January 28, 2010: Someone You Should Know

Robert Olmstead kicks off Nantucket book event.

Photo by Molly Uline-Olmstead

Olmstead’s Coal Black Horse Receives Another Honor
Author featured at Nantucket book event last night

In late 2007, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County chose Robert Olmstead’s Coal Black Horse as the book the whole city would read and discuss for its “On the Same Page Cincinnati” program. It seems that Olmstead’s horse—and book—continue to gallop into the hearts and imaginations of large groups of people. Yesterday, Olmstead traveled to Nantucket to kick off this year’s “One Book One Island” program, which, like Cincinnati, selected Coal Black Horse as its common reading book.

According to its Web site, “One Book One Island is a collaborative project of community partners and sponsors on Nantucket which seeks to promote reading, literacy and community by encouraging the entire population of Nantucket to read, discuss, and reflect on the same book.”

Coal Black Horse is the story of Robey Childs, a 14-year-old boy who has been sent by his mother to retrieve his father from the field of battle during the Civil War. It debuted to wide critical acclaim and won the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for fiction in 2007 and the 2008 Ohioana Book Award for fiction.

The One Book One Island program began with Olmstead’s appearance at the Nantucket Atheneum and will continue through mid-February with a series of book discussions and a film series that includes Glory, Cold Mountain, and The Outlaw Josey Wales. The event will feature a tribute to Nantucket's Civil War veterans and conclude with a grand finale on February 20.

– Gretchen Hirsch