TOM POLAND on Carolina Bays, “Photographer Robert Clark and I traveled over 30,000 miles in three states exploring and documenting the phenomenon known as Carolina bays…[Published by the University of South Carolina Press,]…this book takes you inside bays in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. One of Earth’s more mysterious landforms, their origins yet unsolved, Carolina bays are rich with wildlife splendor and mystery.”

The author of fourteen books and more than 2,000 magazine features and columns, Poland writes about the South, its people, culture, land, natural wealth, and beautiful detritus—ruins and abandoned places. He travels back roads looking for forgotten places, captivating people, and vestiges of bygone times. Much of that work finds its way into books, columns, essays, and features.

Writing that evokes a sense of place and fluid, lean prose appeal to him. Favorite writers are James Salter, Cormac McCarthy, Pat Conroy, and James Dickey.

Once upon a time playing football meant the world to him. Come an autumn day in Athens, Georgia, you’ll find him in Sanford Stadium watching the Dawgs play.