Roberto Ruiz

Roberto Ruiz is a civil engineer and partner with Wilbur Smith Associates where he designs the infrastructure of our highways and water systems. Roberto also makes excellent empanadas, Argentina-style.

Bill Wells

Bill Wells is the owner of Bill's Music Shop & Pickin' Parlor in West Columbia, SC. If you are in Columbia on a Friday night and want to hear some great bluegrass, stop by Bill's, where he has an open jam session. It attracts all of the bluegrass greats in the Midlands of South Carolina.

Also, be sure and catch Bill's band: Bill Wells and the Blue Ridge Mountain Grass, when they come to your town.

Special thanks to my son, Daniel, for taking this image. He would like to be a movie director when he grows up (he's currently 10), so this is good practice for him.

Bryan Flanagan

Bryan Flanagan is a sales trainer who works with Zig Ziglar. I met him at an event in Greenville, SC where I was trying to get to meet Mr. Ziglar. I have to give a big thanks to Bryan, as he was instrumental in letting me meet Mr. Ziglar. Also, he's a great speaker. Check out his website.

Congressman Joe Wilson

Congressman Joe Wilson (R-SC) was in West Columbia a couple of weeks ago holding a town hall meeting. Butch Wallace, his local director for SC District 2, asked me to email a copy of the image, which I gladly did. About a week later, I received a print of the image with Joe's signature thanking me for coming to the event. What a great guy. That's real class.

Senator John Kerry

Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts was in West Columbia, South Carolina recently at the Woodsman of the World hall off Highway 1. This was taken by a good friend, Edgar Medina.

Governor Richard "Dick" Riley

I met Governor Richard "Dick" Riley at an event in Greenville, SC. He's really one of the nicest, most unassuming individuals you'd ever like to meet. He currently serves with Nelson Mullins Law Firm and is based in Greenville, SC.

Juan Williams

Juan Williams is a journalist and correspondent with National Public Radio and Fox News. He is a great writer and author of "Eyes on the Price" which chronicled the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. and a recent biography of Thurgood Marshall.

Sherman Alexie

Sherman Alexie is one of the most prominant Native American writers living today. He's from Washington state and has written some incredible fiction and poetry, including "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven," which was translated into a screenplay and a movie titled "Smoke Signals."

Chief Harold "Buster" Hatcher

Harold "Buster" Hatcher is currently Chief of the Waccamaw Indian People of South Carolina. He's done excellent work to get official state recognition for native groups in South Carolina. There are a lot of native Indian groups in the state, but all but one do not have Federal recognition. Buster worked to alleviate the issue at the state level.

Zig Ziglar

So I was reading "Secrets of the Sale" by Zig Ziglar and he kept mentioning living in Columbia and naming small towns around the state. It was at the same time that I learned he was to make a presentation at an event in Greenville, SC. I wrote his office and said if he could give me the address of the house where he lived, I'd take a picture of it an bring it to the event. I received a nice message back from his assistant stating that Mr. Ziglar didn't remember his address, but thanks for the thought.

So I went to the SC State Library and asked for the phonebooks from 1965-1975. Sure enough, he was in there. And, sure enough, the house is still where it was in the late 1960s. I took a picture of the home to the event in Greenville.

After his talk, I got in line where he was signing autographs. I was with a friend of mine named Saddler who works at McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina. We were joking about how long it was taking and that wouldn't it be a shame if they cut us off. Well, sure enough, Bryan Flanagan, who works with Mr. Ziglar, went down the line and said after the kids who were in front of us, Mr. Ziglar had to go. Well, lucky I had that picture with me and I explained to Mr. Flanagan about my correspondence with Mr. Ziglar and all and he said, "Well, isn't that the nicest thing. Go stand over there and we'll walk with Mr. Zigler on his way out."

We got pushed around as Mr. Ziglar made his way out of the area to an elevator. Mr. Flanagan told Mr. Ziglar that I had something for him. I pushed in and said, "Mr. Ziglar, my name is Craig and I'm taken a picture of your home in Columbia." Mr. Ziglar said, "Oh, so you're the guy!"