters in Kentucky, including the ecosystem, fly recommendations, stocking and regulatory information, and driving directions. With additional detailed chapters on: Fly, Tackle and Gear Selection; Basic Casting Skills; Special Fishing Techniques; Reading Water to Find Trout; Matching the Hatch and Fly Selection

Hike the Bluegrass is your personal guide to walk, roll, and stroll your way across central Kentucky. Over 50 hikes, urban walks, and public gardens are described, complete with maps, photos, and suggested side trips. Lightly doused with humor and just the right amount of historical trivia and cultural commentary, this book focuses on many of the lesser known hiking spots in and around Lexington. Whether you rarely get off the couch or you do ironman triathlons for fun, you're sure to find a hike or walk to add to your favorite short list

This book is an expansion of the original Hike the Bluegrass. Hike the Bluegrass is your personal guide to walk, roll, and stroll your way across central Kentucky. The newly revised and greatly expanded edition describes over 80 hikes, urban walks, and public gardens, complete with maps, photos, and side-trips. Lightly doused with humor and just the right amount of historical trivia, this book focuses on many of the lesser known hiking spots around Lexington. Whether you rarely get off the couch or you do triathlons for fun, you're sure to find a hike or walk to add to your favorite short list. Second Edition. Fifty percent increase in number of entries and pages over first edition.

Emme McLean never imagined that in 1999 she would be living out the lyrics of the ancient murder ballads she grew up singing. But now Emme is back in Red River, Kentucky, using her skills as a journalist to prove her cousin did not kill her husband and to find out what is terrifying the town after many of its women went half-mad on the same night. But to help her hometown's haunted women, Emme must also face the things that haunt her, things she thought she had lost when she chose to move away: the majestic music of her family's beloved hills and hollows, the mysterious old ways of her Appalachian kin, and the memory of her remarkable first love, Evan. Through it all, she must reckon with her magical "mountain gift"--is it real, or merely a unique synesthesia? And can she trust it to help heal her family and her town, a place still plagued by the social injustice that first drove her away? Can she trust it to help heal herself?

Music is the motif, the pulse, of these poems. From Americana, Folk, and Bluegrass, to Country, Gospel, Blues, and Rock, Blood Harmony potently depicts the interconnectedness of musical genres. From Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn, Jean Ritchie, Ricky Skaggs, and Guy Clark, to Aretha Franklin, Percy Sledge, Etta James, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding, musical legends abound, "with the list of greats growing almost as long as the story of music, of life, itself." Music also becomes the larger motif highlighting how interconnected we all are; whether "creek, brook, or stream," Austin believes everyone is "water from the same source." Writing of her years singing blood harmony with her brother in foster care and tracing her kin's roots back to Scotland and Ireland, Austin poignantly invites us to sojourn with her on an odyssey that, while elegiac, is less requiem than it is a paean to hope.

Poems; 22 pages.