Along the Waccamaw

Wells grew up in a suburb of Chicago; his wife, Marge, was a native of New Mexico. After several years of a nomadic life, in 1974 they settled in Conway, S.C., on the Waccamaw River a few miles from Myrtle Beach. Both experienced considerable culture shock. Conway was a small town standing firmly on tribe and tradition, a place where chickens scratched in the street; people spoke of ``folks'' and ``preacher'' instead of ``family'' and ``minister''; the gun was not a recreational tool but an icon. Wells, who teaches English at a local college, writes an engaging account of adjusting to a different rhythm, contrasting life in Conway with that of his hometown, Glen Ellyn, Ill. A major difference between the southern small town and a northern suburb, he concludes, is that in the small town, business and social lives are intertwined. (Apr.)