Gary Eaton snapped this image of me doing my thing from my perch on the bridge. A few years ago Gary founded the popular Facebook site “Magnolia Cemetery Photographer’s Group.” I was pleased to meet Gary on this day as well as another photographer named Catherine.
This is a fun book that I am so proud to have authored. I use the 26 letters of the alphabet to espouse nature, the great outdoors and, of course, birding as an interesting and enriching hobby.
One way I promote the book is to say how it is a great way for young children to learn the alphabet, learn to read, and learn about the glorious variety of birds in the world. This is excellent material for parents and grandparents to read to their youngsters at bedtime.
I’m so glad to have a small lightweight table perfect for events like this.
To follow are photos I took of the 17 other Coosaw Creek neighbors who also had the chance to showcase their creative talents, creations and endeavors.
It was such a pretty day I thought it would be fun to walk off our big meal at the cemetery.
Joseph took this photo of me at the iconic Smith Pyramid, eternal home to William Burroughs Smith, a wealthy banker who died in 1892.
The pyramid and hundreds of other gravesites and the people interred in them are featured in my 2014 book, "In the Arms of Angels: Magnolia Cemetery- Charleston's Treasure of History, Mystery and Artistry." Check it out as well as my other books for sale on Amazon. My book information is also available at the top of this blog.
Here are some of the pictures I took as we walked around the venerable150 acre burial grounds. Someone put a tiara on the lovely figure on the tomb of "Little Annie" Aiken who was just shy of 3 years old when she died at 1856 of diphtheria, a bacterial disease that a vaccine today can cure and prevent.
The “Meet the Author” event was originally set for early August but was postponed due to Tropical Storm Debby. The week before the new date, Hurricane Helene struck. The Charleston area got off easy from Helene compared to other parts of South Carolina not to mention North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee.
It was a good experience to speak to an audience of friends and neighbors!
The first Charleston Ladson, John, came here in 1679 from Barbados by way of England where he was born. Some Barbados men were granted large tracts of land in the Carolina Province and would become very prosperous with their rice plantations and enslaved African laborers. The Ladsons became very wealthy and prominent Charlestonians.
The Ladson story is in the Charleston churchyards book.
And thanks and ❤️ to Alesia for her help, support and photography.
I'll have a table at the upcoming Coosaw Arts & Crafts Fair. It will be held Saturday, Nov. 2 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
The strike did happen but the good news as I begin this post Thursday at 7 p.m. is that it was just announced that the strike is suspended and International Longshoremen Association union members will return to work tomorrow morning. The ILA represents 85,000 longshoremen in the U.S., eastern Canada, Puerto Rico and the Bahamans.
Hopefully things will quickly settle down at grocery stores where many shoppers have been stocking up on food and supplies, fearing shortages a long strike could cause. Plus people and organizations have been buying water, food and other products to help those suffering from the wrath of Hurricane Helene.
We were fortunate to only have lots of yard debris caused by Helene's winds in our area.
I worked with My Book Printer of Madison Heights, Michigan on my latest publishing project.
In 2023 My Book Printer featured my "Birds of Magnolia Cemetery" book. Click here to read the interview.
Magnolia Cemetery is a beautiful Victorian rural cemetery on the outskirts of Charleston that opened in 1850.
In 2014 I published a book that showcases the fine monuments and landscape of this final resting place of so many prominent Charlestonians and regular folks too.
And in 2022 I wrote "Stories from the Underground: The Churchyards of Charleston."
So beginning in May of this year the work began. I started laying out the pages in Adobe InDesign. This is the software I’ve used for writing and designing each of my books since the first one that I wrote in PowerPoint (a really long PowerPoint). In 2011 a local printer transformed the manuscript into a format so it could be printed and bound.
I wanted my first book to also be set up in InDesign. And I also wanted, using Adobe Photoshop, to try to make the photographs sharper. So that’s what I did this summer, working on it, page by page, for three or more hours on most weekdays and between trips to Boston and our big Colorado-New Mexico trip in June.
Now that Labor Day has come and gone, I’d like to share my favorite photos from several enjoyable Charleston area beach visits (with Alesia and a couple times with our son Joseph).
I spotted it across the Charles River. We were on the Cambridge side and this building is in Boston.
My research later determined this to be a fairly new building at Boston University.
Right away this image came to my mind.
This is the 12th photograph of mine, over the years, to be included in the newspaper’s Sunday feature.
One such find we spotted on our approach to Taos, N.M. where we would visit the old and historic Taos Pueblo village.
We made a quick stop in another village, Questa. so I could check out this cemetery. It certainly looks different from most of the burial grounds in the Charleston area.
We spent three nights here (at the very nice Residence Inn Santa Fe) that culminated in my niece Nicole’s wedding to Tyler on June 15. See some of my photos from those festivities at the end of this post.
We were fortunate to have clear skies and moderate temperatures in this small city (population 89,008 in 2022) with a big reputation for culture, art, history and shopping.
I’m glad the name was eventually shortened to Santa Fe!
The church in these photos is the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. It was dedicated in 1887 and was built on the site of the original adobe church from 1610. St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) of Italy, is the patron saint of Santa Fe. This statue is of him.
To follow are some of my photographs taken inside this beautiful house of worship.
