The One Book One Community (OBOC) mission is to use a common and compelling reading experience to inspire dialogue among readers about issues relevant to the community. In view of that, the OBOC committee selected In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White as the book for summer 2010.

White, a former resident of New Orleans and former publisher of Louisiana Life magazine, New Orleans Magazine, Coast magazine, and Coast Business Journal, tells the story of his fall from grace in the early 1990’s. The author ran afoul of the law for check kiting while trying to achieve his goal of establishing a publishing empire, but ultimately found redemption in the most unexpected circumstance and setting imaginable.

Sentenced to eighteen months in federal prison for his crime, White wound up in the beautiful, isolated colony of Carville, Louisiana, on the banks of the Mississippi River. White found himself housed in a large compound whose population consisted of low risk federal inmates. To his surprise and apprehension, he also found housed at Carville the last people in the United States disfigured by leprosy, now known as Hansen’s disease. 

Through the relationships White forged with a variety of unforgettable inmates and patients during his stay, he rediscovered the value of simplicity, friendship, and gratitude. White’s experiences with the people he met at Carville -- from the poorly educated young black inmate from the New Orleans project to the legless and wise Ella, an elderly Hansen’s disease patient – changed the direction of his life. White’s story resonates with readers, reaffirming the life values he learned from Ella that led him to a new sense of purpose: live simply; hide nothing; help others.

The OBOC committee believes this book will speak to a diverse audience in the Baton Rouge area, affirming the core values that make life meaningful and assigning dignity to every human life.