Charleston Currents #12.15 | Feb. 24, 2020
REMEMBERING CLIVE: Author and adventurer Clive Cussler, who passed away at age 88 last week, and a team found the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley in 1995. Above is a replica of the sub that’s outside the Charleston Museum on Meeting Street. Read a tribute to Cussler below. And see the Calendar for a series of interesting coming lectures at the Museum.
TODAY’S FOCUS: Remembering adventurer and author Clive Cussler
COMMENTARY, Brack: Do something to reduce frenzy at presidential debates
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Morris Financial Concepts, Inc.
NEWS BRIEFS: Rotary Club of Charleston celebrates 100th with project, statuary
FEEDBACK: Exhausted by Graham
MYSTERY PHOTO: Historic photo
CALENDAR: Charleston Museum announces Charleston 350 lecture series
Remembering adventurer and author Clive Cussler
Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley, suspended from a crane during her recovery from Charleston Harbor, Aug. 8, 2000. Public domain photo via Naval Historical Center.
Editor’s Note: Author Clive Cussler, who discovered the sunken remains of Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley almost 25 years ago, passed away last week at age 88. His friend Dean Foster, who lives in Meggett, remembered him on Facebook last week. He gave us permission to share.
By J. Dean Foster, special to Charleston Currents | Dirk Pitt never cried, until today.
Foster
Rest in peace Clive Cussler, a true gentleman, a throwback and a real life adventurer followed and enjoyed by millions of readers.
He was my client. I met him in May 1995 when he called late at night from the Mount Pleasant Holiday Inn bar and insisted I come there immediately.
He was with his team of hired divers, just returned from a mile out of Charleston harbor and with startling news: they discovered the H.L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a warship.
Cussler and crew were celebrating with rounds of drinks: Guinness in a glass mug with a shot of Gosling’s Black Seal rum dropped into the bottom. They called it “Hunley’s depth charge” and pushed one my way.
“How do you know it’s the Hunley?,” I asked. “Video? Photos?”
Desperate silence.
Cussler
“Get the cameras and your asses back out there tomorrow,” said Clive. “We’ll get the evidence. You get the press conference arranged — 48 hours.”
Two days later, the story was on the front page of The New York Times, and on all of the major television networks and BBC worldwide. I stopped counting at 300 million impressions.
When I handed him my invoice, Cussler grinned and wrote me a check for twice the amount.
Today is sad. And I’d like to think the world’s evil forces, “be they Commies or Blofeldian madmen,” will take the day off out of respect for Cussler’s Dirk, the guy who grabbed them all by the throat and never let go.
Clive, thanks for the ride.
Update March 1, 2020:
Dirk Pitt was spotted late today,12 miles outside Paradise Valley, Arizona, screaming through the high desert in a 1921 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost. He arrived at the airfield and climbed into the cockpit of his immaculately restored WWII P-51 Mustang fighter, released the throttle and was airborne within minutes. He was late. He planned to pick coconuts at breakfast with the beautiful Vivian Tallagash on Kauai. She was a feast.
Just past sundown, Dirk noticed a small box at his feet. Inside he found a half-roll of duct tape, three cotter pins and a note:
“Don’t worry about the oil leak … but you may need these just in case. Oh, and please tell Vivian she can keep the shirt; she looks stunning wearing it at first light. – Clive.”
Dirk placed the tape on the stick and set his eyes on the now darkened horizon. The midnight blue sea illuminated by a billion stars overhead. Clive once said the most beautiful thing on earth is a night sky out on the ocean, lights from above, like so many holes in heaven.
Foster is a longtime local public relations and marketing professional.
Do something to reduce frenzy at presidential debates
Photo via Charleston City Paper.
By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Halfway through the nationally-aired South Carolina presidential debate on Feb. 25, the television got turned off. Too much bickering. Too little substance. Too much crosstalk.
There’s got to be a better way for voters to get information than big spectacles where candidates have 75 seconds to answer direct questions and challengers can pipe in for only a few seconds. More serious discussion is needed.
From a production standpoint, CBS did a beautiful job in transforming the Charleston Gaillard Center into a red-white-and-blue presence that looked great and felt right. But what went wrong during South Carolina’s moment in the spotlight was the format and how moderators didn’t moderate. A few observations:
Microphones have off buttons. During particularly frenzied or tense moments during the two-hour debate, candidates started interrupting and yelling to get words in edgewise, which led mostly to chaos. At one point, former Vice President Joe Biden questioned whether rules would be enforced, asking, “Can we just speak up when we want to?”
