Liz Sullivan Columbia doesn't have it so bad, recessionwise. The fall in home prices and the glut in listings haven't combined in Columbia to match the horror stories heard elsewhere. With its relatively stabile business status pulled along by Ft. Jackson, USC, state capital offices and other oft- cited economic engines, Columbia is actually a good place to be these days for a professional in residential real estate.

Liz Sullivan is a Columbia Realtor in business with Jay Graham at Graham Realty.

Sullivan was born in Eden, N.C. where her father was in human resources with Fieldcrest, the large textiles concern. Her mother had just finished her master's degree in education at UVA in Charlottesville. Sullivan has an older brother by five years in Winston- Salem and a younger sister by five years in Greensboro. The youngest in the family, Sullivan's 30- year- old brother graduated Roanoke College about

the same time as Columbia

Star writer Natasha Derrick.

Sullivan's mother moved to Waynesboro, Va., where she remarried, and her father located in Charlotte with his new wife. Sullivan attended the first four years of elementary school at Berkeley Glenn in Waynesboro, and then she took grades 5- 9 at Providence Day School in Charlotte.

Her father took a new position with CocaCola in Atlanta, where Sullivan attended Lassiter High School. She took her last two years of high school in Roanoke at Cave Spring through graduation.

For extra spending money in high school, Sullivan worked at a Chick- Fil- A in Atlanta and at Mac & Maggie's restaurant in Roanoke.

Her father kept a summer place in Cape Vincent in upstate New York on the shores of the St. Lawrence Seaway. At age 11, Sullivan learned to sail. At age 14, she sailed her own Laser, a smallish Sunfish. She claims the title of the youngest ever to win the Her- i- cane Regatta, which she won at age 14 on Lake Norman near Charlotte. She won in a 27- foot Catalina.

Sullivan entered UGA in Athens as her favorite over several schools, including UT- Austin. She declared her major in business during her freshman year, and she became a member of Gamma Beta Phi, the college equivalent of the National Honor Society, serving as president her senior year. After four years in college, she graduated in the honors program with a degree in business.

Sullivan's first job out of college was with Eastman Kodak. After extensive training in Dallas, Texas and in Rochester, N.Y. , Sullivan began selling Kodak's largest copiers. Her products were priced about $200,000 each, and they were suitable for copy shops besides the highvolume industrial users. She lived in the Ft. Lauderdale/ Pompano Beach area of Florida because her sales domain was from Miami to Palm Beach.

After almost two years with Kodak, Sullivan took a job with Tiffany & Co. in Phipps Plaza in Atlanta's Buckhead. One favorite recall is the New Year's Eve when a woman, a first- time customer, came into the store looking for something to wear that night. She asked about a necklace, and Sullivan answered, "$100,000." The woman wrote a check on the spot and left for her New Year's with the new necklace.

After working in the jewelry store full- time and every other Sunday long enough, Sullivan went with Pfizer, the drug company. She trained in Atlanta for six weeks and then took another six weeks of training in New York City.

In late 1993, Sullivan moved with Pfizer to Columbia. Almost two years later she was practicing her swing at the Sunset Driving Range with golf teaching pro Robin All. The former captain of the William and Mary golf team approached Sullivan and offered her one golf lesson and one dinner - no charge, great guy he must have been. They were engaged in several months and married at The Cloister a year after that.

Sullivan's husband is attorney Dan Sullivan of the eponymous law firm. She left Pfizer to enter residential real estate about 13 years ago, but she soon left the working world to spend more time with her family. She and Dan have two boys, William, 11, at Hand Middle School; and George, 7, at A. C. Moore.

About five years ago, Sullivan returned to residential real estate full- time. She worked with Bollin- Ligon for about a year and also with Will Fowler. And she has been with Graham Realty for the longest time among the three firms.

Sullivan and her husband recharge their batteries on their annual vacation for just the two of them, most recently at Rose Hall on Montego Bay in Jamaica.

Sullivan has kept up with her husband's sport, golf, but she has advanced to the level of a competitive 3.5 player in tennis. Her team, the Chicas, won the city tournament earlier this summer and went as far as the semifinals at the state tournament in Greenville.

At the conclusion of her

interview with The Columbia

Star, Sullivan hit the road for the Snoop Dogg concert at the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach.