Three hundred words to describe my experience as an editor’s daughter? I could write a Harry Potter-sized dissertation on the subject. My first comedy special will be called Daddy Issues. (Magazine. Issues. Get it?)
I’m sure my siblings will write about trips to Holiday World or the Miss Kentucky parties. I felt a lot of pressure when I was asked to write this article. I consider myself a decent writer, and I have my dad to thank for that.
Twenty-five years of Kentucky Monthly means I will be turning 30 shortly after this article comes out. I’m currently writing this on a patio in Chicago with my dog, Mini, listening to Monday Night Football, remembering my earliest memories of sitting in press boxes at local sporting events, listening to my dad announce games. It also makes me think of the quote: “Dog is a man’s best friend,” which my dad often told me originated with George Graham Vest, or was it Mark Twain? A quick Google search tells me it actually may have been King Fredrick II of Prussia. That’s the gift of being a “creative nonfiction” writer.
Growing up Kentucky Monthly felt like many things. It felt like playing in the window display of the old office on St. Clair Street, walking to the old Paul Sawyer Public Library with my little sister’s library card because I was always losing mine, and watching Frog and Toad on VHS in the conference room while dipping Oreos in cone cups of water. It felt like driving around with my grandad to drop off boxes of magazines to doctors’ offices and sitting in my mom’s hot van waiting for what seemed like forever while she argued with publishers. It felt like knowing spring was coming when I got to spend my weekends schmoozing artists and sampling artisan chocolate and Cajun popcorn at the Kentucky Crafted Market and getting autographed copies of misprinted children’s books at numerous book fairs. Later, it felt like cringing every time my dad misquoted his “eldest daughter” but feeling grateful that he never wrote about any of my high school romances, while not understanding why his intern [Lindsey] could be featured on the cover but I could not.
Now, I just feel proud. I am happy to have been raised by dreamers who work hard, love their family, and value their home. Growing up Kentucky Monthly was certainly a unique experience, but I couldn’t imagine it any other way. I am proud of my parents and what they have accomplished, and I am grateful I was raised in a creative environment with a house full of personalities. Christopher, Molly, Sydney—you all have the biggest hearts, and I am blessed to grow up next to you and to keep growing beside you. Mama and Daddy, congratulations and thank you!
— Katy Vest