A graduate of Mississippi State University and Ole Miss Law School, he finished his law degree in 1981 and afterward practiced law for about 10 years, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1983 and served until 1990. John Grisham recently gave up his law practice to write full-time. He began writing in 1984, and three years later finished his first novel, A Time To Kill, published by Wynwood Press in June 1988. He is the best-selling author of A Time to Kill, The Firm, The Pelican Brief and The Client. He lives with his wife and their two children on a farm in Oxford, Mississippi.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous| Renee Jones | (8 May 1981 - present) 2 children |
Writes novels about main characters that are from the Southeastern United States
Writes novels that are usually based around the justice system
Received bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University
Was a lawyer before becoming a writer.
Coaches little league baseball.
Has sold 60,742,288 copies of his books, making him the best-selling author of the 1990s.
Has casting approval rights for movies based on his novels.
Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series, Vol. 133, pp. 234-241. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.
Credits Brian Garfield's article "Ten Rules For Suspense Fiction" with giving him the tools to create "The Firm.".
In 2007, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year at $9 million.
Lifelong Democrat. Endorses Hillary Clinton for President.
Donated 5 million dollars after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and Mississippi.
According to publisher Doubleday, his books have sold over 235 million copies worldwide, as of 2008.
"I grew up in a very small, close-knit, Southern Baptist family, where everything was off-limits. So I couldn't wait to get to college and have some fun. And I did for the first two years. And I regret a lot of it, because my grades were in terrible shape. I never got in serious trouble, except for my grades."
| The Chamber (1996) | $3,750,000 |
| A Time to Kill (1996) | $6,000,000 |
| The Firm (1993) | $100,000 |
John, Renee, and their children have lived in Charlottesville, VA for the past several years. Technically he does still own the house in Oxford, but they haven't really lived in it even before the tacky "manufactured housing" community formed right next door.
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