Jesse Hill Ford (December 28, 1928 – June 1, 1996) was an American writer of

Southern literature Southern United States literature consists of American literature written about the Southern United States or by writers from the region. Literature written about the American South first began during the colonial era, and developed significan ...

, best known for his critical and commercial success in short fiction as well as the novels '' Mountains of Gilead'' and '' The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones''.

Biography

He was born in Troy, Alabama on December 28, 1928. Ford was raised in Nashville, Tennessee. He attended

Montgomery Bell Academy Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) is a preparatory day school for boys in grades 7 through 12 in Nashville, Tennessee. History MBA was established in 1867 in the aftermath of the American Civil War. It is the successor to two schools: the Western Mi ...

and received his Bachelor of Arts from Vanderbilt University. His education was interrupted by the Korean War, during which he served in the United States Navy. Following his discharge, he enrolled in the University of Florida, where he received a Master of Arts in 1955. After graduation he worked as a public relations director, but in 1957 he decided to devote himself to writing on a full-time basis. He and his family moved to

Humboldt, Tennessee Humboldt is a city in Gibson and Madison counties, Tennessee. The population was 8,452 at the 2010 census, a decline of 1,015 from 2000. It is the principal city of and is included in the Humboldt, Tennessee Micropolitan Statistical Area, which i ...

. Two years later, he won an ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'' prize for the short story "The Surest Thing in Show Business". In 1961, he spent a year at the University of Oslo as a

Fulbright Scholar The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

and published his first novel, ''Mountains of Gilead'', and in 1964 he wrote both the teleplay and theatrical scripts of ''The Conversion of Buster Drumwright''. One year later, Ford published ''The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones'', which was selected by the

Book of the Month Club Book of the Month (founded 1926) is a United States subscription-based e-commerce service that offers a selection of five to seven new hardcover books each month to its members. Books are selected and endorsed by a panel of judges, and members c ...

. A critical and commercial success, it earned him a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

for fiction writing, and was later adapted by Ford and

Stirling Silliphant Stirling Dale Silliphant (January 16, 1918 – April 26, 1996) was an American screenwriter and Film producer, producer. He is best remembered for his screenplay for ''In the Heat of the Night (film), In the Heat of the Night'', for which he w ...

for a 1970 feature film directed by

William Wyler William Wyler (; born Willi Wyler (); July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a Swiss-German-American film director and producer who won the Academy Award for Best Director three times, those being for ''Mrs. Miniver'' (1942), ''The Best Years of O ...

. Other works by Ford include ''Fishes, Birds, and Sons of Men'', a compilation of his early short stories; ''The Feast of Saint Barnabas'', which focused on a Florida

race riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa Americas United States Nativist period: 1700s� ...

; and ''The Raider'', a historical novel set in Tennessee before and during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. In 1971, Ford shot a black soldier, Pvt. George Henry Doaks Jr., 19, he believed was a threat to his 17-year-old son when he saw Doaks' car parked on his private driveway. Coincidentally, the man's female companion was a relative of the woman who had served as the basis for ''The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones''. He also contributed guest columns to ''USA Today'' in 1989 and 1990 after changing from politically liberal to conservative. He was initially indicted on a charge of first degree murder by a Gibson County Grand Jury and released on $20,000 bond at the preliminary hearing. He eventually returned to Nashville where, severely depressed following open-heart surgery and the publication of his collected letters, he committed suicide on June 1, 1996.

External links

LIFE Magazine article (Oct. 29, 1971)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Jesse Hill 1928 births 1996 suicides 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Edgar Award winners Journalists from Nashville, Tennessee People from Humboldt, Tennessee People from Troy, Alabama Suicides in Tennessee University of Florida alumni USA Today people Vanderbilt University alumni Novelists from Alabama Novelists from Tennessee American male short story writers Journalists from Alabama 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American journalists American male journalists 1996 deaths