At that moment moderators Norah O’Donnell and Gayle King should have stopped the debate, turned off the microphones and warned candidates that only one microphone “hot” or on at a time if the crosstalk continued. (That’s the magic of electronic media — microphones can be turned off.) Candidates would have settled down and a sense of decorum would have returned.
Better moderators. The moderators just didn’t control the debate. They seemed to be out of their element, letting candidates run the show, which is why it often seemed like organized chaos. In the future, perhaps professional, trained moderators who know how to run debates, not television anchors, should be in charge. It also wouldn’t have hurt if a local reporter or two had been part of the panel of questioners.
Better questions. The Charleston debate was for a national audience, especially since the Feb. 29 primary is to be followed March 3 by Super Tuesday voting in 14 states. In Charleston, where a mayor’s race hyper-focused in November on flooding and climate change, it was telling there were no questions about either — in a campaign where climate is getting more and more attention.
So what’s an alternative to the debate nonsense? How about this: Instead of a fancy show that costs lots of money, how about giving a few minutes of unrestricted television time to candidates to share whatever they want in prime time, followed by live or videotaped short answers to three or four questions from the national and local media?
If, for example, each early voting state had a debate in this format, each candidate could address the national audience on big issues in a 5-minute statement, which would be a short version of a stump speech. Then the forum host could have reporters ask short regionally- or locally-focused questions for candidates to give 1-minute answers.
Such a format would keep the broadcast from going on forever and it could be paid for with commercial breaks. Had each candidate in Charleston been handled without the big debate spectacle through this proposed format, the whole prime-time show would have lasted 70 minutes, not two hours. Furthermore, the broadcaster could have still had a big “spin room” where candidates, surrogates and staff were interviewed after statements and answers to give context to what people heard.
Such a new, engaged format would, in and of itself, encourage participants to pay attention to issues and discourage cacophonic attacks on other candidates. Moderators wouldn’t really have anything to moderate and would, instead, be able to focus on asking questions of candidates to extract answers that shine lights on more issues. And voters might learn more in one sitting about a variety of candidates than they could in spending hours doing online research or going to rallies.
It’s hard enough to figure out which candidate might be best for the country without having to sift through noise, crosstalk and too much yelling. Political parties and candidates need a better way to engage voters in prime time. Some free TV time mixed with answers to probing questions might be just the ticket. Doing things the same way in the future is going to lead to more disasters.
Andy Brack is the editor and publisher of Charleston Currents and Statehouse Report. Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
Morris Financial Concepts, Inc.
The public spiritedness of our sponsors allows us to bring Charleston Currents to you at no cost to readers. Morris Financial Concepts, Inc., is a nationally recognized, fee-only financial consulting firm that helps you identify and align your resources, values and goals to achieve an enriched life.
We do not accept commissions or compensation related to the products and service we recommend. Our counsel is based solely on what we believe is best for each client.
- Learn about founder and Charleston Currents columnist Kyra Morris and more about the consultancy at: Morris Financial Concepts, Inc.
Rotary Club of Charleston celebrates 100th birthday
Rotarians Dan Ravenel and John Tecklenburg, both past presidents of the club, with wildlife statuary at the Rotary Fountain.
Staff reports | The Rotary Club of Charleston marked the 100th anniversary of its formation with the Saturday dedication of a bronze sculpture display adorning the Rotary Fountain in Marion Square. As part of the celebration, club members also held a Saturday evening gala at the Francis Marion Hotel.
The display by wildlife artist Scott Penegar features small animals in bronze that are indigenous to the Lowcountry. The art will be mounted on the fountain, originally commissioned by the club in 2002. It welcomes visitors and residents to the southwest corner of Marion Square. The Rotary Club of Charleston has a long history of beautifying Marion Square, dating back to a beautification project in the 1940s when members helped to install plants and trees to upgrade the popular gathering spot.
The dedication of the display featured a proclamation by Rotarian and Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg honoring Saturday as “Historic Rotary Club of Charleston Day.”
Part of the club’s continuing commitment to Charleston is community service, which members highlighted through a $50,000 grant to the Charleston Police Department to assist in the creation of a Leadership Development Institute. Club members also viewed a retrospective video on the impact of Rotary in Charleston, including its role in helping start the local chapter of the Boy Scouts, the Trident United Way, the Charles Webb Center, and the Coastal Community Foundation.
