Herrington Lake: Kentucky's Marvel of Architecture, Waterpower & Nature (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781965370155)

Mike Holdren has spent his life studying and teaching art history. He holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of Kentucky, an M.F.A. in painting from the D.A.A.P. program at the University of Cincinnati, and another M.A. in Art History from the University of Kentucky. For 35 years he taught at the collegiate and secondary education level.

His love of architecture and engineering stems from a period of 13 years lecturing on ancient medieval art and architecture at the University of Kentucky, and from 1993-1998 he was a published journalist as the art critic for the Lexington Herald Leader. During that time his art reviews were also published in regional and national art journals like Dialogue: Voicing the Arts, Art Papers, and Fiberarts: The Magazine of Textiles.

As a native to central Kentucky, his association with Herrington Lake began in the 1970s through fishing trips with his father, and that love for experiencing the outdoors at this hallowed locale continued over the next five decades.

Mike and his wife have also been steadfast lake residents, and in the summer of 2023 this book project got underway as the centennial of the lake's history was fast approaching in March of 2025.