Ken Mink plays basketball for Roane State Community College. Mink, a former journalist, made headlines of his own in retirement when he became the oldest person to score a point during a college basketball game several years ago.

By Allison Rupp

"Nightmare on Black Mountain" by Ken Mink (CreateSpace, 223 pages)

Retirement from a busy life as a journalist hasn't slowed Ken Mink, 76, down one bit.

He started an online travel magazine.

He became the oldest college basketball player to score a point at the age of 73.

He has written and published several books, most of which are based on news events he covered, and has more book ideas "in the hopper."

"It gives me a chance to bring characters to life," said Mink, of West Knoxville.

Though his work is classified as fiction because names and events are changed, Mink hasn't been able to shake his passion for journalism, reporting the facts and sharing true stories.

Within the past six months, he has published two books about major events he covered during his 14 years at the Knoxville News Sentinel. "Nightmare on Black Mountain" is about a tragic mining explosion on the Tennessee-Kentucky border in 1976, and "Serpent on the Cross" is about a group of religious snake handlers who were killed in Cocke County.

Mink worked at the News Sentinel from 1972 to 1985, and one of the biggest stories he covered while in Knoxville was a mine explosion that killed 26 miners and inspectors.

"I was an assistant editor at the time," Mink said. "They knew I was from Kentucky, and I was familiar with the area. When this happened, I suggested I go up there."

Mink's father, to whom the book is dedicated, was a miner for more than 40 years so Mink felt he could empathize with miners and families.

"In terms of tragedies it was the toughest story I ever covered," Mink said. "It was very difficult seeing the grief and sadness on those weather-beaten faces and seeing the tears flowing down the faces of little children who had lost their fathers."

He wrote four or five articles on the tragedy, interviewing families, survivors and mine officials and attending congressional hearings on the accident. The mining company used illegal equipment in the mine, which led to the disaster.

Mink used these interviews and reports as the basis for his novel, but when it came time to write, he did more research.

"Not all these facts were revealed at the time of the accident," Mink said. "It was a tragedy ? it happened unfairly because of greed, and I thought that needed to be exposed."

He said about 99 percent of the book is true, and he would be "deeply grieved" if someone found an error in it.

Besides his books, which he publishes through Amazon.com's CreateSpace, he also writes and edits an online travel magazine called "Travelling Adventurer Magazine" (http://www.travellingadventurer.com/).

He loves to travel to golf, snow ski and play basketball.

He just returned from the Senior Olympics in Hot Springs, Ark., where his basketball team placed first in its age division.

"Nightmare on Black Mountain" was published in December, and "Serpent on the Cross" was published in February.

The book is available at http://www.amazon.com.