Richard Grant (born 1963) is a freelance British travel writer based in Arizona.Biography
Richard Grant website.

Life and career

He was born in Malaysia, lived in Kuwait as a boy and then moved to London. He went to school in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

and received a history degree from

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

. After graduation, he worked as a security guard, a janitor, a house painter and a club DJ before moving to America where he lived a nomadic life in the American West, eventually settling in Tucson, Arizona, as a base from which to travel. He supported himself by writing articles for ''

Men's Journal ''Men's Journal'' is an American monthly men's lifestyle magazine focused on outdoor recreation and comprising editorials on the outdoors, environmental issues, health and fitness, style and fashion, and gear. It was founded in 1992 by Jann Wenne ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' and ''

Details Detail(s) or The Detail(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Details'' (film), a 2003 Swedish film * ''The Details'' (film), a 2011 American film * ''The Detail'', a Canadian television series * "The Detail" (''The Wire''), a television epis ...

'', among others. Grant and girlfriend Mariah, moved to New York City briefly, before relocation to Pluto, Mississippi in August 2012. They got married there, then moved to

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

in 2015. As of 2022, Richard Grant is again living in Tucson.Biography
Richard Grant website. Grant's first book ''American Nomads'' (2003, UK: ''Ghost Riders'') looks at

nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the popu ...

ism and people who choose to live on the road in America. It won the 2004

Thomas Cook Travel Book Award The Thomas Cook Travel Book Award originated as an initiative of Thomas Cook AG in 1980, with the aim of encouraging and rewarding the art of literary travel writing. The awards stopped in 2005 (2004 being the last year an award was given). As of 2 ...

. Grant wrote the script for a BBC documentary called ''American Nomads'', based in part on the book, which aired in the fall of 2011. His next book ''God's Middle Finger'' (UK: ''Bandit Roads'', 2008) is about the lawless region of the

Sierra Madre Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to: Places and mountains Mexico *Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona *Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico *S ...

mountains in northwestern Mexico in which Grant travelled. It was nominated for the 2009

Dolman Best Travel Book Award The Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards celebrate the best travel writing and travel writers in the world. The awards include the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year and the Edward Stanford Award for Outstanding Contribution to Travel Writing ...

. Grant co-wrote a screenplay about the Mexican border with

Johnny Ferguson Johnny is an English language personal name. It is usually an affectionate diminutive of the masculine given name John, but from the 16th century it has sometimes been a given name in its own right for males and, less commonly, females. Varian ...

and Ruben Ruiz entitled ''Tres Huevos/A Burning Thing''. His third book ''Crazy River: Exploration and Folly in East Africa'' (2011) is about Grant's travels in harrowing situations around East Africa, including an attempt at the first descent of the

Malagarasi River The Malagarasi River is a river in western Tanzania, flowing through Kigoma Region, although one of its tributaries comes from southeastern Burundi. The river also forms the western border of Tabora Region, the southern border of Kagera Region and ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. Grant's fourth book ''Dispatches from Pluto'', released in October 2015, describes his move to Pluto, Mississippi, with his then girlfriend Mariah, and their life and impressions about the Mississippi Delta.

Tom Zoellner Tom Zoellner (born 1968) is an American author and journalist. He is the author of popular non-fiction books which take multidimensional views of their subject. His work has been widely reviewed and has been featured on ''The Daily Show''. His ...

in the ''New York Times'' observed "Grant’s British accent doubtlessly served him well, allowing him to move through the tradition-bound society of the Mississippi Delta like a neutron, without obvious allegiances or biases." The book was the best-selling book in Mississippi for two years and won a Pat Conroy Southern Book Prize. Released in September 2020, ''The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi'', sought to explore the contradictions and eccentricities of a complex city.

Bibliography

*''American Nomads: Travels with Lost Conquistadors, Mountain Men, Cowboys, Indians, Hoboes, Truckers, and Bullriders'', K: ''Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads''(2003) *''God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre'' K: ''Bandit Roads: Into the Lawless Heart of Mexico''(2008) *''Crazy River: Exploration and Folly in East Africa'' (2011) *''Dispatches from Pluto: Lost and Found in the Mississippi Delta'' (2015) *''The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi'' (2020)

References

External links

Richard Grant's Website"Review: Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads"
review of ''Ghost Riders: Travels with American Nomads'' in ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', February 2, 2003; Page 17
"Into the Wild"
review of ''God's Middle Finger: Into the Lawless Heart of the Sierra Madre'' in ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', March 30, 2008; Page BW04
"Richard Grant Has Returned from Mexico Alive"
September 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Richard 1963 births British travel writers Living people