T. R. Pearson
Thomas Reid Pearson is an American writer. Pearson also writes crime fiction under the pen name Rick Gavin.
Biography
Pearson was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He graduated from Richard J. Reynolds High School. He was a student at North Carolina State University, where he gained a B.A and M.A in English. He went on to teach at Peace College in Raleigh, North Carolina. He started work on a PhD in Pennsylvania 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, in the imaginary small town of Neely, near Winston–Salem, or, in his more recent novels, in the Appalachian 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 and William Faulkner.
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 The [New York Times|New York Times] Notable Books.
Pearson collaborated with John Grisham on early drafts of the screenplays for The Rainmaker and Runaway Jury, 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, featuring repo man Nick Reid and his best friend, Desmond.
Pearson lives in North Carolina.
Works
Novels
Neely trilogy
A Short History of a Small Place Off for the Sweet Hereafter- ''The Last of How It Was''
Ray Tatum Mysteries
Cry Me a River Blue Ridge Polar Warwolf First in Flight- ''Brigade''
Nick Reid and Desmond series (as Rick Gavin)
Ranchero Beluga- ''Nowhere Nice''
Standalone novels
Call and Response Gospel Hour True Cross Glad News of the Natural World Red Scare: A Novel of Venomous Intrigue Jerusalem Gap East Jesus South Low Lords Theory of the Case Eaglesworth Serpent of Old Sleepaway Confederate States- ''Devil Up''