Don't be fussy, just keep reading the paper

By GRAHAM OSTEEN
Item Editor-At-Large
graham@theitem.com

It has been a week since my last confession.

I’ve enjoyed the phone calls, e-mails and hearty hellos since I got back in the pages of The Item last Sunday.

It’s nice to be missed, because it can sure go the other way. Like the lady who told me she had lost respect for me and found my Wednesday commentary on the new Monday format highly offensive. And the other lady who used two full rounds of recording time on my answering machine to vent about how bad the new Monday edition is, how misguided The Item is, how the Internet is ruining the world, and how spam ads for penis enlargement are what is wrong with America. She started the second message by saying, “I can see this is going to take at least four.” It only took two, but I couldn’t have made that up.

You never know how people are going to react, which is why I love this business and the grand notion of free speech.

Since I’m suddenly the de facto mouthpiece for recent changes here at the news factory, let’s keep this discussion going.

Don’t complain to my father — Hubert — especially at social events, because he doesn’t care to discuss it. He’ll ask if you know that he has an office phone, which is how he screens your calls. He’s earned that right, so feel free to contact me (or my brothers, or Larry Miller, or anyone on The Item staff directory) if you have something to discuss.

Speaking of change, we’re looking for local correspondents to report community news from any and all regions of the tri-county coverage area. Just like the “good old days.”

Who needs anonymous blogs when you can have real people filing print “Dispatches” from Oswego, Dalzell, Horatio, Stateburg, Wedgefield, Alcolu, Wisacky, Pill Hill, Pinewood, Pocalla, Davis Station, Cane Savannah, Stokes, Hodges Corner, Dubose, Borden or any place you call home.

Get it to me by Wednesday at 5 p.m. for publication in the Monday edition. Keep it under 250 words. Send a picture if you want, especially if it involves large vegetables.

I get questions about living in Georgetown and working in Sumter. How can I be “in touch” with the community? Can I still “feel the pulse,” etc. Fair enough. Here’s my story.

I grew up in Sumter and lived in town on Winn Street until I was about eight. I was a rambunctious city boy, and part of an infamous neighborhood gang. (More on that in another column.)

My family moved out to the country and settled on what was once a rattlesnake and water moccasin farm just off Cains Mill Road, where I lived peaceably until I was sent away to reform school at age 15. I moved back to Sumter at age 24 with a wife and six-month-old baby in tow. We lived here for 14 years, then moved to Hartsville for eight years. Our kids are now grown, so we have chosen to live on the coast.

The drive is a little tiring at times, but I study road kill, count vultures, visit with roadside vendors and the unique people you meet in convenience stores, and drink Red Bull to stay alert. I also listen to a lot of books and XM satellite radio, which keeps my mind occupied. I drove daily from Sumter to Hartsville for two years after we bought that paper, so driving has become a normal part of life.

It’s all a matter of perspective and choice. I have a friend who lives in Connecticut and works in New York City. He rides the train for two hours each way, every day. I’ll take road kill and Southern characters any day. That’s how I keep a finger on the pulse.

Graham Osteen is co-president of Osteen Publishing Co. and Editor-At-Large of The Item. Contact him at The Item, 20 North Magnolia St., Sumter, S.C., 29150; graham@theitem.com, or call 803-774-1352.