Speaker: Tom Poland

Tom writes about the South, its people, land, culture, and nature. The author of seven books about South Carolina, he travels back roads looking for forgotten places, captivating people, and vestiges of bygone times, many of which appear in his columns and features. Much of that work finds its way into books. A Georgian and University of Georgia alumnus, he lives in Columbia where he writes about Georgialina, the region he calls his native land. In all, he’s written ten books and has three others underway. Governor Henry McMaster conferred The Order of the Palmetto upon Tom on October 26, 2018.

Click here for the application to have Tom Poland speak in your community.

Stories Behind The Photos (Behind the scenes of Reflections of South Carolina, Vol. II and Classic Carolina Road Trips: 100 stunning images in all.)

Stories Behind The Photos (Behind the scenes of Reflections of South Carolina, Vol. II and Classic Carolina Road Trips: 100 stunning images in all.) Presented by Tom Poland. An illustrated talk takes the audience behind the scenes to a haunted cemetery, South Carolina’s oldest bridge, North America’s only tea plantation, a wild ride down the … Read more

How A Road Trip Led To Four SC Books

How A Road Trip Led To Four SC Books Presented by Tom Poland. Before walking out as SC Wildlife‘s managing editor to freelance, Tom made a road trip with photographer Robert Clark in search of a story. They found it and “Tenant Homes, Testament To Hard Times,” landed them a book contract. That book led to … Read more

A Vanishing Southland: The Loss of Ways and Traditions

A Vanishing Southland: The Loss of Ways and Traditions Presented by Tom Poland. Tom often writes about the vanishing ways, places, and traditions that have blessed the South with a sense of place: small towns that close at noon Wednesdays, vanishing country stores, telephoning fish, wasp attacks in church, casting spells to remove warts, and … Read more

Discoveries & Surprises Along South Carolina’s Back Roads

Discoveries & Surprises Along South Carolina’s Back Roads Presented by Tom Poland. Tom travels many a road off the beaten path. Three legs across South Carolina on Highway 76 reveals the state’s rich and surprising character. Other journeys have taken him from the Chattooga River to the Glendale Ruins to the Lowcountry. A surviving drive-in … Read more

Abandonment Vs. Preservation

Abandonment Vs. Preservation Presented by Tom Poland. In “Abandonment Vs. Preservation,” Tom uses 33 photographs from the back roads that showcase places meriting preservation, places falling into beautiful wreckage as they crumble, and places other have had the foresight to preserve. Especially revealing are “roadside museums” where self-appointed curators have established memorials to earlier times. The message is simple: … Read more

Stories Behind The Photos (Behind the scenes of Reflections of South Carolina, Vol. II and Classic Carolina Road Trips: 100 stunning images in all.)

How A Road Trip Led To Four SC Books

A Vanishing Southland: The Loss of Ways and Traditions

Discoveries & Surprises Along South Carolina’s Back Roads

Abandonment Vs. Preservation

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