Scenester: Mark R. Jones

NAME: Mark R. Jones

JOB: Author and tour guide. I have written four books about South Carolina (and Charleston) crime, murder and political corruption. With my wife I own a walking tour company, Black Cat Tours, that specializes in unusual Charleston history.

SONG THAT BEST DESCRIBES YOU: "Accentuate the Positive" by Johnny Mercer.

ON A SATURDAY NIGHT YOU ARE USUALLY: Giving walking tours until midnight.

FAVORITE EVENT IN CHARLESTON: The Hat Ladies Easter Parade because it is so surreal and because I wear a hat every day of my life for the last 30 years. It's fun to watch the amateurs who only do it once a year.

TALENTS/HOBBIES: Storytelling and making so-called boring history entertaining. I'm lucky that my hobby is also my life: history, reading and writing.

Music IN YOUR CD PLAYER RIGHT NOW: "Jabbo Smith, 1929: The Complete Set." Jabbo was from the Jenkins Orphanage in Charleston and became one of the greatest jazz trumpet players of the 1920-30s. Amazing music.

BEST THING ABOUT CHARLESTON: It's place in American history, which is more important than most people realize. And the fact that we have at least one building from 30 of the 34 decades this has been a city.

WORST THING ABOUT CHARLESTON: Traffic and the city's inability to address the 200-year flooding problem.

FAVORITE BOOK: Either "The World According to Garp" by John Irving, or "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute.

IN LOVE?: Absolutely and totally, with my wife, Rebel Sinclair.

In one word, YOUR FRIENDS DESCRIBED YOU as: Irreverent.

In one word, YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS: Irreverent.

THINGS YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME: Read, read, read, listen to music, spend time with my wife and sleep a couple hours a night.

BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT: Getting four books published in three years after more than 20 years of writing. I guess persistence does pay off ... eventually.