Mule Kick Murders, Black Magic, Sitting Up With The Dead, & An Old Cemetery
Hear how a mule kick killed eight people, how to murder with voodoo, why we used to sit up with the dead, and learn of a haunted French Huguenot Cemetery.
Topic Category: Author Talks
South Carolina Country Roads
“South Carolina Country Roads” takes readers on a journey down forgotten routes and lesser-traveled byways. Join Tom as he shares photos and discusses what he discovered along the 10,000 miles he drove deliberately avoiding the interstates. Discover the bones of the land, the DNA of real life—rural icons, old home places, oddities, vanquished communities, and relics … Read more
What The Shag Taught Me
Tom wrote Save The Last Dance For Me (USC Press), the story of how the blues evolved into beach music and how the shag evolved to become the state dance of North and South Carolina. What surprised him most while writing the history of the shag and the Society of Stranders was a revealing glimpse into his … Read more
Unforgettable People & Places
Tom shares experiences about the legendary Goat Man, a colonel who turned from war to camellias, a sweet man who ended up homeless, and an unforgettable teacher. Enduring places include adventures at a bus station as a ticket agent, filming a wildlife refuge’s lovely isolation, the smell of rain on dirt roads, a kudzu-covered land, … 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.)
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 Chattooga, an old mill where a tractor killed one of the last men making stone-ground cornmeal, a colony of carnivorous pitcher plants, forest fire entrapment while photographing rocky … Read more
How A Road Trip Led To Four SC Books
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 four others. Their initial 100-mile journey in time would lead to more than … Read more
A Vanishing Southland: The Loss of Ways and Traditions
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 more. He brings the Southland of yesteryear alive … despite change and newcomers … Read more
Discoveries & Surprises Along South Carolina’s Back Roads
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 theater, the Kings Highway, a covered bridge, nuclear weapons reactors, poke salad … Read more
The Little Chairs – Helping Young Children Understand Mental Illness
In 1999, Warbranch Press published The Little Chairs, a story based on real life experience in Kate’s family. Kate’s father, a WWII veteran, was chronically depressed and would retreat to a dark corner when he didn’t feel like participating in family activities. The book shows in vivid colors and narrative how Kate’s mother eventually got her … Read more
