Keeneland Library will host Tom Durkin in discussion of A Life’s Calling: The Voice Behind the World’s Greatest Horses.

Because of the great announcers of the 20^th century, sports have become indelibly linked to the voices that describe the action. In horseracing, perhaps no single voice did as much to reshape, modernize, and improve the soundtrack of the sport as Tom Durkin.

In A Life’s Calling: The Voice Behind the World’s Greatest Horse Races, Tom Durkin, alongside writers Paul Volponi and Lenny Shulman, shares his fascinating story of life in the backwater stops of the Midwest learning his craft of calling horseraces, working his way up to calling America’s greatest races. And then there came the day when he called the first-ever Breeders’ Cup and ended up at an after-party surrounded by Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, and Cary Grant.

Tom Durkin is a retired American sportscaster specializing in Thoroughbred horse racing, and was the iconic voice of the Breeders’ Cup, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, and Belmont Stakes, the race caller for NBC Sports, and announcer for the New York Racing Association for more than two decades.

Lenny Shulman is an Emmy Award-winning television and film writer. He served 20 years as features editor of Blood-Horse magazine and is the author of multiple books on horse racing. He has received the Walter Haight Award for lifetime achievement as a turf writer.

Paul Volponi is the multi-award-winning, bestselling author of over 25 books. His novels Black and White and The Final Four have become staples in English coursework.