Word: williamsons
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Within an hour Grisham had placed calls to his agent, to his publisher and to Annette Hudson and Renee Simmons, Williamson's sisters, who at first assumed it was a prank call. They realized he was serious when he got them a lawyer and bought the exclusive rights to their brother's story...
...deal was done, but Grisham's troubles had just begun. Williamson's story just wasn't shaped like a Grisham novel. Structure and pacing were exactly what Ron Williamson couldn't do. He spent years frittering away time, drifting in and out of institutions, going through endless trials and appeals, and rotting in jail. And he didn't always act like a hero. He wasn't relatable. "That was the hardest part," Grisham says. "I mean, when you're writing a novel, you want people to love your hero on Page One! With Ron--I mean, he's a cocky...
Plus the ending is all wrong. Williamson was exonerated by DNA evidence in 1999, but 12 years behind bars had broken his mind and body, and he died five years later of cirrhosis of the liver...
...didn't fit the Theme, but Williamson was exactly what Grisham needed as a writer, for exactly that reason. His thrillers are gleaming, perfectly calibrated machines, but books don't look right unless they have a few rough, unfinished patches. They cease to resemble reality, which is nothing if not rough around the edges. The Innocent Man may not handle like The Street Lawyer. It may never be a movie starring Tom Cruise. But it is undeniably real...
...thinking about writing now is about politics or social issues wrapped around a novel," he says. "It's fun to write a book like The Broker, which has no redeeming social value. But I'd much rather tackle a social issue." In that respect John Grisham--like Ron Williamson--has never stopped dreaming of the big leagues...