David Lauderdale, who has been a Lowcountry journalist for more than 40 years, is retiring as senior editor of The Island Packet, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. He began with the paper as a reporter, later serving as a news editor, managing editor, editorial page editor and columnist.
"What a fortunate soul I am to have found my ship in life, the little smoke-belching Packet boat," Lauderdale wrote in a column to readers.