Columbia author draws on Lowcountry past

SPEAKER @ THE CENTER:

James E. McTeer II is a man with a past. A past he has leveraged into a prize-winning novel.

“Minnow,” McTeer’s novel, is about a young boy who goes on a quest to cure his ailing father in the Lowcountry. The boy encounters characters, such as a witch doctor, along the way.

McTeer, a school librarian in Columbia, draws on the history of his family, which includes his grandfather, James Edwin McTeer, who was a witch doctor “sheriff” who practiced “white magic.”

“It was part of our family history, growing up and for as far back as I can remember,” McTeer told The State last month.

Find out more about McTeer’s book, winner of the 2014 South Carolina First Novel Prize noon-1 p.m. Wednesday during the Speaker @ the Center series at the State Library, 1500 Senate St.

The talk is free and open to the public, bring your lunch. Books will be available for purchase and signing. (803) 734-8666; http://statelibrary.sc.gov