9 minute read
Booked for the Summer
One Wildcat couple’s shared love of reading — and basketball — ignites a spark in Lexington middle schoolers, who find echoes of themselves in a champion’s story.
By Dan Knapp
It’s summertime, and the living is easy — a time for travel, poolside lounging or kicking back in an outdoor salon, just like the one Dr. and Mrs. Henderson are enjoying on a golden June afternoon, serenaded by the relentlessly cacophonous soundtrack of cicadas. It’s also the perfect season to lose oneself between the covers of a great book.
Thanks to the Hendersons’ generosity, a Lexington middle school is ready for summer reading — each student with an inspirational memoir to call their own.
Last year, Andrew “Andy” Henderson III ’76 MED, a retired internist, avid reader and ravenous basketball fan, received a copy of “They Call Me Goose: My Life in Kentucky Basketball and Beyond” (University Press of Kentucky, 2024) by Jack “Goose” Givens ’78 AS as a Father’s Day present. Enchanted by the book’s themes of positivity and perseverance, Andy suggested that his bride of 50 years, Peggy ’74 AS, ’86 ED, might enjoy it as well.
Fast-forward a year, and Peggy leans forward in her chair recalling the impact reading it had on her after she turned the final page. Even though she and her husband “read hundreds of books a year,” she couldn’t get Givens’ true-to-life story out of her mind.
Peggy, who majored in English before returning years later for her graduate degree in education, was especially impressed by Givens’ storytelling and sense of local history. A fan of historical fiction, she remembers falling in love with reading as a child.
“Our little library in my little school had a section right in the corner. Everything was bound in orange,” Peggy vividly recollects, her voice threading gently through the shimmering chorus that pulses in the trees just beyond the screened porch. “They were all biographies of famous people. And I read every one of those probably two or three times because I learned I could put myself in the place of Jane Adams or George Washington — whoever I was reading about — and learn things about them. To me, that was more exciting than anything on television.”
More than a paean to Givens’ storied UK basketball team — which he led to the 1978 national championship — the book delves into more personal topics like his humble upbringing in the segregated, barbed-wire enforced BluegrassAspendale housing project, the intense scrutiny of public life, and the crushing weight of debt.
These personal revelations struck a chord with the Hendersons.
“The way he handles adversity in his life is very positive,” the former principal of Athens-Chilesburg Elementary School explains. “He’s very faith oriented. He’s very family oriented, and he brings all that to say to the reader, ‘I went through all this, but I kept my positivity. I kept my faith, and I developed a plan to succeed.’ So, it was really, really good to read that book. At the end, he sums everything up and says, ‘You know, if you want to be successful, you need to be positive, to stay true to yourself. You can do it!’”
Similarly, Andy, the former CEO of Lexington Clinic who was born in Williamson, West Virginia — “Hatfield and McCoy country” — says the book was right up his alley.
“I like nonfiction, particularly stories of people — people who met challenges and, through some… whatever it was — miracles, intervention, something — overcame those challenges and survived,” he explains.
Last summer’s read blossomed into a yearlong effort to encourage young people to set aside their electronic gadgets and discover the joy of a story they could connect with and be inspired by. When Peggy pitched the idea, her husband didn’t hesitate: “Let’s make it happen!”
The Hendersons, who met and fell in love at UK, spoke with the author to get his thoughts on the plan.
“I think we’ve been to every book signing the UK Alumni Association has hosted — because we go to every basketball game,” Peggy says with a chuckle.
The Louisville-native gestures toward Andy and quips, “I’ve always said this one would trade anybody for a ticket to the right game.”
“We were in Atlanta for the KentuckyDuke game, and Jack had a book signing,” Peggy continues. “I had already talked to Andy about the idea. He said, ‘Go on, go ask him.’ So, we went together. I told Jack, ‘If I can work it out with Fayette County Public Schools, would you be willing to talk to a group of middle school students? We’ll buy your book so they can take it home and read it.’” by
The Hendersons say Givens was visibly moved — deeply honored by the opportunity to inspire the next generation.
