WUKY to Air Special on Legendary Sportscaster Claude Sullivan

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 21, 2014) — WUKY, the University of Kentucky's NPR station, will air a special 30-minute retrospective tonight on legendary UK football and basketball and Cincinnati Reds broadcaster Claude Sullivan.  WUKY News Director Alan Lytle talks to Sullivan's son Alan who has written a book about his dad, who died of throat cancer at the height of his career in 1967, at the age of 42.

The book "Voice of the Wildcats: Claude Sullivan and the Rise of Modern Sportscasting," published by University Press of Kentucky, was released earlier this year.

Lytle and Alan Sullivan discuss many of the highs and lows of Claude Sullivan's career. In his production, Lytle uses audio clips of Claude Sullivan to correspond with various topics he and Alan Sullivan discuss.

"Sports fans will hear some of Claude Sullivan’s biggest moments behind the microphone, including calling Kentucky Wildcat games, interviews with Coaches Adolph Rupp and Bear Bryant, plus examples of his work as a broadcaster with the Cincinnati Reds, and a rare clip of him interviewing Happy Chandler and Bob Hope," Lytle said. 

Lytle used audio from the Claude Sullivan Audio Collection in the UK Libraries Archives.  The Sullivan family donated the tapes to UK, and Alan Sullivan sifted through hundreds of hours of the material to compile his book. 

The special 30-minute program runs at 6:30 p.m. today and will be rebroadcast at 5:30 p.m. Thanksgiving Day on WUKY 91.3 FM.