The Hotel South Dakota — Kathleen Taylor

LIFE -- AND DEATH -- LESSONS

"In 1969, I, Tory Bauer, was a high school sophomore. For me, a Life and Death issue involved finding a date for Homecoming. The only thing I had in common with the rest of my generation was the notion that love was all we'd need and an unshakable confidence in our own immortality."

"Unfortunately we were wrong on both counts."

"It took a couple of decades, a few tragedies and betrayals, and a windy afternoon standing along the bank of the James River looking down at a dead body in the water for me to realize that the past has a long reach."

"And that high school lasts forever."