"Land of Lincoln" author interview at Centre to air on Kentucky Educational Television

RELEASED: October 9, 2008

DANVILLE, KY—Andrew Ferguson, author and senior editor of The Weekly Standard, discusses his book, Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America, on the next edition of KET's One to One with Bill Goodman. The program, taped at Centre College, airs Sunday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m./noon CT on KET1 and Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 7:30/6:30 p.m. CT on KET2.

Ferguson visited Centre's campus in September to discuss his book, which was chosen as the first-year student reading selection. Each year, Centre requires incoming first-year students to read a book chosen by a committee of faculty and staff. Ferguson's visit and the book selection was part of Centre's Year of Lincoln celebration.

In honor of the upcoming 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth, Centre is sponsoring a host of projects honoring the nation's 16th president and the College's connections to him.

As Lincoln wrote in a brief sketch, at age 23 he was considering a career as a blacksmith. When his friend John Todd Stuart, Centre Class of 1826, encouraged him to study for the bar instead, Lincoln protested that he had nothing to study.

Stuart promptly loaned Lincoln his own set of law books. Lincoln then, in his own words, "went at it in good earnest," and later passed the bar. He became Stuart's law partner, and the rest is history. Lincoln and Stuart remained friends until Lincoln's death in 1865. Stuart then headed the National Lincoln Monument Association that built a memorial to the fallen president in Springfield, Illinois.

Though Ferguson's admiration of the country's 16th president began in his youth, his desire to write Land of Lincoln came about after a trip to Richmond, Va., as an adult. Ferguson says he traveled there to investigate a controversial statue of Lincoln that had provided an occasion for a group of scholars and historians to decry Lincoln as racist and dictatorial. When Ferguson found that he and other Lincoln supporters were ill equipped to counter their accusations, he began the research for his book.

Ferguson also discusses Lincoln's Kentucky connections, including Stuart; the death of Lincoln's grandfather in Kentucky at the hands of Native Americans; and the cabin in what is now Knob Creek, where Lincoln lived as a boy.

The author relays his experience following the Lincoln Heritage Trail, which winds through Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky. At one point, Ferguson lost his way on the trail, and he recounts a surprising conversation he had with Robert Newman, who helped put the trail together. Ferguson also talks about meeting Lincoln impersonators, visiting a college business course that presented Lincoln as a model for middle managers, and much more.

One to One with Bill Goodman is a KET production, produced by Goodman and Cindy Asher.

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Founded in 1819, Centre College is ranked among the U.S. News top 50 national liberal arts colleges. Consumers Digest ranks Centre No. 1 in educational value among all U.S. liberal arts colleges. Centre alumni, known for their nation-leading loyalty in annual financial support, include two U.S. vice presidents and two Supreme Court justices. For more, visit http://www.centre.edu/web/elevatorspeech/.

For news archives go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/newsarchive.html.

For earlier news releases on Andrew Ferguson, go to http://www.centre.edu/web/news/ferguson.html, http://www.centre.edu/web/news/lincoln_ferguson.html, and http://www.centre.edu/web/news/lincolnauthor.html.