Mar. 12 – Robert Mucci, Author, Garvice Kincaid Life and Success

Today Rotarians will hear from fellow Rotarian Robert Mucci about Lexington business legend Garvice Kincaid. In 2025 Mucci authored Ahead of the Pack, Garvice Kincaid and his Empire: A Southern Legacy.

Anyone who has spent much time with Robert Mucci understands quickly how much he loves Kentucky. Robert was raised in Paris, Kentucky, just a few miles from the home of Secretariate. He grew up living over the family’s hardware store on Main Street and readily admits that his smalltown roots and early experiences working in the family hardware store instilled a strong work ethic in him, along with an appreciation of how business works. In addition, because he was raised by his adopted parents – his great aunt and uncle – he also learned to respect the importance of history and its lessons. His parents lived through two world wars and the great depression and often exposed him to stories about how those times affected them and life in general. Those stories also made him understand and respect that history is the foundation of our future.

Robert began his investment career at Kentucky Central Life Insurance Company (KCL) in 1981 and worked there until it was sold in 1995. In his youth, he was introduced to the Kincaid organization by a relative and worked at KCL during college. Robert has a business degree from Transylvania University and is a Charter Financial Analyst. His extensive knowledge of the company and his long association with many of its former employees has provided him with a remarkable amount of personal information about Mr. Kincaid and the various individuals that were important participants in the building of his empire and later in its destruction. His professional background and personal history with the organization provided him with background needed to tell the story of one of Lexington’s most important figures from the1950s to the 1970’s.

Robert retired as executive vice president of a Midwest life insurance company in 2020 after a forty-year career managing insurance company assets. In addition, he has been a Rotarian since December 2001 and transferred to the Rotary Club of Lexington in January 2020. Robert and his wife live in Lexington, Kentucky.

Robert prefers to say he is more of a storyteller than an author and his book demonstrates this. He says, “its not just a dry history, but the history woven together with stories, that helps the reader appreciate who Mr. Kincaid was and how he created his $500 million empire.”