Johnny Cash album tied to book on Hawaii

Last Friday, Johnny Cash's last album, "American VI: Ain't No Grave," released to eager Cash fans the world over.

Cash's parting song on the album, a gentle tune titled "Aloha Oe," wasn't written by Cash. It was written by a member of royalty most of us know nothing about: Lili-uokalani, the last queen of Hawaii.

During the final years of his life, Cash was known to draw on American musical luminaries – Tom Petty, Nine Inch Nails, etc. - for his albums with the American Recordings series. But “Aloha Oe” is significant to America for a different reason. It points to the story of how Hawaii became a part of America.

“The true events surrounding Lili-uokalani and the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy have been suppressed for nearly 100 years,” says Gaellen Quinn, author of The Last Aloha, a novel detailing this little-known slice of history.

“The song 'Aloha Oe' is a song about good-byes, and touches on the tragic downfall of the last queen of Hawaii,” says Quinn. “Knowingly or not, when Cash said good-bye on his last album, he echoed a queen saying good-bye to her sovereign nation.”

A tourist hot-spot, the site of LOST tapings, and buffer for the recent tsunami following the Chilean earthquake, Hawaii is – for most Americans – a beautiful accessory to the United States. But in her research, Quinn uncovered the rich and untold story of Hawaii, the one about a prosperous Victorian kingdom. With Cash's latest album, this secret history is back in the national spotlight.

Gaellen Quinn is an author, historian, and consultant for social economic development projects worldwide. In 2009, The Last Aloha was awarded semi-finalist in the Amazon.com/Penguin Books Novel Contest.