Gwen Heffner
Information Specialist
Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea
gwen.heffner@ky.gov
Phone: 859/ 985-5448
Fax: 859/ 985-5449

BEREA, KY. – On Saturday, April 30, well-known sports writer and columnist  Billy Reed will talk with visitors and sign copies of his book, My Favorite Derby Stories, at the Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea from 12:00 -3:00 pm.

Billy Reed began his career at age 16 with the Lexington Herald-Leader covering Henry Clay High School sports. This beginning evolved into full time work at the Herald-Leader during his college years. Upon graduation in 1966 with a BA in English from Transylvania University, Reed joined the sports staff of the Louisville Courier-Journal.

In 1968, Reed joined the staff of Sports Illustrated in New York City as a sports writer where he worked until 1972, when he returned to Louisville. There he became special projects reporter for the Courier-Journal and in 1977 was named sports editor. In 1986 Reed returned to Sports Illustrated and served as senior sports editor there from 1988 to 1998. Upon retirement from Sports Illustrated in 1999, he continued to work as a free lance writer until he was appointed Director of Communications for Kentucky’s Commerce Cabinet in 2003.

Reed has written or contributed to twelve books, many about racing. Having attended and covered all but two Kentucky Derby races since 1966, Reed’s book, My Favorite Derby Stories, is a compilation of selected stories previously published in Sports Illustrated, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Keeneland Program, Churchill Downs Website, the Kentucky Derby Program, and the Courier Journal, among others. Each of Reed’s stories is informed by years of interest, research, interviews, and the genuine and lasting relationships he has formed with owners, trainers, jockeys, and others players in the industry.

Reed is a member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Journalism Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Transylvania University Hall of Fame, and his list of journalism awards is long. He has been named Kentucky Sports Writer of the Year eight times and has won the Eclipse Award twice. His stories on racing and the Derby have won him the Red Smith Award for Derby coverage eight times and the David Woods Award twice for his coverage of the Preakness. His honors include an award from the National Headliners Club in 1982 for “Consistently Outstanding Sports Columns” and the Sigma Delta Chi - National Journalism Society’s award for “General Investigative Reporting.”

While Billy Reed has written about a multitude of sports events for over four decades, he is perhaps one of media’s most knowledgeable writers on the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky’s spectacular annual event. In all of his writings about thoroughbred racing, Reed brings together a deliciously clear and concise blend of historical facts, interpersonal relationships, rich details, genuine love of the beauty of the thoroughbred breed, and the surrounding landscape and culture from which it springs. The Kentucky Derby is richer for having Billy Reed standing by, listening to its stories, documenting the horses, the people, the histories, the traditions, the romance and the drama of  this great Kentucky event. Best of all, we can count on Billy Reed to masterfully weave all this into words that resonate – so that everyone can feel and experience this great horse race held the first Saturday in May - Kentucky’s annual “Run for the Roses.”

Billy Reed’s book, My Favorite Derby Stories, and Keeneland: Reflections on a Thoroughbred Tradition are regularly available at the Kentucky Artisan Center, located just off Interstate 75 at exit 77 (Berea). The Center’s exhibits, shopping, and travel information areas are all open daily from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and the café from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. The Center currently features works by more than 520 artisans from all across the Commonwealth. For more information call 859-985-5448 or visit the Center’s web site at www.kentuckyartisancenter.ky.gov

The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Commerce Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.