Maura Hogan suggests books for summer reading

In the July 17, 2022, Post and Courier Sunday paper, Maura Hogan’s column focused on several books she plans to read this summer, all with connections to Charleston. I will briefly mention three of the books, but to read the article in its entirity you must have a subscription to the paper. I am unable to ‘cut and paste’ it.

The first book Hogan talks about it one by Betsy Prioleau, who currently has a home in Charleseton as well as in New York City. Diamonds and Deadlines: A Tale of Greed, Deceit, and a Female Tycon in the Gilded Age is a non-fiction book about a long-forgotten American editor and publisher Miriam Florence Leslie. Leslie led a fascinating life and left most of her fortune to the women’s suffrage effort. It’s about time long-forgotten women are being recognized!!

Virginia Christian Beach writes about the history of the Lowcountry–its plantations and environment. She is also the wife of Dana Beach, Executive Director Emeritus of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League. The two of them make their home in Charleston. Virginia Beach’s new book is entitled American Landmark: Charles Duell and the Rebirth of Middleton Place. Charles Duell was 31 years old when he inherited Middleton Place at the time of his grandfather’s death in 1969. What would YOU do if you were suddenly responsible for a plantation and 110 acres of grounds?

The last book is a memoir by a member of Hootie and the Blowfish. Yes, we are jumping ahead several decades with this one. Jim Sonefield has written Swimming with the Blowfish: Hottie, Healing, and One Hell of a Ride. Sonefield is the drummer for the group and discusses how he has coped with global stardom and substance abuse. Darius Rucker wrote the foreward to the book. Hogan says it is “an absorbing, uplifting read.”