Introducing the ‘SoKY 50’
Published 5:00 am Sunday, January 25, 2026
Last week, we presented a few ideas for who would belong in a local Hall of Fame — folks with ties to southentral Kentucky who rose to national prominence.
The list was movie director John Carpenter; musician Sam Bush; Duncan Hines, Kenny Perry, Diane Sawyer, Cal Turner, James Morris, (AKA “Hillbilly Jim”) and Annie Potts.
In response, several readers shared ideas.
There are of course many people from around here who achieved notable things without necessarily becoming enduring national figures.
Suggestions were shared, for example, for notorious brothel purveyor Pauline Tabor. As reader Cheryl Forshee noted, Tabor … “did more for the men of this town than anyone … She helped put this town on the map.”
Another suggestion was Paul Kilgus from Bowling Green, who pitched in the Major Leagues for six seasons. A local sports Hall of Fame would be jam-packed with too many names to mention here (perhaps another column … ).
Reader Mike Simpson shared an interesting perspective:
“Two years ago I did a poll and produced a Mt. Rushmore of Warren County for my literary club. Subsequently, I have presented it to nine other literary clubs or civic organizations. A metaphoric “Mt. Rushmore” is a bit different than a “Hall of Fame” as I asked my poll participants to consider those who were “change agents” in the history of Warren County. Ultimately my Mt. Rushmore of Warren County produced four individuals:
•Henry Harding Cherry, founder of Western Kentucky University;
•Everett Moore, CEO of Fruit of the Loom;
•U.S. Representative William H. Natcher, congressman;
•Judge-Executive Michael Buchannon, Warren County J/E for 29 years.”
Off the bat, I would add to that list Gary Ransdell, who led WKU through a period of unprecedented growth while also having a hand in many other civic efforts.
I’m sure there are others to add to any of these lists based on what criteria you are looking at.
So here’s what I’ve decided to do: compile a list I’m calling the “SoKY 50.” This will be a list of (you guessed it) 50 people with southcentral Kentucky ties (either from here or spent significant time here) who either rose to national fame, were/are significant to the area’s history or were significant in some way — an example of the latter would be Bowling Green’s Ernest Hogan — the so-called “Father of Ragtime” music. Although he certainly is not widely known today and didn’t change the community, he was someone who made his mark nationally.
I will enlist some help to go through the nominees to complete the list to be published at a future date. So get your thinking caps on send your nominees.
—Wes Swietek is the Daily News managing editor. Email him at wes.swietek@bgdailynews.com.
