Today's Author Meet and Greet at Lexington County Public Library Irmo Branch was a huge success! There were sales, promised sales, (handing out bookmarks with information is a good thing), meeting the public, and seeing old friends. In that category is Ray McManus, with the English Department of the University of South Carolina-Sumter.

     About a decade before I came to Gilbert High School as an English teacher, Ray was there as a student who unexpectedly came to appreciate poetry. We met t an inservice in my current school district, Richland 2, about seven years ago. Our paths have crossed, most recently at the Deckle Edge Literary Festival last month. Today we swapped books (more on that to come) and caught up with each other. I appreciate his collegiality and his friendship.