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On September 25, 1980, the Hardin County Lively Arts committee brought actor Vincent Price to Elizabethtown, KY, to give his lecture, "The Villains Still Pursue Me." My mom was not a Lively Arts subscriber, so I had heard nothing about his planned appearance. On the afternoon of September 25, 1980 (I was a junior in high school), the students of Elizabethtown High School were called out of class for an assembly. The entire student body was shocked when the principal introduced Vincent Price! I had been a lifelong horror fan, and getting to see Vincent Price in person was blowing my mind. He spent almost an hour talking with the students, telling stories, reading Poe's "The Conqueror Worm," and answering questions from the student body. The question I most vividly remember was from Jeff Davis; he asked what it was like for Mr. Price to work with Alice Cooper (Price provided a narration for the song "The Black Widow" on Cooper's 1975 album, Welcome to My Nightmare). Price said he enjoyed doing the work, and it was the first gold record he'd received. That evening, Mr. Price gave his lecture in the T.K. Stone Jr. High School auditorium. Needless to say, I was there! I took my cheap little tape recorder with me, and still have the recording of the lecture (I recently transfered the aging tape to CD). It was a very enjoyable lecture, with lots of great stories. The one I remember most: a lady once met Price in an airport. She stopped and said, "You're him, aren't you?" He replied with, "Well, yes, I am," and the woman replied, "You are Boris Karloff, aren't you?" After the lecture, Mr. Price mingled with the crowd and signed autographs for everyone who wanted it. Lots of kids getting autographs. I didn't even think about him signing afterward, so I didn't think to take anything with me; I had him sign the flyer for the lecture. I remember wanting to kick myself when I saw that my fellow classmate Jeffrey Sherrard had had the foresight to bring an issue of Famous Monsters magazine that featured Mr. Price on the cover. Photos 1–4 below were taken by Jeffrey Sherrard during Mr. Price's EHS visit. Photos 5–7 were taken by Hunter Goatley that evening. The last photo was snapped by Jeffrey Sherrard; as Mr. Price was getting into the car to leave, I shouted out, "Thank you, Mr. Price!", and he turned and waved to us.
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