D.G. Martin

Why would North Carolinian Elizabeth Kostova, who is a New York Times No.1 bestselling author, set her action-packed novel in Bulgaria? The main character of “The Shadow Land,” Kostova’s new book, is a young North Carolina mountain woman named Alexandra Boyd. On her first day in the country she meets a small Bulgarian family group. They tell her they are on the way to a beautiful monastery and suggest she consider visiting it later. After they part ways, Alexandra finds that she has a satchel that belongs to the Bulgarian group. A young taxi driver called Bobby befriends her...

While President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping were getting to know each other last weekend, a native North Carolinian was warning that the United States and China are on the brink of war. Graham Allison grew up in Charlotte, where he was a football star for Myers Park High School and later played at Davidson College before transferring to Harvard. There he spent most of his academic life, most recently as director of Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. Based on a careful study of historical situations in which a rising power like China confronts...

Spring is finally here for good, and as light green and new blooms fill our landscapes, it might be time for me to suggest a few books for the new season. In “Argos: The Story of Odysseus as Told by His Loyal Dog,” Carrboro author Ralph Hardy retells the classic adventure story of Odysseus’ travels after the battle of Troy. Seagulls, sparrows, turtles and other animals tell the dog Argos about his master’s encounters in the cave of the Cyclops, on the island of the lovely Kalypso and on the sea at the mercy of Zeus and other Greek...

“I have to vote to break a tie on town council’s votes all the time,” the mayor of a small North Carolina mountain town told a friend. “When they deadlock it is a 3 to 3 vote, with the same people always voting together.” When asked if it were a Democrat versus Republican situation, the mayor explained that political parties have nothing to do with it. “Three of them are Methodist, and the other three are Baptist. They just stick together no matter what the issue.” What denominational preference might have to do with where to put a stoplight,...

Diane Rehm’s scheduled visit to Elon University on April 6 is reminding fans of her public radio program how much they miss her since her retirement at the beginning of this year. For 37 years her morning talk show made her one of America’s most influential people. Her program attracted smart and articulate guests from diverse points of view. Her respectful, sometimes halting, questions prompted conversation that challenged her listeners to reassess their positions on important issues. When she faced a personal health battle with a rare neurological disorder, spasmodic dysphonia, something that affected her voice and threatened her...

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Where are Ruby and Jack Hunt when we need them? Somebody needs to sit our political leaders down and guide them into talking to each other about how to get our state out of the HB2 mess we have made for ourselves. That is what former Cleveland County state Representative Jack Hunt and his wife, Ruby, used to do in Raleigh. I admired their ability to get people of different views together at the same table for meals and fellowship. Here is the way I described their magic meals in my new book, “North Carolina’s Roadside Eateries.” “Jack and...