A fight broke out among the crew with gunfire, and Grisham ran to the restroom for safety. It was during this time that an unfortunate incident made him think more seriously about college. Through a contact of his father, he managed to find work on a highway asphalt crew in Mississippi at the age of 17.

At 16, Grisham took a job with a plumbing contractor.

He was soon promoted to a fence crew for $1.50 an hour. neither of his parents had advanced education, he was encouraged to read and prepare for college.Īs a teenager, Grisham worked for a nursery watering bushes for $1.00 an hour. As a child, Grisham wanted to be a baseball player. When Grisham was four years old, his family started traveling around the South, until they finally settled in Southaven in DeSoto County, Mississippi.

His father was a construction worker and cotton farmer his mother a homemaker. Grisham, the second oldest of five siblings, was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to Wanda Skidmore Grisham and John Grisham. Grisham is one of only three authors to sell two million copies on a first printing the others are Tom Clancy and J.K. His books have been translated into 29 languages and published worldwide.Īs of 2008, his books had sold over 250 million copies worldwide. The book was later adapted into a feature film, of the same name starring Tom Cruise in 1993, and a TV series in 2012 which 'continues the story of attorney Mitchell McDeere and his family 10 years after the events of the film and novel.' Eight of his other novels have also been adapted into films: The Chamber, The Client, A Painted House, The Pelican Brief, Skipping Christmas, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, and his first novel, A Time to Kill. Released in 1991, it sold more than seven million copies. He has written more than 25 novels, a short story collection ( Ford County), two works of nonfiction, and a children's series. is an American lawyer, politician, and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers. Currently-lives in Oxford, Mississippi and Albermarle, Virginia.Education-B.S., Mississippi State J.D., University of Mississippi.Until her black father acquires an assault rifle-and takes justice into his own outraged hands.įor ten days, as burning crosses and the crack of sniper fire spread through the streets of Clanton, the nation sits spellbound as young defense attorney Jake Brigance struggles to save his client's life.and then his own. The mostly white town reacts with shock and horror at the inhuman crime. The life of a ten-year-old girl is shattered by two drunken and remorseless young man. In this searing courtroom drama, best-selling author John Grisham probes the savage depths of racial violence as he delivers a compelling tale of uncertain justice in a small southern town.Ĭlanton, Mississippi.

A time to kill by john grisham