The city is full of three types of people, the first being soldiers, the
other classes are politicians and prostitutes, both very numerous,
and about equal in honesty and morality.
                           ~ Charleston Mercury, December 19, 1860
BOOKS by Mark R. Jones
Shave 'em Dry
by Lucille Bogan

WARNING!
An infamously filthy song
recorded in 1935 - notorious for
years because of its downright
nasty lyrics, but all sung with
great humor.

The best line:
"I've got nipples on my titties big
as the end of my thumb / I got  
something 'tween my legs that
would make a dead man come."

Now you know where Mick
Jagger stole the line for
'Start Me Up' .
 
Wicked Charleston: The Dark Side of the Holy City

The tabloid version of Charleston history: drinking, prostitution,
wayward ministers and general debauchery. From the sexual escapades of
King Charles II and Lord Anthony Ashley Cooper, to a free love colony in
1724! Pirates, slave rebellions and dueling, murder and drunken
ministers, this is the true history of the holy city.


Now in a 3rd printing with a new cover!
Wicked Charleston, Vol. II: Prostitutes, Politics & Prohibition

Volume II continues the revelry by focusing the spotlight on the "ladies
of Eden " who plied their trade to the rich, the elite and the poor alike.
During the 19th century, the most integrated places in Charleston were
the brothels. Fashionable Market Street was once a place where a sailor
could get a beer, a tattoo and a social disease. During Prohibition more
than 20,000 South Carolinians made a living as a bootlegger .

Published by
The History Press in June 2006.
South Carolina Killers: Crimes of Passion

South Carolina Killers: Crimes of Passion, collects ten of the most
intriguing, horrifying and tragic Palmetto state murder stories over the
span of 100 years.  

  • 1903: the Lt. Governor of walked up to a local newspaper editor and
    in full view of several witnesses, shot the editor in the stomach
  • 1944: George Stinney was marched to the electric chair - at age 14.
  • 1994: a young mother made national news when she claimed her
    two sons had been kidnapped by a black man, even though she had
    driven them into their watery grave herself.
  • 2004: police apprehend a man for the rape & murder of a local
    female schoolteacher and were shocked to discover the suspect was
    wearing the victim's clothes.
Palmetto Predators: Monsters Among Us

A collection of South Carolina's most notorious monsters. Including:

  • The killer who turned a small beach community into                        
a terrorized town.
  • The “Gaffney Strangler" contacted police with the                     
    cryptic message: “Stop me or I will kill again.”
  • The friendly schoolteacher / rapist who for 30 years                    
    waged a “one man epidemic” in some of Charleston’s                  
    most exclusive private schools.
  • And of course, the “meanest man in America”, the                     
    horrifying and tragic life of South Carolina’s most             
    successful serial killer, Pee Wee Gaskins.
 
All material © Mark R. Jones, 2008
Wicked CHARLESTON
The Dark Side of the Holy City