Born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, on February 8, 1955, James Grisham is the second of four children born to Southern Baptist parents of modest means. His father was a cotton farmer and construction worker, and the family moved frequently before settling in DeSoto County, Mississippi, in 1967. As a child, John was an avid reader and especially influenced by the work of John Steinbeck. In 1977, he earned a degree in accounting from Mississippi State University after which he went to law school, getting a degree to practice law from the University of Mississippi in 1981. He practiced general law for nearly a decade and was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives where he served as a Democrat from 1983-1990.
He began work on his first novel in 1984, the inspiration for which came from the harrowing testimony of a 12-year-old rape victim that he had heard in court. “A Time To Kill’ was completed in 1987, and published in 1988 by Wynwood Press. He immediately began work on his second novel, which in 1991 resulted in the highly successful publication and film, “The Firm.” Legal thrillers were fast becoming his hallmark, and each subsequent year, he managed to produce at least one work.
“Publishers Weekly” has dubbed him “the best selling novelist of the 1990s.” Grisham is one of only two authors to sell two million copies on a first printing. His 1992 novel, “The Pelican Brief,” sold over 11 million copies in the United States alone. In 1996, he briefly returned to the practice of law and successfully defended the family of a man who was killed in a railroad accident.
John Grisham has done missionary work for his church, notably in Brazil. He calls himself a “moderate Baptist” and lives with his wife, Renee and their two children, Ty and Shea. They have two homes: a Victorian house on a farm near Oxford and a plantation near Charlottesville.
What are YOUR favorite John Grisham novels? Please share?