Walking the streets of Charleston in the late afternoons of August was like walking through gauze or inhaling damaged silk.

We've pretended too much in our family, Luke, and hidden far too much. I think we're all going to pay a high price for our inability to face the truth.

It's impossible to explain to a Yankee what `tacky' is. They simply have no word for it up north, but my God, do they ever need one.

Writing is the only way I have to explain my own life to myself.

Know this. I think you could be special if you only thought there was anything special about yourself.

There's no word in the language I revere more than 'teacher.' My heart sings when a kid refers to me as his teacher, and it always has. I've honored myself and the entire family of man by becoming a teacher.

Paranoia has a sharper taste if the danger is real.