Ernest J. Gaines, author of A Lesson Before Dying, spoke before a crowd of nearly 2,000 people Tuesday at University of Cincinnati's Shoemaker Center.

        Mr. Gaines' appearance was part of On the Same Page, a citywide reading project that asks people to read his book, then discuss it with others.

        The hope is that the program will help the city heal from continued racial strife.

        “I think it's good to know the point of view of the author,” 16-year-old Hughes High School student Ron Shay said before the lecture. “I want to know what the lesson before dying was and what he was trying to say in the book.”

        Ron was there with his 10th-grade class.

        Announced Feb. 28, On the Same Page has sparked record sales of Mr. Gaines' book and spawned book clubs and discussion groups throughout the Tristate.

        Mr. Gaines, stately and balding with a soft, resonant voice, took the stage after several introductions — including one by city Councilman Jim Tarbell, who presented the author with the key to the city. Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken was not present.

        A Lesson Before Dying is the story of a young man wrongly convicted for murder by an all-white jury. While on death row, he is visited by a teacher who has been conscripted to teach him how to die like a man.

        “The story is about responsibly,” Mr. Gaines said. “That's what makes a man.”

        The author began the lecture with an explanation of how he developed the story. He mentioned growing up on a plantation in Louisiana, and said his characters were composites of people he knew and a little bit of himself.

“The story could have happened in the parish where I grew up,” he said.

        Mr. Gaines came up with the basic idea for the book, then wrote to the warden of a local prison for his opinion on the plausibility of his story's time frame. Later, while teaching creative writing at the University of Southern Louisiana, he received additional help from his students.

        From his students he learned how a man reacts when he knows he is going to die and who could visit a convicted man. He also learned a little about the psychology of small-town sheriffs and the details of a 1947 case that eerily mimicked his fictional one.

        But in the final analysis, he said he was “writing about what I think the human condition is.”

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