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For Posterity: The John Grisham Papers
John Grisham
Papers John Grisham, Jr., was born in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in 1955, the son of a cotton farmer. Grisham and his family moved to Southaven, Mississippi, in 1967, and Grisham graduated from Southaven High School in 1973. He attended Northwest Junior College in Senatobia, Mississippi and Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. Grisham then enrolled in the accounting program at Mississippi State University, receiving his B.S. in accounting in 1977, followed by a study of tax law and criminal law at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi. In 1981, Grisham earned his law degree and opened a law practice in Southaven, Mississippi. As a criminal lawyer he had opportunity to experience the drama and pathos of the courtroom and to witness lawyers and judges at their best and worst. In 1983, the voters of Mississippi's Seventh District sent Grisham to Jackson as their State Representative. By his second term he held the vice chairmanship of the Apportionment and Elections Committee as well as memberships on the Insurance, the Judiciary A, and the Military Affairs Committees. While in the legislature, Grisham dealt with a variety of educational issues such as university funding, teacher evaluation, and the educational reform package known as BEST (Better Education for Success Tomorrow). However, Grisham missed the company of his family and was frustrated by the frequent inactivity of the state legislature. While a practicing attorney and legislator, he witnessed a trial he would later refer to as "gut-wrenching" which sparked the story that would become his first novel, A Time to Kill. Working from 5:00 to 8:00 each morning, Grisham crafted his tale of a young rape victim, her avenging father, and the harrowing trial that rocked the small Southern town of Clanton, Mississippi. Like many aspiring writers, Grisham found publishers less than enthusiastic about his project. He obtained a literary agent to hand the book, and, in time, a new publishing house, Wynwood Press, agreed to publish the work with an initial printing of 5,000 copies, nearly 1,000 of which Grisham personally sold to his friends and well-wishers in Mississippi. Columnist Sid Salter says of A Time to Kill (regarded by Grisham as his best work), "The novel presents in a single courtroom scene the essence of the conflict between custom and conscience on the issue of race." A Time to Kill received little national attention, having been prejudged by most as a regional novel. Grisham began work on his second novel, The Firm, while awaiting word from his agent on the first book's publication. The Firm, a legal thriller, possessed the qualities necessary to make it a commercial success. Published in 1991, The Firm spent forty-seven weeks on the New York Times' Best-Seller List and was eventually translated into twenty-nine languages. Even before the
success of his second novel, Grisham decided not to seek reelection
to the legislature. He closed his law practice and moved his family
to Oxford, where he intended to devote his time to writing. The Pelican
Brief and The Client followed in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
Both made the New York Times' Bestseller List, as did A Time to Kill
when it was released in paperback. The sale of motion picture rights
to The Firm, The Pelican Brief, and The Client added to Grisham's
commercial success. The John Grisham Papers is a collection of materials generated during Grisham's tenure as Mississippi State Representative (1983-1990) and was created as a result of his literary endeavors. Included in The John Grisham Papers are:
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