Brian Peyton Joyner Brian Peyton Joyner (b. 1970). Author, Southerner. I was born and reared in a small town in South Carolina. In case y'all don't know, South Carolina has two parts: the Lowcountry and the Upstate. You're familiar with the Lowcoutry. Its capital is Charleston, a place where people speak with a drawl that will melt butter, where that butter would be stirred into grits that take at least twenty minutes to cook, and where those grits would be topped with fresh-caught shrimp sauted in a spicy cream sauce. I, however, am from the other part. I spent the first years of my life living in a trailer in Iva, South Carolina, a town of about a thousand people. My Grandpa used to brag that at least it had a red light whereas its rival city of Starr did not. When I was young, we moved to Anderson where I attended public school, including T.L. Hanna High. In 1988, I graduated top of my class. My valedictory speech contained so many quotes (many in Latin) that I'm grateful VCRs no longer exist. Read More Read Less