John Grisham

Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, John Grisham was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time to work on his first novel. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he practiced law for nearly a decade, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation, and served in the state House of Representatives from 1983 to 1990. His first novel, A Time to Kill, was published in 1988, and The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991. Since then Grisham has written approximately one novel a year, with over 300 million books in print worldwide, translated into more than 40 languages. When he’s not writing, Grisham devotes time to charitable causes and to his greatest passion, baseball. He serves on Centurion’s Board of Directors.