For the next couple of weeks, instead of looking at things that happened in the past, we're going to celebrate a dozen writers with local ties. As the virus rages on and the holidays approach, what could be a better way to spend your time than reading a book or two or three that have ties to Kingstree and Williamsburg County? To be clear, these are not the only books out there written by authors with ties to this community. I've tried to choose books to highlight here that are either available locally through the Williamsburgh Museum or the Williamsburg County Library, or that can be purchased through online bookstores.
Strangers to Temptation is a set of linked short stories set in Kingstree.
In Strangers to Temptation, Scott Gould has channeled his reminiscences of growing up in Kingstree into a linked set of 13 short stories, tied together by the symbolism of the Black River, flowing just to the west of the town limits. Through the eyes of the 13-year-old narrator, we see his coming of age during the 1970s when, while he is no longer innocent about the ways of the world, he still lacks understanding and is often puzzled by life. And just last month, Scott's second book, a full length novel, which also uses Kingstree as one of its settings was published. Whereabouts takes scrappy Missie Belue from her Kingstree roots on a road trip to ultimately find herself. Scott now lives in Sans Souci, SC, and teaches at the South Carolina Governor's School of the Arts in Greenville.
The first African-American woman to reach the Greater Columbia Board of Realtors' Four-Million Dollar Club in one year, Nancy Johnson notes that God delivered her from a place of lack to a place of abundance. Growing up dirt poor in the Sandridge Community just outside Kingstree during the 1950s and '60s, Nancy never doubted that one day her life would be better, and in The Million Dollar Producer, she tells the story of her life and how she became successful in real estate. At the age of 10, she made a number of declarations for her life and set about doing the hard work it would take to achieve them. Remembering the Kingstree of that time, she writes, "The struggle was real, and so were the hearts of the people in our community." Walking downtown on Saturday afternoon was social networking in those days. "Downtown Kingstree was the hot spot to be on Saturdays," she remembers.
Jay Reeves also grew up in Kingstree, which plays a role in some of the essays in this collection, as do his parents, Ernie and Jerry Reeves. The stories in this volume were originally written to encourage attorneys to live more balanced lives, but the wisdom Jay dispenses here can be just as easily applied to other professions and to life in general. Kindness and compassion are always in season, and Jay uses personal anecdotes from his childhood and his 35-year legal career to stress their importance. He is a skilled writer, and you will find yourself laughing out loud at some of the situations in which he finds himself. You will also brush away a tear or two at some of the events he describes. Jay lives in Chapel Hill, NC, where he runs Your Law Life, LLC.
Kingstree native, Martha Boatwright Boone, was one of the first 100 women in the world to train as a urologist. Her autobiographical novel, The Big Free, is set in 1982 in New Orleans, LA, where Dr. Elizabeth Roberts spends a six-month internship in general surgery working at both Tulane University Hospital and at Charity Hospital, also known as The Big Free. Dr. Roberts comes from the South Carolina Lowcountry, and her proper upbringing ill prepares her to deal with the gritty cases and snap decisions required to save lives in one of America's busiest trauma units. Yet, as the months go by, she adjusts and finds her place. Dr. Boone worked for six years at Charity Hospital. She recently retired from private practice in an Atlanta suburb.
Growing up near Kingstree, David Brown heard many stories about family, but there was one that no one wanted to talk much about. However, David knew that one day he wanted to tell that story. It took many years, but through a series of encounters, he found the way to relate the story of his great-grandfather Sidney McGill Brown's duel in 1870 with John James Martin, his rival for the hand of David's great-grandmother, Margaret Crawford Peden Tisdale. His grandfather first told him the story, but it was with the help of Minnie Kellahan, a relative of Crawford Tisdale Brown's, that he was able to piece together the events that led to John James Martin's death and Sidney McGill Brown's trial, which he recounts in Only Death. David is a retired pharmacist who now lives in Florence.
Written while author Lesley Mitchum lived near Kingstree, Storm Crossed, her debut novel, has been classified as science fiction, paranormal romance, and young adult fantasy. The book has elements of all three genres. College student Cami is walking on her grandmother's farm one day when she comes across a pond she doesn't remember. In the clear waters, unusual for a pond in South Carolina, she sees the glint of a gold ring. Wading into the pond to retrieve it, she is struck by what she believes is a stray lightning bolt. In that moment, her life changes forever. When she awakens in the hospital, she finds three good-looking young men, who, she will discover later, have also developed extraordinary powers from lightning strikes. Will Cami develop her power or will it destroy her?
Next week, we'll look at six more authors with ties to Kingstree and Williamsburg County.
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