Tom Moore Craig, author of Upcountry South Carolina Goes to War, will speak at the Lanier Library Tuesday, August 17 at noon. The program is free and everyone is welcome.

A lifelong resident of Spartanburg County, S.C., Craig is descended from the first permanent settlers of the county – his great-great-great-grandparents, who built the Walnut Grove Plantation. His own family home, Cragmore, close to the original plantation (which was donated to the Spartanburg County Historical Association by his family in 1962)&bsp; contains a large library and many mementoes of his familys long history in the county.

Ten years ago Craig began transcribing 124 family letters from the 1850s and 1860s that had been collected and carefully preserved by his great aunt. Spanning the entire history of the Civil War, the letters turned into a manuscript that was accepted for publication by the University of South Carolina Press in 2007. The book, Upcountry South Carolina Goes to War: The Letters of the Anderson, Moore, and Brockman Families, was published in 2009 and is now in its second printing.

Before he began work on the book, Craig served for 30 years as a high school teacher, principal and guidance counselor, and was a member of the South Carolina House of Representatives. He now continues his interest in history as a volunteer for the Spartanburg County Historical Association as well as giving his time as a volunteer for the Hatcher Garden and Nature Preserve,&bsp; the Hub City Writers Project and the Hub-Bub Organization. He is also on the board of trustees of Greenvilles Upcountry History Museum and a member of the executive council of the South Carolina Library.

The program is one of the Lanier Librarys Brown Bag Lunch series, held on the third Tuesday of every month. The audience is encouraged to bring their own bag lunches. Coffee will be provided.