May 26, 2000

The Lessons of a Lost Career

By SCOTT HELLER

Robert Crout does not apologize for speaking out on behalf of his close friend Harold Overton. For as long as he's been there, Charleston Southern's leaders "have pretty much buried their ghosts," he says today. "And they were ready to bury Overton and hope this episode, too, would go away."

As he fights for his job, Mr. Crout has collected letters from former colleagues who corroborate his version of Mr. Overton's last years. But Mr. Bonnette, the provost, says he never heard Mr.