S.C. celebrity hairdresser shares fond memory of the late Barbara Walters’ class act

Fond Barbara memory

As so many people, I am sad to hear the passing of Barbara Walters.

My first job in the beauty industry was working as a receptionist at the Kenneth Salon inside the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. I remember first seeing Barbara there. I was young and ambitious, in my 20s, from rural South Georgia. Seeing Barbara was one of the few celebrities who made me feel like I had arrived in NYC and maybe had a chance to be in the mix.

Eventually, as we would run into each other more and more often, Barbara would always acknowledge me by saying, “Hello, handsome.”

I came to believe that she most likely didn’t remember my name until a full-circle moment when I was back in NYC from my work in Los Angeles with Paula Abdul on American Idol. Paula was a guest on The View. I was backstage after styling her hair, and as Barbara walked by to go on set, she turned to me, winked, and said, “Hello, Dennis.”

For me, and probably so many of us, in person and in journalism, Barbara was the gold-standard of smarts, class and grit.

Dennis Stokeley, Bluffton

Protect our votes

In December, the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol found former President Donald Trump and his associates engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election.

South Carolina continues to have a vocal minority that believes election officials are corrupt due to conspiracy theories Trump advanced. The Horry County Republican Party supported calls to disband the State Election Commission. The Republican legislature, along with once-again elected Gov. Henry McMaster, signed an election ‘reform’ law to revamp the perceived failure of the state’s election system. Attorney General Alan Wilson supported a lawsuit that tried to get the U.S. Supreme Court to invalidate the 2020 election.

As Americans, we must stand in solidarity against these efforts, which is why I organized an event in Columbia as part of the “Our Freedoms, Our Vote” national mobilization marking the two-year anniversary of the attacks on our country, demanding true reforms.

We support the continuing investigations to ensure accountability for those responsible for Jan 6. We are calling out potential sham investigations, and we are continuing to call for state and federal legislation to protect our freedom to vote, and to have that vote count.

Candace Brewer, Greenville

I-95 horror story

My wife and I lived in South Carolina for 13 years, during which time we became avid Gamecock fans. We recently decided it would be fun to meet some family members in Columbia and travel together to the Gator Bowl.

We assumed there would be heavier-than-usual traffic, but imagine our surprise when it took more than five hours to drive from Columbia to the Georgia state line. Interstate 95 in South Carolina was a parking lot, primarily because the two southbound lanes could not accommodate the increased traffic.

Once we got to Georgia and then Florida, there were three and, sometimes, four southbound lanes. Therefore, the heavy traffic moved at a much faster pace.

In Jacksonville, we heard countless horror stories about the traffic in South Carolina. People found it hard to understand why I-95 in South Carolina was so inadequate as compared to Georgia and Florida.

South Carolina has continued to lag economically behind Georgia and Florida. Perhaps highway infrastructure has something to do with this.

A few years back, the gas tax in South Carolina was increased to improve roads and highways. Where has this money gone? It certainly hasn’t done anything to improve I-95.

Frank Morgan, former resident now in Glen Allen, VA

Children need recess

In 1998, Barbara Neilson, Gary Smith, Bill Gates, and Gerrita Postlewait worked to ruin our schools and have succeeded for 23 years, and now we have the most mentally ill children in history.

It will not cost one dime to give them back their recesses and to shorten the school day by an hour. And voila! You’ll have healthy, happy children who are also better behaved.

Children need hope. Children need a playtime to look forward to after working hard in the classroom.

Teachers, who need healthy, happy children to teach, have told you for 23 years that children need their recesses back.

Children misbehave because they are penned up for long hours and feel like screaming at the top of their lungs. If I taught school today, I would be screaming at the top of my lungs.

Our legislators have given the teachers and students an impossible world to live in.

Patricia Milley, Conway