Author of book on Lucy Pickens will be at library

The Aiken County Public Library welcomes an author who has written a fictional history of Lucy Holcombe Pickens.

Emily Cooper, author of "Queen of the Lost: The Story of Lucy Holcombe Pickens," will be at the library at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, for a presentation and book signing.

A former newspaper writer, editor and publisher whose career includes a stint as an editor for the Aiken Standard, Cooper is also the author of "Eulalie," on Aiken's groundbreaking female real estate agent Eulalie Salley; she recently retired as editor of the S.C. United Methodist Advocate.

"Both the author and the subject of the book have a local connection, and I thought that would probably interest local people," said library manager Michael Swan. "The subject of the book, Lucy Pickens, her husband owned Edgewood House in Aiken, and the author, Emily Cooper, was with the Aiken Standard some years back. Her other book 'Eulalie' is still very popular here. So this is historical fiction, and she's obviously done some solid research. It looks like an interesting book."

Released in September, "Queen of the Lost" tells the tale of Lucy Pickens, wife of S.C. governor Francis Pickens, who upon the state's 1860 secession was dubbed "Queen of the Confederacy."

She was a political activist with an interest in the liberation of Cuba and the persecution of the Freemasons, and a social adventuress who made romantic conquests in Russia and New Orleans. Aiken residents know her home, Edgewood, as the Pickens-Salley House on the USC Aiken campus.

"Queen of the Lost" has a cover price of $25. Copies will be available to purchase at the book signing. The presentation and book signing are sponsored by the South Carolina Humanities Council.

For more information about the Emily Cooper appearance or other upcoming events, call the Aiken County Public Library at 642-2020, or visit the library website at www.abbe-lib.org.

Suzanne Stone is a general assignment reporter at the Aiken Standard. Contact Suzanne Stone at sstone@aikenstandard.com, or follow on Twitter at #SuzanneRStone and on Facebook at Suzanne Stone | Aiken Standard.

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