The Rotary Club of Charleston, founded in 1920, is comprised of business and civic leaders who are dedicated to making an impact through service and support of important initiatives both locally and internationally. More: www.charleston-rotary.org
Also in recent news:
Big money for meals: Congratulations to the Lowcountry Food Bank, which raised $452,000 on Feb. 9 through its 21st annual Chef’s Feast gala and live auction. More than 700 people attended the event, which will fund 2.7 million meals in the continuing fight against child hunger.
Trump taps House Judiciary chair McCoy. The White House announced this week that Charleston Republican Rep. Peter McCoy has been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina. The appointment is pending confirmation in the U.S. Senate. Read more. In other House Judiciary news, the committee received favorable reports on a Senate-passed bill, S. 176, to reinstate the electric chair for executions and on a bill that seeks to curb teen vaping, H. 4710. Previous coverage of vaping and state lawmakers.
4K program covered 70 percent of impoverished students in 2019-2020. About 70 percent of South Carolina’s low-income 4-year olds, or 25,366 children, were enrolled in the state’s public education in 2018-2019, according to a new report from the state’s Education Oversight Committee. Read more about this finding and more here.
- Previous opinion: South Carolina needs to expand access to 4K education.
House leader says anti-offshore drilling bill ‘will pass.’ Simrill said a House bill that would effectively bar offshore drilling and its infrastructure in South Carolina “will pass in the House but it will happen after the budget.” Read previous coverage on this session’s off-shore drilling legislation.
Lawmakers to screen MUSC, USC, S.C. State trustee candidates. Senate and House members will screen candidates seeking to serve on the boards for the Medical University of South Carolina, South Carolina State University and the University of South Carolina beginning noon March 2 in room 209 of the Gressette building at the Statehouse grounds in Columbia. See the agenda here.
- Have a comment? Send to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com
Exhausted by Graham
To the editor:
Many share your exhaustion re Lindsey Graham. I have to date talked to over 10,000 voters face to face. Lindsey has a 2 percent approval rating. Of course, he is well-known, and name recognition is valuable. But I can’t count how many times people have said, “Anyone but Lindsey.”
Senator Graham has shown who he really is, just an empty shell he pours opinions into. We don’t need another six years of Lindsey Graham practicing his hot takes. Have a look at our campaign, Mr Brack. For a new GOP. Decent, honest, rational.
We need people who want to serve and do the work, not celebrity talking heads like Graham.
— Joe Reynolds, North Charleston, S.C.
Use mute button on yourself
To the editor:
[President Bill Clinton] committed a crime. [President Donald] Trump didn’t—dah!
Try the mute button itself please
— Fred McGuire, Ninety Six, S.C.
Got something to say? Let us know by mail or email
We’d love to get your impact in one or more ways:
Send us a letter: We love hearing from readers. Comments are limited to 250 words or less. Please include your name and contact information. Send your letters to: editor@charlestoncurrents.com. | Read our feedback policy.
Tell us what you love about the Lowcountry. Send a short comment – 100 words to 150 words – that describes something you really enjoy about the Lowcountry. It can be big or small. It can be a place, a thing or something you see. It might be the bakery where you get a morning croissant or a business or government entity doing a good job. We’ll highlight your entry in a coming issue of Charleston Currents. We look forward to hearing from you.
Historic photo
Here’s a photo that’s more than 150 years old. It’s related to South Carolina, but can you guess what it is? Send your best guess to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. And don’t forget to include your name and the town in which you live.
Our last Mystery Photo, “Water tower,” should have looked familiar to anyone who may have visited Fripp Island in Beaufort County. The iconic water tower, one person observed, looks like a golf ball on a tee.
Only two Charleston Currents readers recognized the tower: George Graf of Palmyra, Va.; and Jay Altman of Columbia. Congrats!
Graf added, “According to Wikipedia, “although it has had several names over its history, the island is presently named after Captain Johannes Fripp, a British sailor charged with protecting the Carolina colony from Spanish attacks. Local folklore history has long suspected Fripp to be the location where Edward Teach, the pirate known as Blackbeard, had stowed away some of his treasures.”
Send us a mystery: If you have a photo that you believe will stump readers, send it along (but make sure to tell us what it is because it may stump us too!) Send it along to editor@charlestoncurrents.com.
Charleston Museum announces Charleston 350 lecture series
Staff reports | The Charleston Museum will offer three lectures in association with the 350th anniversary of the founding of the Carolina colony. The Charleston 350 Commemoration Lecture Series will feature leading scholars who will look at the early history of the colony that would become South Carolina. The lectures will examine the three cultures that came together to influence the area’s early history – Native Americans, enslaved people and Europeans.
The series will kick off on Thursday, March 5, at 6 p.m. with a lecture by Dr. Jon Marcoux, Director of the Clemson University and College of Charleston’s joint Graduate Program in Historic Preservation. Marcoux will present “Lowcountry Life before Charles Towne: Native American Communities in 1669,” and discuss the peoples who were in South Carolina prior to the permanent arrival of Europeans.
On April 2, Dr. Daniel Littlefield, Carolina Professor of History at the University of South Carolina, will speak about the first enslaved people that were brought to Carolina and why the institution eventually thrived as it did in the colony.
To close out the lecture series, on May 7, Dr. David Cranford, assistant state archaeologist for the North Carolina Department of Cultural and Natural Resources, will discuss the amalgamation of cultures, principally their influence on colonware, an important ceramic of the period with both Native American and African characteristics.
All lectures will be at 6 p.m. in the museum’s Arthur M. Wilcox Auditorium and are free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged but not required. More info.
Also on the calendar:
Local photographers on display: March 4 to March 31, North Charleston City Gallery in North Charleston City Hall. The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department will showcase photographs by Dawnita Hall of North Charleston and Nicole Robinson of Charleston in an exhibit that runs for the month.. The artists will host a free public reception for their concurrent solo exhibitions at the gallery on March 5 at 5 p.m.
Ahead at Gaillard Center: Enjoy something a little different soon at the Charleston Gaillard Center on Calhoun Street:
VIVA MOMIX: 7:30 p.m., March 7. Combining illusion, beauty, magic, fun and inventiveness, VIVA MOMIX features everything that MOMIX is known for. Recognized internationally for presenting work of exceptional innovation and physical artistry, MOMIX is a company of dancer-illusionists under the direction of Moses Pendleton one of America’s most innovative and widely performed choreographers and directors. Sponsored in part by the Charleston Concert Association. Tickets are $25 to $87.
The music of Ray Charles: 7:30 p.m., March 10. Performers Take 6, Nnenna Freelon, Kirk Whalum, and Clint Holmes will celebrate the music of Georgia native son Ray Charles in this special show. Tickets are $33 to $66.
White the Wild Things Run/Walk 5K: 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., March 7, Caw Caw Interpretive Center, Ravenel. Explore the center’s scenic trails in this event during which an awards ceremony will include food and beverages. Cost: $32. Ages 10 and up. More: http://www.CharlestonCountyParks.com.
CofC Faculty Jazz Ensemble: 7:30 p.m., March 9, Recital Hall, Simons Center for the ARts, 54 St. Philip St., Charleston. The 2nd Monday Series at the College of Charleston School of the Arts will present the ensemble which will perform jazz standards, arrangements and originals. Admission is $15 general / $10 students. More info and tickets are available at go.cofc.edu/secondmondaymusic. Tickets also will be sold at the door. Seating is on a first-come, first-served.
Wine, Women and Shoes: 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., March 12, Charleston Gaillard Center, Charleston. This annual fun event benefiting Florence Crittenton Programs of South Carolina brings together outstanding footwear, a fashion show, and great wine and food. For ticket info and more, go to: WineWomenAndShoes.com/FloCrit.
Trolls: 6”30 p.m., March 13, Medway Park, 2069 Medway Road, James Island. The Charleston Parks Conservancy will offer Movie Night in the Park with games and activities before the showing of “Trolls” at dark (approximately 7:27 p.m.). Food truck Street Bird will have food and drinks available for purchase. Rated PG, “Trolls” is the story of Poppy, the happiest Troll ever born, and the curmudgeonly Branch who set off on a journey to rescue Poppy’s friends and the Troll Village. More: facebook.com/CharlestonParksConservancy
Walk for Water: 9 a.m., March 21, Riverfront Park, 1061 Everglades Ave, North Charleston. Thousands will rally for Water Mission’s 14th annual Walk for Water, which encourages participants to carry buckets along the three-mile route to simulate the daily trek millions of people make to collect water in developing countries. Cost: $25 for adults, $10 for youth, children 4 and under are free. Register online.
