Barbara Bush hugged Stonewall Elementary third grader Kirsten Curry Sept. 11, 1992 after she presented the First Lady with a book the class wrote on why they enjoy reading. Bush read “Authur Meets the President” to second and third graders at the Waldenbooks inside Fayette Mall. During her Lexington visit, Bush took a private 20-minute tour of the city’s new Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning. She dedicated it as “a dream come true – an extraordinary place.” About 1,200 people – at least half of them schoolchildren – crowded onto the lawn for the dedication. Some said they had come primarily to see Bush. The First Lady had a small motorcade that left for what had to be one of the fastest trips down Lexington’s heavily traveled Nicholasville Road, thanks to police escorts. As Bush walked around the mall, only one incident was reported. At least a dozen security agents ringed the crowd outside the bookstore. Bush, who arrived in Lexington the night before, stayed overnight with longtime friends Will and Sarah Farish at their Woodford County horse farm. Farish and Lexington Mayor Scotty Baesler said it was Farish’s interest in literacy that spurred Farish to raise about $500,000 to help renovate the former Carnegie Library. Leaving Lexington, Bush went on to Louisville, visiting another literacy program at Wheatley Elementary School. Bush, wife of President George H.W. Bush, died Tuesday. She was 92. Photo by David Perry | staff