“I was completely shocked when Peggy approached me with this idea,” says Givens, whose #21 jersey was retired and hangs from the rafters in Rupp Arena. “I was already shocked at how many people had read the book and the sales of it — I was extremely excited about that. But when she came with this idea about trying to get the book in the hands of more young people — more kids — I was thrilled at the possibility of doing that.” passages that resonated with them or reflected their own lives. One student annotated the margins with notes like “He took chances and didn’t stop” and “My pastor helps people too.” Amid the neon-colored markings and personal reflections, one poignant line stood out — a thread tying the student to the author: “My dad left too.”
Tapping into her network from years in the Lexington school system, Peggy began exploring how to get the book into the hands of students.
Earlier this year, the Hendersons purchased more than 300 paperback copies for Lexington Traditional Magnet School (LTMS) students. (The school was renamed Lexington Middle School on July 1). The choice was no coincidence: Givens attended the same school in the late 1960s.
“When Peggy and Andy shared with me how they wanted to do it and I realized that the school we were talking about was a school that I had attended, in a neighborhood I grew up in, I just thought, ‘Man, it can’t get any better than this,’” shares Givens.
“Very few books make me want to get up and do something,” Peggy explains. “But Jack’s did because I’m an educator, and I could see the use of that — or parts of it — in a classroom. I thought it was so good for the students to have something to hang on to. If you teach reading, which I did for many years, you want the child to be able to identify with the text personally.”
Peggy believes every child needs a small library of their own, “a place to live in.” She hopes their gift will inspire children to move away from screens and flex their reading muscles.
“It’s like if you would play basketball from September to May, and then you just stop,” Peggy explains. “When you come back in September, you’re going to have a little regression. That’s normal because you didn’t exercise. Reading is the same way; if you don’t read from the end of May until the first of September, you’re going to lose a little of that skill. I think it’s critical to keep our kids reading in the summertime.”
On May 5, LTMS students had the rare opportunity to hear directly from the former basketball star and broadcaster. They sat rapt as Givens candidly spoke about his book, his career, his ups and downs and what it meant to return to the gymnasium where his journey began.
“I was hoping when I wrote it that young people would read the book because of some of my experiences are the same experiences many of them will go through, certainly the kids in the neighborhood that this school is located,” says Givens. “They’ll experience a lot of the same things I experienced, so for me to come over and spend the day with the young people and talk to them and give a motivational speech, that was easy — easy for me to do.”
Each student — and every school staff member — left with an autographed copy of the book to take home and enjoy.
“They were spellbound; they just swarmed him like he was a rockstar,” says Andy. “Here’s a guy who wrote a book, who grew up down the street. He was a great basketball player. Now he’s on the radio and TV and so forth. He’s a role model. I think those kinds of stories are great for kids.”
Several teachers immediately found ways to make reading the book a shared experience. In one reading classroom, students were invited to read pages from the preface and highlight
The Hendersons didn’t give away hundreds of books so students would remember them. What they hope will linger — long after the spine is bent and the story tucked away — is the quiet certainty that dreams can be chased and caught.
“I hope they remember Jack’s message that you can do anything if you put your mind to it,” Peggy says. “Surround yourself with positive people. Keep working hard. Don’t let people tear you down. Set a goal and strive to meet that goal.”
With LTMS students diving into their summer reading, the Hendersons are teeing up a few titles of their own. In between travels, Peggy can’t wait to savor every twist in “The First Gentleman” (Little, Brown and Company, 2025), co-written by former President Bill Clinton and her favorite author, James Patterson. (She also holds an equally soft spot for the late Louisville mystery novelist Sue Grafton.) Andy plans to dig deep into Eric Topol’s “Super Agers: An Evidence-Based Approach to Longevity” (Simon & Schuster, 2025), exploring the science of aging well.
“I count on him to read all that kind of stuff and then just give me a synopsis,” Peggy teases, reclining in her chair as the whirring swarm of tree-singers continues their afternoon concert, “because I’d rather spend my time reading fiction.”
She may favor fiction, but as Givens proved, a good story doesn’t have to be made up to be unforgettable. ■
