Holy City Productions

Country music star, Eric Church, addressed the graduating class at UNC Chapel Hill. PHOTO CREDIT: TUDOR MARIAN/DREAMSTIME.COM Best commencement I have heard Dear Editor: For 12 years, I had my answer ready whenever anyone asked about the best commencement speech ever given: Rear Admiral William McRaven, University of Texas at Austin, 2014. No hesitation. Case closed. Then last m...

By Jay Williams, Jr. As with the water that surrounds us, tourism can be a double-edged sword. Our harbor is beautiful, dramatic and calming. For centuries, water has defined Charleston and enhanced its allure. Water, like tourists, is an irreplaceable amenity. But too much water … We should love tourists. They bring in a lot of money. As of 2024, tourism’s economic impact had j...

By Peg Eastman Lord William Campbell by Thomas Gainsborough. Lord William Campbell (1730-1778) was the younger son of John Campbell, fourth Duke of Argyll. (Duke is a noble or royal ranking just below a king or prince, and the Campbells were one of the most powerful families in Scotland.) Unable to inherit due to the custom of primogeniture, William Campbell bought a commission ...

By Martine P. Dulles and Frederick H. Dulles Marcel Proust, Gustave Flaubert, Arthur Rimbaud, Stendhal, George Sand — you must recognize these names of major French writers. No, this article is not a book review, but an introduction to a unique cultural concept in France: Les Hôtels Littéraires. An avid book reader and bibliophile, Monsieur Jacques Letertre decided to share his ...

By Charleston Mercury Staff Charleston-born journalist and war correspondent Will Cathcart has spent much of his career chasing difficult stories in some of the world’s most volatile places, from Russia’s wars in Georgia and Ukraine to the killing fields of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe and the shadowlands of ISIS in the Caucasus. After writing in these pages for many years and serving as m...