John Grisham published his first book, ‘A Time to Kill,’ in 1989. He said that it took him three years to write. He would get up early in the morning to write before going to work at his law office.

John Grisham was born on February 8, 1955, in Jonesboro Arkansas to a cotton farmer and an itinerant construction worker father and a mother who was a homemaker. As a child, he dreamed of being a professional baseball player, but it was not to be.

John attended Mississippi State University where he majored in accounting. He graduated with a law degree from University of Mississippi in 1981.

John married Renee Jones in 1981 and they have two children, Ty and Shea. He practiced criminal and civil law in Southaven, Mississippi for 10 years. He was also a State Representative of Mississippi from 1983 until 1990. They make a farm near Oxford, Mississippi and a plantation near Charlottesville, Virginia there home.

In 1994 John became the publisher of a magazine, The Oxford American. He helped save this struggling magazine from financial ruin.

After John’s second book, ‘The Firm,’ was published and Paramount bought the movies rights for the book, John retired from law and took up writing full time. He has generally published one book per year ever since. About his books, he says that he builds fiction on top of facts.

John Grisham became an advocate for the abolishing of the death penalty while researching for his book, ‘The Chamber,’ He does not believe in state sanctioned killings. He believes that it is morally wrong and there are too many individuals that are wrongly accused. He wrote about such a case in ‘An Innocent Man, A true Story,‘ This non fiction, murder mystery and legal thriller, tells the story of the botched investigation, trial and wrongful conviction of Ron Williamson from Ada, Oklahoma. He wants to make people question the death penalty.

John’s books have been translated into over 29 languages and there are over 245 million books in print worldwide. So far eleven of his works have been made into movies. He also wrote the original screenplay, ‘Mickey,’and served as producer. The movie hit the screen in 2004 and starred Harry Connick, Jr. The film, "The Gingerbread Man" was based on one of John Grisham’s short stories.

John writes about six months a year and, when not writing, he supports many charitable causes. He has helped raise 8.8 Million dollars for Gulf Coast Relief, following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. John also serves as the local Little League Commissioner. He is a board member of The Innocence Project. This organization promotes the using DNA testing on death row inmates to determine innocence.

Books by John Grisham:

Fiction:

A Time to Kill (1989)

The Firm (1991)

The Pelican Brief (1992)

The Client (1993)

The Chamber (1994)

The Rainmaker (1995)

The Runaway Jury (1996)

The Partner (1997)

The Street Lawyer (1998)

The Testament (1999)

The Brethren (2000)

A Painted House (2001)

Skipping Christmas (2001)

The Summons (2002)

The King of Torts (2003)

Bleachers (2003)

The Last Juror (2004)

The Broker (2005)

Playing for Pizza (2007)

The Appeal (2008)

The Associate (2009)

Ford County (2009)

Non Fiction:

The Innocent Man (2006)

Films:

Mickey (2004)

The Gingerbread Man (2004)