Books published by Baptist Courier

It is next to impossible not to pick up and thumb through a book with the title of "Whistling At Snakes," and difficult to put it down after sampling the wit and wisdom of The Baptist Courier's late columnist, Horace Sims. The Courier published the first batch of his short essays, "Horace Sims At Large," in 1997, followed by a second compilation of his columns, "Horace Sims Still At Large," in 1998. These books, like his "At Large" pieces, achieved immediate and lasting popularity with the Courier's readers. Sims always managed to take life seriously while looking at it lightly. He could always find at least a little -- and often a lot -- that was funny. And this was so whether the egg was all over his or somebody else's face. He had no peers as a teller of sidesplitting tales. Some were even true. Asked about that, he explained, "All the stories I've written are based on real events. They tell true happenings." Then, breaking into a smile, he added, "Some of them may have been embellished for the enjoyment of the reader."

Explore "My Own Backyard" … then discover yours.In this autobiographical collection, Danny Nicholson explores the landscape of his own backyard through stories about his father, poems about his children, and songs about family, faith and friends.In essence, his book reveals that his story is not his own. It transcends the boundaries of geographical locations, suggesting that life is not so much about where we are but who we are."Geographical boundaries separate backyards, but the memories we make in them create a sameness and familiarity that renders the distance between them non-existent," writes the author. "Backyards are set apart by their location, but they are made of the same stuff - or, even better, we are made of the same stuff."Nicholson's stories, poems, and songs of laughter and tears, darkness and light, faith and love, "inextricably link us to each other as human beings, and give us a divine reason to hope for a better tomorrow.""We are one story or song away from finding all things in common with every human being," he says.An adopted son as well as a husband, father, singer-songwriter, fundraising leader, and speaker, Nicholson is president of Connie Maxwell Children's Home in Greenwood, S.C. He is married to his college sweetheart, Debra, and they have two grown sons who are accomplished musicians.