I am here to tell you I survived, but just barely, one of America's most treasured innovations; the good old-fashioned yard sale.

“Come here often, good lookin’?” (ahOOgah, ahOOgah, Dive, Dive!)

Award winning thriller and crime novelist Harlan Coben unleashed a chilling corker that plumbs the depths of online dating when he published “Missing You” (New York: Signet, 2015). The schemes, pandering and horrors of electronic matchmaking ooze creepily from every page as one begins to fear that for every date up for grabs there are a half dozen nuts (or far worse) competing for it:

“Love’s action. It isn’t talk and it never has been.” - Beach Music

The friends of Pat Conroy – including his wife Cassandra King – are currently raising funds and seeking volunteers to help create a living memorial to the beloved writer here in his adopted hometown of Beaufort.

            Pat started his working life in Beaufort as a teacher, then went on to become one of America’s best loved writers, revered for his extraordinary storytelling abilities, his truth-telling courage, and his great heart.

By Mark Shaffer

Coach: What's the story, Norm?
Norm: A thirsty guy walks into a bar. You finish it.

                                    – Cheers, 1982-93

Now you’ve probably got that silly song stuck in your head. “Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, blah, blah, blah.” Sorry. When we launched this column back in the dark ages before social media made everyone happier and more productive, we concluded each piece with a simple question: Cheers or Rick’s?