Steve Imbeau’s biography of Mayor Frank Willis is comprehensive and well-documented. It chronicles the various stages in the Mayor’s life- both professionally and politically-by recounting many of his more substantial accomplishments. But as the narrative unfolds, the reader quickly understands that this isn’t simply the story of a career structured around accomplishments. It involves a life spent nurturing, sustaining, and coalescing relationships. A great many of these projects materialized because Frank worked assiduously to cultivate personal friendships with the women and men who would make Florence and the Pee Dee successful. In that regard, Frank’s magnanimous personality and his unique ability to convey a unifying vision for the community are the central themes of this book. Steve Imbeau’s book captures the essence of those traits superbly.FRED CARTER,

President, Francis Marion University