Visual Vigil: March 21 to May 3, City Gallery, Prioleau Street, Charleston. The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs presents Visual Vigil, a new exhibition by artist Susan Perkins. The show is designed to be an active conversation on the effects of mass shootings; the installation is made up of contemplative pieces that represent the lives lost and communities affected by mass violence from 1903 through present day. An opening reception will take place March 20 at 5 p.m. An artist’s talk will be held on 2 p.m. March 28. A community discussion about gun violence and gun reform will be held 6 p.m. April 21. More info.
Pet Fest 2020: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., March 21, Mount Pleasant Palmetto Islands County Park. This year’s Pet Fest will feature a day of exhibits, demonstrations, experts, contests, adoptable pets, and more at Charleston’s premier pet festival. Pet Fest attendees who adopt a pet from the Charleston Animal Society at the event will receive an Individual Park Pass (value $30) to select county parks. Admission to Pet Fest is $8 per person.
Quintet to perform for parks: 5:30 p.m., March 21, McLeod Plantation Historic Site, James Island. A quintet of the Charleston Symphony will perform “LIsten to Spring” as a fundraiser for the Charleston County Parks Foundation. Guests are invited to enjoy popular music under the stars at the historic site from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The Charleston Symphony Brass Quintet will take attendees on a musical journey from New Orleans to Broadway, with detours to Europe and South America. Tickets are $75. Proceeds will go to support the foundation’s Pass It Forward Project. Tickets are available at CharlestonCountyParksFoundation.org.
ONGOING
Lights of Magnolia: 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., through March 15, 2020, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, West Ashley. Enjoy nine acres of Chinese lanterns, dragons and more at the venerable garden’s new evening attraction. The lantern festival includes custom-designed installations of large-scale thematically unified lanterns, a fusion of historic Chinese cultural symbols and images that represent the flora and fauna of Magnolia. Learn more online. Tickets are $11-$26. Parking is easier now. For more information and frequently asked questions, click here.
Early morning bird walks at Caw Caw: 8:30 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday, Caw Caw Interpretive Center, Ravenel. You can learn about habitats and birds, butterflies and other organisms in this two-hour session. Registration is not required, but participants are to be 15 and up. $10 per person or free to Gold Pass holders. More: http://www.CharlestonCountyParks.com.
- If you have an event to list on our calendar, please send it to feedback@charlestoncurrents.com for consideration. The calendar is updated weekly on Mondays.
If you like what you’ve been reading, how about considering a contribution so that we can continue to provide you with good news about Charleston and the Lowcountry. Interested? Just click the image below.
OUR UNDERWRITERS
Charleston Currents is an underwriter-supported weekly online journal of good news about the Charleston area and Lowcountry of South Carolina.
- Meet our underwriters
- To learn more about how your organization or business can benefit, click here to contact us. Or give us a holler on the phone at: 843.670.3996.
OUR TEAM
Charleston Currents offers insightful community comment and good news on events each week. It cuts through the information clutter to offer the best of what’s happening locally.
- Mailing address: 1316 Rutledge Avenue | Charleston, SC 29403
- Phone: 843.670.3996
Charleston Currents is provided to you weekly by:
- Editor and publisher: Andy Brack, 843.670.3996
- Contributing editor, common good, Fred Palm
- Contributing editor, money: Kyra Morris
- Contributing editor, Palmetto Poem: Marjory Wentworth
- Contributing editor, real estate: Digit Matheny
- Contributing photographer: Rob Byko
SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE
Subscriptions to Charleston Currents are free.
- Click here to subscribe.
- Unsubscribe. We don’t want to lose you as a reader of Charleston Currents, but if you must unsubscribe, you will have to do it through the email edition you receive. Just go to the bottom of any of your weekly newsletters and click the “unsubscribe” function. If that doesn’t work, please send us an email with the word “unsubscribe” in the subject line.
- © 2008-2020, City Paper Publishing, LLC. All rights reserved. Charleston Currents is published every Monday by City Paper Publishing LLC, 1316 Rutledge Ave., Charleston, SC 29403.
We Can Do Better, South Carolina!
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
Use our feed
Send us your comments
