According to old-time wags and natives who see Charleston as the epicenter of the world, the Atlantic Ocean actually starts in Charleston harbor at the confluence of the Ashley and Cooper rivers. (See Robert Ariail’s cartoon at right that’s the cover of the book.) The late U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings, born in the Holy City in 1922, often was heard saying, “Every great city has a great river. London has the Thames. New York has the Hudson. Washington has the Potomac. And Charleston, Andrew, Charleston has two great rivers — the Ashley and the Cooper — and that’s where the Atlantic Ocean starts.”