Cathy MooreCathy Moore, a resident of Kentucky, was inspired to write Hired Out from her experience as a tour guide at the Kentucky History Center and her fascination with thoroughbred horse racing through her employment as a Keeneland Library assistant. After raduating from Earlham College in Indiana, she began her professional career as an elementary school teacher and librarian in Illinois. She and husband Don moved to New Orleans and lived not far from the Fair Grounds Race Course where they delved into the culture, history, and practices of horse racing. They moved to Kentucky and immersed themselves in the thoroughbred milieu. Imagining the challenges of a bi-racial girl in antebellum Kentucky, Cathy researched and wrote the story of America Murphy, an actual native of the city of Lexington. Hired Out is a visualization of America's life as a slave living in a border state, across the Ohio River from freedom. America touches history through her later connections with the racing world. Read More Read Less