One of the great things about building the Foundation over the past several years has been the relationships developed with a variety of artists. Through our relationship with author Marta Miranda-Straub, the Foundation worked with Ben Sollee at an event in Berea and are thrilled he will be the headliner for the October 2nd event in Louisville.

An Evening with Ben Sollee and Friends will be held on Friday, October 2 from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Historic Broadway Theater, 816 East Broadway in Louisville. Besides the headliner, the lineup will feature current Kentucky Poet Laureate Kathleen Driskell, Affrilachian poet Marta MIranda-Straub and KMAC Poetry Slam creator Lance G. Newman II. The Foundation will also be highlighting James Baker Hall’s friendship with Wendell Berry with a gallery of photographs Jim took of Wendell over the 55 years of their enduring friendship.

The purpose of a nonprofit board is to act as the legal and ethical governing body. They ensure the organization stays true to its mission, remains fiscally sound, and complies with all laws. Additionally, the board focuses on high-level strategy and oversight. It is their experience in work and life that makes an organization grow to become stronger and more vibrant. The foundation is excited to introduce to our newest board member, Hasan Davis.

Hasan Davis is a Hope Dealer. After an arrest at age 11 that landed him on probation for the remainder of his childhood, Hasan entered alternative school in the 8th grade. He was expelled from alternative school his Senior year. After earning his GED, Hasan attended Berea College, in Kentucky. Continuing his lifelong battle with ADHD and Dyslexia Hasan was expelled from Berea, twice. He returned a third time, determined to prove that failure would not be his legacy. Hasan earned his B.A. in Oral Communications (focus on Directing and Performance) from Berea College and his Doctor of Law (J.D.) from the University of Kentucky College of Law.

The bus will make one last stop for 2026 for Kentucky Writers on the Road and we will be visiting Amy Le Ann Richardson and our friends at the Bloodroot Writers Collective on Saturday, September 12. Our headliner will be our own Willie Davis reading from Honeysuckle Season, but we are very excited to announce our second reader who is probably known to many of our readers.

Thanks to the work of our University of Kentucky Communications Intern, Natalie Jones, we are now on Substack! The foundation plans to utilize this platform to:

• Share program and interest updates
• Highlight success stories, volunteer spotlights, and donor recognition
• Announce upcoming events

Check us out on Substack at @jamesbakerhallfoundation

One thing we have learned through talking with former students of James Baker Hall is that he instilled a life-long love of writing in them. Just write . . . that’s what he would say. Emily Toadvine relates that is the biggest lesson she learned from her time in Jim’s classes. So she has!

Emily grew up on a farm in Frankfort. She left to attend college at Transylvania in Lexington, but was very discouraged by the support around writing and creativity. She decided to transfer to the University of Kentucky (UK) and graduated in 1985 with a degree in Journalism.

She went on to the Danville Advocate where she worked as an editor for 25 years. Needing a change, she turned her career to Public Relations and held positions at Hospice and a distillery visitor experience.

The James Baker Hall Foundation has come to know and love Melissa Jørgerud Helton as the incredibly mellow, inspirational leader of the Literary Arts Program and Director of the Ironwood Writers Studio at the Hindman Settlement School. So when we attended the Northern Kentucky Equinox in March where we were a sponsor, we were thrilled to see Melissa was going to read. She was amazing, but a very different persona. We were blown away by her reading.

Melissa’s new book of poetry, A Middle-Aged Woman Rages, addresses the complexity of living in today’s world. Add to that the challenges of parenting grown children, divorce and the current political climate and perimenopause, the book hits at the core of reaching middle age.

In this day and age, starting something from scratch requires not only the knowledge of the particular thing you are creating, but also the need to push it out to the world. No
business or organization can be successful without someone who can take care of information systems so that the good work you are doing reaches beyond the confines of a physical structure.

Meet Susan Murphy, the Information Systems Manager, at the James Baker Hall Foundation. Susan grew up in New York City, but an offer to join her uncle’s market research firm in San Francisco led her to the West Coast. Through a couple of jobs in the Bay area including a stint at United Way of the Bay Area, Susan spent the next few years in San Francisco working and managing IT programs.

Wes Blake really wasn’t interested in going to college. But as the time neared, he decided to give it a try and headed off to the University of Kentucky to start his life as a business major. It did not go well. After the first year, he was totally unmotivated and knew that the business world would never see the likes of Wes Blake. After his very unsatisfying first year in college, he switched his major to English where he later earned his degree. It was this switch that led to crossing paths with James Baker Hall. After taking two classes with Gurney Norman, Wes signed up to take Jim’s autobiography class.

If you haven’t been on the Foundation’s social media sites, get moving! Our presence has increased because of the work of Natalia Stanley, Social Media Coordinator. Natalia started with the foundation as an intern one year ago, but has moved to a part-time position because of the level of her work and commitment.

Natalia ended up in Louisville for college via Chicago where she grew up with her parents and brother. She very quickly fell in love with Louisville and when it came time to choose a law school, she made the decision to enter Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law where she will be a second year student. After law school, Natalia plans to pursue a career in criminal defense here in Kentucky. She is especially interested in work that promotes equity and drives meaningful, systemic change within the justice system. This summer in addition to producing social media content for the Foundation, Natalia is working in the Louisville Public Defenders office where she is excited to get some hands-on experience.