Here are the first few paragraphs from a newspaper story I wrote back in April:

Mim Eichler Rivas has been a ghost-writer for, or collaborator of, famous celebrities like Della Reese and Victoria Principal, and she helped Antwone Fisher, the subject of Denzel Washington’s directoral debut, tell his story in print.

But her next book will be an unauthorized biography. Its subject: a box office legend who was seen by over 10 million people in personal appearances during his career and who used his celebrity to promote kindness to animals. This celebrity, in fact, was so beautiful that ‘Beautiful’ was a part of his stage name.

He was Beautiful Jim Key, and at the turn of the 20th Century, from 1897 through 1906, he was America’s most famous and celebrated horse — not for his speed, or even his beauty, but for his intelligence. The horse had been trained to spell, distinguish between coins and make change, write letters on a chalkboard, identify playing cards, and respond to political questions, a trick which delighted President William McKinley during Tennessee’s Centennial Exposition in 1897.

Decades before the first Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration, Shelbyville achieved nationwide fame as the home town of Beautiful Jim Key and his trainer, former slave William Key. Dr. William Key was a success story on his own, a self-taught veterinarian, trainer and entrepreneur who was one of the best-known African-Americans of his day.

As you can see from the Amazon link above, pre-orders are now being taken for “Beautiful Jim Key: The Lost History of a Horse and a Man Who Changed The World,” which will be released Feb. 1. Mim Eichler Rivas, a charming woman who was a delight to interview and with whom I’ve corresponded several times since, will be stopping in Shelbyville in February as part of a tour to promote the book.