T. R. Pearson
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Thomas Reid Pearson (born 1956) is an American writer. Pearson also writes
crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, crime novel, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives or fiction that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professiona ...
under the
pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...
Rick Gavin.


Biography

Pearson was born in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...
.From The Desk Of Peter Holsapple: "A Short History Of A Small Place" By T.R. Pearson
''Magnet''. Retrieved Nov 30, 2019.
He graduated from
Richard J. Reynolds High School Richard J. Reynolds High School now the Richard J. Reynolds Magnet School for the Visual and Performing Arts (often simply R. J. Reynolds High School or Reynolds) is a high school in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools located in Winston-S ...
. He was a student at
North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State, North Carolina State, NC State University, or NCSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1887 and p ...
, where he gained a B.A and
M.A Ma, MA, or mA may refer to: Academia * Master of Arts, a degree award * Marin Academy, a high school in San Rafael, California * Menlo-Atherton High School, a public high school in Atherton, California * Minnehaha Academy, a private high schoo ...
in English. He went on to teach at
Peace College William Peace University is a private college in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States. Affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, it offers undergraduate degrees in more than 30 majors and its School of Professional Studies (SPS) offers accelera ...
in
Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most populous city in the state (after Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte) ...
. He started work on a PhD in
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
but soon returned to North Carolina, where he worked as a carpenter and a house painter while he began writing his first two novels, '' A Short History of a Small Place'' and '' Off for the Sweet Hereafter''. Neither was published until 1985, when he moved to New York City, where both books were issued by Linden Press. His novels are set in the
South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...
, in the imaginary small town of Neely, near Winston–Salem, or, in his more recent novels, in the
Appalachia Appalachia ( ) is a geographic region located in the Appalachian Mountains#Regions, central and southern sections of the Appalachian Mountains in the east of North America. In the north, its boundaries stretch from the western Catskill Mountai ...
n areas of Virginia, where he now lives. His writing captures a uniquely Southern social order, outlook, and voice and has been compared to the work of
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...
and
William Faulkner William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...
. ''A Short History of a Small Place'', ''Off for the Sweet Hereafter'', ''The Last of How It Was'', ''Cry Me a River'', ''Polar'' and ''Blue Ridge'' were ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' Notable Books. Pearson collaborated with
John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist, lawyer, and former politician, known for his best-selling legal thrillers. According to the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 37 ...
on early drafts of the screenplays for '' The Rainmaker'' (1997) and ''
Runaway Jury ''Runaway Jury'' is a 2003 American legal thriller film directed by Gary Fleder and starring John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman and Rachel Weisz. An adaptation of John Grisham's 1996 novel '' The Runaway Jury'', the film pits lawyer We ...
'' (1998), films based on two of Grisham's novels. Under the pen name Rick Gavin, Pearson wrote a series of three crime novels, set in the
Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...
, featuring repo man Nick Reid and his best friend, Desmond. Pearson lives in
North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...
.


Works


Novels


Neely trilogy

* '' A Short History of a Small Place'' (Linden Press, 1985) * '' Off for the Sweet Hereafter'' (Linden Press, 1986) * ''The Last of How It Was'' (Linden Press, 1987)


Ray Tatum Mysteries

* ''Cry Me a River'' (Henry Holt, 1993) * ''Blue Ridge'' (Viking, 2000) * ''Polar'' (Viking, 2002) * ''Warwolf'' (Barking Mad Press, 2011) * ''First in Flight'' (Barking Mad Press, 2015) * ''Brigade'' (Barking Mad Press, 2018)


Nick Reid and Desmond series (as Rick Gavin)

* ''Ranchero'' (Minotaur Books, 2011) * ''Beluga'' (Minotaur Books, 2012) * ''Nowhere Nice'' (Minotaur Books, 2013)


Standalone novels

* ''Call and Response'' (Linden Press, 1989) * ''Gospel Hour'' (William Morrow, 1991) * ''True Cross'' (Viking, 2003) * ''Glad News of the Natural World'' (Simon & Schuster, 2005) * ''Red Scare: A Novel of Venomous Intrigue'' (Barking Mad Press, 2008) * ''Jerusalem Gap'' (Barking Mad Press, 2010) * ''East Jesus South'' (Barking Mad Press, 2014) * ''Low Lords'' (Barking Mad Press, 2016) * ''Theory of the Case'' (Barking Mad Press, 2017) * ''Eaglesworth'' (Barking Mad Press, 2018) * ''Serpent of Old'' (Barking Mad Press, 2019) * ''Sleepaway'' (Barking Mad Press, 2019) * ''Confederate States'' (Barking Mad Press, 2020) * ''Devil Up'' (Barking Mad Press, 2021)


Non-fiction

* ''Seaworthy: Adrift with William Willis in the Golden Age of Rafting'' (Crown, 2006) — Biography of adventurer William Willis.Book Information
* ''Augie's Quest: One Man's Journey from Success to Significance'' (Bloomsbury USA, 2007) with Augie Nieto * ''Year of Our Lord: Faith, Hope and Harmony in the Mississippi Delta'' (Mockingbird Publishing, 2010) — Text by Pearson, photographs by Langdon Clay * ''Top of the Rock'' (Random House, 2012) with
Warren Littlefield Warren W. Littlefield (born May 11, 1952) is an American television executive. Born in Montclair, New Jersey, Littlefield attended Montclair High School and graduated from Hobart and William Smith Colleges in Geneva, New York, where he was awar ...


As editor

* '' I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon'', by Crystal Zevon (HarperCollins, 2009)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pearson, T. R. 1956 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Novelists from Virginia North Carolina State University alumni Writers from Winston-Salem, North Carolina 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from North Carolina Richard J. Reynolds High School alumni