Zane:This is the South, where a tragic, haunted history pervades the air as surely as the pungent smell of pine. So it's not surprising that we must return to that almighty past to understand what's preventing the region from excelling in the 21st-century's global economy.

J. Peder Zane:Some fans paint their bodies sky blue. Others adorn their faces with devilish decals, howl like wolves or swing their arms like tomahawks. Me, I'm a shouter. If my TV had rabbit ears, it would probably be deaf from the verbal onslaughts.

Zane:What would Shakespeare have done with our ongoing drama, "The Politician and the Preacher"? What depths of psychological and political insight might the Bard have plumbed depicting the rich relationship between that apostle of hope, Barack Obama, and his fiery pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.?

Zane:Psst. Over here. Come closer. Don't worry. It's safe.

Zane:Does global warming keep you up at night? Do you worry that rising sea levels may turn Wilmington into Atlantis? Have you traded in your Hummer for a hybrid and replaced your old appliances with fuel-efficient models?

Zane:The idea was simple yet visionary: Publish handsome volumes of the world's greatest books at a price working people could afford.

Peder Zane:Dan Ariely wasn't always a prankster professor, messing with people's minds in the name of science.

Zane:I never imagined myself banging pots and pans while streaking around the neighborhood shouting, "Yowza, powza, hot-diggity, hooray!"

J. Peder Zane:When I was The N&O's book review editor, I often heard bibliophiles mutter: So many books, so little time.

J. Peder Zane:I'm not so sure.

J. Peder Zane:Dr. Richard Kimble is bound for the death house -- not to care for prisoners but to await execution for his wife's murder.

J. Peder Zane:Slap on some aviator sunglasses? Don a sequin jumpsuit? Curl my lip? Swivel my pelvis? Wolf down a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich?