It is not often that you run across a citizen who knows more than anyone else about a small town that he wasn't even born in. Ray Sparrow adopted Cary, North Carolina in 1956, just about the time it began to grow by leaps and bounds. Although he says this book is not about him, when you read his observations on his participation in Cary's growth spurt over the last 60 years, his place is undeniable. One feels as if they are right there beside him in a big comfy chair listening to him reflect upon the people he has met and worked with over the years to make Cary a better place to live. Ray, a designer and builder of many of Cary's finest homes and businesses, not only worked with Cary's leaders, he was an ambassador of good will, running a business that put him in touch with people far and wide; many who came to Cary because of him. Ray Sparrow likes people, building their homes, getting to know their families, making friends with them.

Cases argued and determined in the Supreme Court of North Carolina.

I'm having the definition of a bad year.Game Six loss costing my team the Cup? Check.Getting arrested and ruining my image? Check.Almost getting run over after my car breaks down? Oh, look-a hat trick.My contract is up with the Carolina Comets this year, and I need to get it together if I want to stay with the team.I need relaxation, not a relationship.But when I'm scrolling on a dating app and stumble across the pretty girl who almost ran me over, I know I can't let her walk away this time.Harper is funny, smart, and doesn't care about hockey.I'm not supposed to be focusing on anything other than my career, yet I can't get Harper off my mind.I know I shouldn't fall for her?but I think I already have.PUCK SHY is a standalone hockey romantic comedy. It's good, low angst fun with some hot hockey players.

This comprehensive A-to-Z reference is “an impressive contribution to jazz history and surprisingly good reading” (Michael Ullman, author of Jazz Lives). This informative bookdocuments the careers of South Carolina jazz and blues musicians from the nineteenth century to the present. The musicians range from the renowned (James Brown, Dizzy Gillespie), to the notable (Freddie Green, Josh White), the largely forgotten (Fud Livingston, Josie Miles), the obscure (Lottie Frost Hightower, Horace “Spoons” Williams), and the unknown (Vince Arnold, Johnny Wilson). Though the term “jazz” is commonly understood, if difficult to define, “blues” has evolved over time to include R&B, doo-wop, and soul. Performers in these genres are also represented, as are members of the Jenkins Orphanage bands of Charleston. Also covered are nineteenth-century musicians who performed what might be called proto-jazz or proto-blues in string bands, medicine shows, vaudeville, and the like. Organized alphabetically, from Johnny Acey to Webster Young, the entries include basic biographical information, South Carolina residences, career details, compositions, recordings as leaders and as band members, films, awards, websites, and lists of resources for additional reading. Former host of Jazz in Retrospect on NPR Benjamin Franklin V has ensured biographical accuracy to the greatest degree possible by consulting numerous public documents, and information in these records permitted him to dispel myths and correct misinformation that have surrounded South Carolina’s musical history for generations. “Elucidates South Carolina as a profoundly crucial puzzle piece alongside New Orleans, Chicago, Kansas City and New York.” —Harry Skoler, professor, Berklee College of Music Includes photos