FOX 56 anchor Marvin Bartlett releases new book ‘Spirit of the Bluegrass’ on KY
Marvin Bartlett is a familiar face to Lexington television viewers, having anchored the news desk at WDKY FOX 56 since its beginning in 1995.
“I’ve covered crimes and disasters and drug busts,” he said.
But talk to Bartlett for long, and it’s clear he finds lots of enjoyment in getting out from behind the desk and into Kentucky.
For years, Bartlett, a West Virginia native, has been telling stories about what makes Kentucky special through his “Spirit of the Bluegrass” series, which airs on FOX 56 at 10 p.m. on Wednesdays. The segments are repeated in the morning newscasts and the 7 p.m. newscast on Thursdays.
He’s been from one end of the state to the other, from the Dippin’ Dots factory in Paducah to Abe Lincoln Rock in Owsley County.
Now, he’s compiled more than 60 Spirit of the Bluegrass stories into book form.
“Spirit of the Bluegrass: Strange, Surprising and Sentimental Stories from Kentucky,” was released in late April.
He said he decided to write the book because “TV stories are kind of here today, gone tomorrow. Some of these stories just deserve to be preserved.”
The stories are based on the scripts from his Spirit of the Bluegrass television segments.
“A lot of the writing had already been done,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett, also the managing editor for FOX 56 News, said he began working on the book in the summer of 2023 and finished about a year ago.
He said he started doing the Spirit of the Bluegrass series for LEX 18 in the early 1990s, but when he left the station two years later, the series ended.
Then, nine years ago, he revived it at FOX 56.
In that time, he’s done about 250 Spirit of the Bluegrass segments.
“A lot of these small towns, they just see a news crew when it’s bad news,” Bartlett said. “That’s not really fair to them.”
And he enjoys telling a good yarn.
“It’s the kind of stories I liked to watch when I was growing up,” he said.
And what makes a good one?
“It’s the character, the person. It’s always about the people,” Bartlett said, people who march to the beat of their own drum.
Bartlett produces his Spirit of the Bluegrass series entirely by himself — he does all the videography, reporting, writing and editing.
“I want to do it my way,” he said.
That also allows him the flexibility to do the stories on a schedule that works for him. He can do them early in the mornings or late at night.
“I’m not worried about being on the clock,” he said. “They just trust me to bring a story every week.”
While Bartlett said he doesn’t have a favorite story, he’s partial to those about “quirky people” like Cecil Ison, the proprietor of the Home for Wayward Babydolls in Elliottville, Isonville folk artist Minnie Adkins, and a whole gathering of Abraham Lincoln impersonators.
He said he’s always on the lookout for stories that haven’t been written about much before, where “people who’ve lived in Kentucky their whole life would say, ‘I’ve never heard about that.’”
He’s particularly fond of ghost stories and legends.
“It’s the one time as a reporter you don’t have to prove any facts,” Bartlett said. “I don’t believe in the Pope Lick Monster, but I think it’s a good legend.”
How does Bartlett get the ideas for stories?
Ideas come to him from every direction, and there are always more stories than he has time for.
He said he has a folder with “probably 100 ideas in it:” things viewers suggest, posts he’s seen on Facebook, stories that have run in small town newspapers.
Sometimes, he said, “I just drive past things and see it.”
Ultimately, Bartlett would like to do at least one story in every Kentucky county, but, he said, “I’ve got a ways to go.”
This is not Bartlett’s first book.
He’s self-published two versions of “The Boy Who Delivered Joy,” about Jarrett Mynear, a Central Kentucky child who, while suffering from bone cancer, delivered toys to other patients in the children’s hospital, a legacy that still continues.
This time around, with “Spirit of the Bluegrass,” Bartlett said he decided to try to find a traditional publisher.
“I was prepared to send this to 50 publishers if I had to,” he said.
He didn’t have to.
He said he reached out to Globe Pequot and heard back from them the next week.
The Connecticut-based publisher tends to focus on nonfiction books with a regional flavor, such as travel books and hiking guides, and Bartlett’s vignettes of Kentucky people and places fit right in with that.
Will there be more books in his future?
“I’ve got the material if it sells well and they’re interested in volume two,” he said.
“Spirit of the Bluegrass: Strange, Surprising and Sentimental Stories from Kentucky” is available in bookstores and online.
Bartlett has several upcoming discussions and book signings on his calendar, including an appearance at Coffeetree Books in Morehead at 5 p.m. June 24 and the Woodford County Library at 6 p.m. June 26.
He’s scheduled to be at the Henderson County Library at 6 p.m. July 22 and the Estill County Library Book Festival from noon to 4 p.m. Aug. 30.
