Home and Away ― A Professor??Journal

SINCE 2005, readers of the Murray Ledger & Times have been privileged to enjoy the reflective insights of Professor Duane Bolin, a teacher and historian at Murray State University in western Kentucky. These delightful essays recount themes well known to us all…memories of friends and family, thoughts of home and small town living, travel adventures both far and near, and school life both as a student and teacher, just to name a few. This weekly column, “Home and Away”, is also featured in the Danville Advocate-Messenger, Providence Journal-Enterprise, Sebree Banner, and Winchester Sun.While these essays are based upon Bolin’s real life experiences, readers will find comfort in how familiar the stories seem as they trigger thoughts of similar events and casually prompt deeper study on life and living.Home and Away: A Professor’s Journal brings together some of Bolin’s most favorite essays from over ten years of writing—may they provide encouragement and inspiration for many years to come.

James Duane Bolin is a professor of history at Murray State University, where he teaches courses in American History, Kentucky History, and Sports History.Bolin is the author of: Bossism and Reform in a Southern City: Lexington, Kentucky, 1880-1940 and Kentucky Baptists, 1925-2000: A Story of Cooperation. He is a Presidential Research Fellow at Murray State University (2003) and served as a consulting editor and contributor for Banner Years: Murray State Basketball, 1925-2013 (Acclaim Press, 2013).His weekly column “Home and Away” is featured in several regional Kentucky newspapers including the Danville Advocate-Messenger, Murray Ledger & Times, Providence Journal-Enterprise, Sebree Banner, and Kentucky Gazette. Bolin lives in Murray, Kentucky with his wife, Evelyn. Their daughter, Cammie Jo, is a senior at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Their son, Wesley, an employee of Murray State University’s Pogue Library.