ACE Interviews the Author, Evan Ponstingle
Author Evan Ponstingle has gathered much attention for his young age. The body of work that encompasses the park’s history is a huge accomplishment for someone still in high school. ACE News reached out to Ponstingle to get more of his backstory.
ACE: How long did you work on this project?
Ponstingle: I started working on Kings Island: A Ride Through Time in January 2019. I was 15 years old! So it ultimately took a little over two years from the time I started to the time the book was published.
It’s a lot of material. Personal interviews gave you a lot of information, but what other resources were you able to find? Was the park helpful in this effort?
Like you said, most of the information in the book comes from the 43 interviews I did. Articles from the local newspapers, The Cincinnati Enquirer and the now-defunct Cincinnati Post, helped me fill out the rest. Fortunately for me, the archives of both papers are digitized and searchable through the Cincinnati Public Library's website!
You mention ride incidents, operational problems, escaped baboons, etc. It gives it true authenticity instead of a piece of fluff. Did the park have any hesitation in that?
I wrote the facts of what happened fairly and accurately. The park knew I wasn't doing this to tell a sensational or exaggerated angle, but instead to include a complete look at the park's history, so they didn't really have any hesitations.
You’re young! How challenging was it to get these old-timers to take you seriously? How did you contact them?
I was really surprised at how eager most people were to be interviewed! They left, or in some cases are still leaving, huge impacts on Kings Island but have never received recognition for their work. In a way, the book was a platform for them to share their stories and ensure their credit in Kings Island's history. That was one of my favorite aspects of writing this book, to be honest, telling the stories of the 41 people I interviewed and really giving them the credit they deserve.
It wasn't necessarily very difficult to track people down so much as it was getting them to respond. For the most part, contacting people consisted of either finding their emails and/or phone numbers through a Google search, or having their information passed on to me by previous interviewees who suggested I talk to this person or that person. I'm really, really proud of not only how many people I was able to interview, but that I was able to get people from all departments at both the park and corporate levels. I think it gives a very broad and in-depth look at Kings Island from all sorts of perspectives!
It isn’t common for someone so young to have a high interest in history. How did you become involved in the park’s past?
I work at Kings Island in merchandise, and one of the questions I was getting the most from guests was "Do you sell any books about the history of Kings Island?" Even though pretty much every other park has a history book about them, nobody had ever written one on Kings Island! After hearing that question so many times from guests, I decided to give them what they wanted!
— Tim Baldwin, ACE News Editor