Charles Sowell

South Carolina has been Charles Sowell's beat since Spiro Agnew came to Edgefield to talk about why he was such a great guy. Most of the folks there believed him; which says a lot about the place and the folks they've sent on to Washington and Columbia. And Edgefield has sent A LOT of people on to greater political glory, including long-serving U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond. Sowell writes about the environment now, which by and large either gets readers dewy-eyed with nostalgia, or rip-roaring furious that they've been caught doing (fill in the blank). The environment is largely ignored in South Carolina, unless it affects the reader in some personal way. Then it is vital, crucial and without parallel in importance. Environmental reporting requires the journalist to strike a balance: Everyone has a right to make a living; no one has a right to bilk his or her neighbors to do so. But the old attitudes are changing and the Upstate seems to be trending away from the "don't tread on me or zone by property" dogma to more of a "try to find a way to live in harmony" feel-good feeling.

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