The nonprofit Pat Conroy Literary Center will host an evening with historical novelist Margaret Seidler, author of Painful Business, Charleston’s Journey to Truth, on Thursday, March 26, at 5:00 p.m., at the Conroy Center (601 Bladen St., Beaufort). Books will be available for sale and signing. Seating is limited for this free event; please call in advance to reserve: 843-379-7025.
ABOUT THE NOVEL
“While I can’t change the past, I can change what people learn about it and what they do about it today.”
In 2018, at age 65, DNA testing revealed cousins of African descent; ensuing genealogical research uncovered a Charleston family history that shook Margaret to the core. She hails from nearly 100 years of slave traders in the Transatlantic and Domestic Slave Trades. With a professional background in conflict resolution, she faced only one choice, share the truth. This inspired action to bridge today’s racial divide through storytelling and art. “Payne-ful” Business: Charleston’s Journey to Truth, is a book collaboration with another SC native, African American artist John W. Jones, who brings these historic newspaper advertisements to life revealing the humanity of the enslaved offered for sale by my ancestor, William Payne.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Margaret Seidler is a retired Organization Development consultant and master trainer. Her practice focused on creating higher performance in both organization and community systems. Her interest in helping other professionals become more effective leaders began in the early 1990s, when she recognized a dire need to improve her own leadership skills. Her areas of expertise include managing complex challenges and change, emotional intelligence, teambuilding, conflict resolution and interpersonal communication.
Since returning to her hometown of Charleston and establishing her consulting practice in 2001, Margaret published numerous articles. In 2008, her leadership book, Power Surge, was published by the Human Resource Development (HRD) Press of Amherst, MA.
A case study of her work in strengthening citizen/police relationships in response to the Mother Emanuel AME Church tragedy was published in 2017 in The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Paradox, Oxford University Press, UK. In 2022, her broader work with the city of Charleston was published in Both/AND Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems, Harvard Business Review Press, MA.
Margaret’s community service included the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce Board, as well as appointment by the South Carolina Governor to the Charleston International Airport Board.
Her education includes a BA in Psychology and Master of Public Administration from the University of South Carolina, as well as graduate course work in Organization Development at the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis. In 2009, Margaret became one of only eighteen certified Polarity Management™ Masters in North America. She has served as adjunct faculty in Executive Education at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza School of Business, the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management and the US Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organization Management.
Margaret is one of 47 contributors in Ukweli: Search for Healing Truth, South Carolina Writers and Poets explore American Racism, Evening Post Books, 2022.
Her book, “Payne-ful” Business: Charleston’s Journey to Truth, was released in March 2024, has sold 5000 copies, won two national book awards as well as the South Carolina Governor’s Award in the Humanities.
In JAN 2026, Margaret discovered a Runaway newspaper ad for 16-year-old, Molly. She and artist Jones are committed to sharing this horrific story through his stunning art.
