The Boys from Corbin ― America's Greatest Little Sports Town

For four decades the 30's, 40's, 50's, and 60's, Corbin High School sports were the glue that held the town together. For those who worked on the railroad, cut or hauled timber, or chiseled and drug coal from the nearby mines, football and basketball was a diversion from the daily chore of providing for their families. Sports were the common denominator that transcended economic levels of Corbin's citizenry.Sports Hall of Fames are dotted with Corbin stars: Frank Selvy Rodger Bird Calvin Bird Billy Bird Jerry Bird Steve Bird Roy Kidd Nick Denes David Selvy Fred Radar Mel Chandler Princess McBurney Jesse Grant Marvin Selvy Bobby Terrell Curly Selvy Edd Selvy Ted Meadors Jerry Smith Bob Barton Tommy Adkins Bob Coleman Marion Cluggish Curt Selvy There are others who were prep All-Americans, college All-Americans, NBA and NFL all-stars. The Boys from Corbin–America's Greatest Little Sports Town is not just a story . . . it's a phenomenon.

Gary P. West has simple criteria when it comes to writing books.“I only take on a project that I will enjoy writing about and I only write about something I think people will enjoy reading,” he says.West grew up in Elizabethtown, Kentucky and attended Western Kentucky University before graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1967 with a journalism degree. At U.K. he was a daily sports editor for the Kentucky Kernel.Later he served as editor for the nation's largest civilian enterprise military newspaper at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. From there he was employed in the corporate advertising office of one of the country's largest insurance companies, State Farm Insurance in Bloomington, Illinois, where he was a copywriter.He returned to Kentucky in 1972 where he began an advertising and publishing business.Along the way, for twelve years, he was the executive director of the Hilltopper Athletic Foundation at Western Kentucky University, and provided color commentary for Wes Strader on the Hilltopper Basketball Network.In 1993, he became the executive director of the Bowling Green Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. He retired from there in 2006 to devote more time to his writing.He is a freelance writer for several magazines in addition to writing a syndicated newspaper travel column, Out & About...Kentucky Style, for several papers across the state.Gary is in demand as a speaker and for book signings throughout Kentucky.This is his sixth book. Previous books are King Kelley Coleman: Kentucky's Greatest Basketball Legend (2005), Eating Your Way Across Kentucky (2006), Eating Your Way Across Kentucky – The Recipes (2007), Shopping Your Way Across Kentucky (2009), 101 Must Places to Visit in Kentucky Before You Die (2009), and co-authored Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association: The Real Story of a Team Left Behind.Gary and his wife, Deborah, live in Bowling Green, Kentucky.