James Grady (author)


James Grady is an American writer and investigative journalist known for his thriller novels on espionage, intrigue, and police procedurals, as well as his screenwriting work for TV shows with Stephen J. Cannell and film work with Brandon Lee, William Katt and David Hasselhoff. Grady has edited fiction anthologies, and published numerous short stories and poems. In 2008, London's Daily Telegraph named Grady as one of "50 crime writers to read before you die". In 2015, The Washington Post compared his prose to George Orwell and Bob Dylan.
WWW jamesgrady.net

Early life

Grady’s mother, Donna J. Grady, was part of the Martin family, who settled in northern Montana in 1884. Her father worked as a cowboy and card dealer in the saloons of Shelby, MT. Grady’s father, Thomas W. Grady, came from a family of homesteaders. Until Grady was about 17, his father managed the Roxy movie theater in Shelby. Grady describes a pivotal six-month period during his junior year of high school when his father was unemployed. During that time, his mother took on a job as an Assistant Librarian for Toole County in Shelby, which he credits as a significant influence on his personal development.
As a Teenage Republican, Grady was the youngest member of the 1964 Republican Party State Convention’s Platform Committee.
His first creative writing success was authoring his high school senior class 1967 play.
Grady graduated from the University Of Montana School of Journalism in 1972, though he technically finished university studies in 1971. He studied with poet Richard Hugo and was a Sears Congressional Journalism Intern from January to April 1971, assigned to the D.C. staff of U.S. Senator Lee Metcalf. He was the movie reviewer for the university student newspaper The Kaimin. He received a Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater in 2005.
Grady lovingly credits his four college summers working on his hometown Shelby, MT's city road, water and sewer crew with both letting him pay his own way through university and increasing the scope and depth of his education.

Career

In 1971, Grady worked as a Research Analyst and committee aide for the, which adopted a renewed state Constitution in 1972. He received a Fellowship to spend 1974 on the staff of U.S. Sen. Lee Metcalf. From 1975 to mid-1980, during the post-Watergate era, he worked with muckraking investigative journalist Jack Anderson.
Grady is the author of the 1974 espionage thriller novel Six Days of the Condor, which was famously adapted to film as Three Days of the Condor, starring Robert Redford and directed by Sydney Pollack.
Grady has contributed journalism to Slate, The Washington Post, Washingtonian, American Film, The New Republic, Sport, Parade, Perfect 10, ''The Great Falls Tribune, The Shelby Promoter, The Daily Missoulian, PoliticsDaily.com and the Journal of Asian Martial Arts''.
He is a member of the Writers Guild of America, East.

Personal life

Grady married Bonnie Goldstein in 1985. He is the stepfather of Rachel Grady, director of the documentary Jesus Camp. He is the father of Nathan Grady.

Works

Novels

Six Days of the Condor The Great Pebble Affair Shadow of the Condor Catch the Wind Runner in the Street Hard Bargains Razor Game Just a Shot Away Steeltown River of Darkness Thunder White Flame City of Shadows Mad Dogs Last Days of the Condor This Train Unusual Suspects anthology editorMontana Noir anthology co-editor w/Keir Graff

Short stories

  • "The Train"
  • "The Devil’s Playground"
  • "The Arranger"
  • "OMJAGOD"
  • "The Championship Of Nowhere"
  • "Kiss The Sky" * "condor.net"
  • "Broken Heroes”
  • "The Bottom Line"
  • "What’s Going On: A Political Fiction In Nine Episodes”
  • "Border Town"
  • "The Big Time"
  • "Dark Stalkings”
  • "Destiny City" –
  • "The Mansion Of Imperatives"
  • "This Given Sky"
  • "Falling Into Forever"
  • "We’ve Got To Stop"
  • "The Ride You’ve Got"
  • "The Fires Of Forever"
  • "The Giggler"
  • "Hometown Sun"
  • “Thunder Road"
  • “PAT In Love & War & Soccer"
  • "You’re Worth It" – as Nick Russell –
  • "Caged Daze Of The Condor"
  • "Next Day Of The Condor"
  • "Condor In The Stacks"
  • "Jasmine Daze Of The Condor"
  • "The Road You Take"
  • "Ring Of Fie"
  • "Russian Roulette Of The Condor"
  • "The Lifeguard"
  • "Demolition Derby"
  • "Condor"
  • "The Next Five Minutes"