Bowling Green in 1950 was a microcosm of America at large, when most families did not own a television set, many did not own a car, and most women did not drive. Segregation was practiced throughout the country, while Americans lived in the shadows of the cold war and nuclear proliferation.   Portia Pennington and Amy Wood have compiled a collection of photographs chronicling the last fifty years of the twentieth century by photographer Tommy Hughes,  who captured Bowling Green and its people throughout his professional career.

Portia Beck Pennington, a graduate of WKU with a M.A. in writing, and long-time Bowling Green resident, has combined her passion for storytelling with a deep-seated interest in the history of Bowling Green to tell the story of a community coming of age through the last half of the twentieth century.

Amy Hughes Wood, a native of Bowling Green, graduate of Bowling Green High School and WKU, and daughter of photographer Tommy Hughes, knows both sides of a camera well.  An astute student of her father’s and dedicated photographer in her own right, Wood has combed his collection of Bowling Green photographs, numbering in the thousands, and compiled them into a collection that is historically revealing and visually riveting.

“Bowling Green Since 1950 provides readers with iconic images of Bowling Green through the last fifty years of the twentieth century—images of poetic artistry combined with the intimate detail of everyday life,” says Pennington.  “Photographer Tommy Hughes captured a cross-section of Bowling Green throughout his fifty-year career.  His eye for detail and his universal approach to his subject matter combined to create a body of work that is thorough, complete, and compelling.”

Pennington and Wood will discuss their new book Bowling Green Since 1950 at the Warren County Public Library at 1225 State Street on Thursday, April 1 at 6:00 p.m.  For more information, call 781-4882 or visit our web site at www.warrenpl.org.

Meet the Authors!

• Book Signing – Thursday, April 1, 2010 at 6 p.m.  Warren County Public Library, 1225 State Street, Bowling Green.  Please contact Jayne Pelaski at 270.782.0252 x 207 for more information.
• Southern Kentucky Book Fest – Saturday, April 17, 2010.   9 am – 4 pm.  Carroll Knicely Conference Center, Bowling Green.  Please visit http://www.sokybookfest.org/ for more information.