Having spent his earliest years on Folly Beach and nearby Bowen's Island, Barber moved to Columbia with his parents at the age of 10.
He then returned to his native state and served as a minister in two Laurens County churches before entering law school.
In 1994, rather than run for re-election, Barber ran for the U.S. House of Representatives as the Democratic candidate for the First Congressional District, but lost to a political newcomer named Mark Sanford.
After leaving the SC House, Barber split his time between running Bowen's Island Seafood Restaurant, which his grandparents founded in the 1940s, and serving as a consultant for a range of predominantly not-for-profit public interest groups.
A conservationist, health care advisor, and advocate for the state's elderly population, Barber has attempted to improve the lives of many South Carolinians through his work for organizations such as the South Carolina Wildlife Federation, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, the College of Charleston, the Palmetto Conservation Foundation, the Sierra Club and the Association of Council on Aging Directors.
LaNelle, a graduate of Queens College, in Charlotte is now a public school teacher in Charleston, at Buist Academy.