- Lee Child
Infobox Writer
name = Lee Child
|thumb|right|Lee Child
imagesize =
caption = Lee Child
pseudonym =
birthdate = 1954
birthplace =Coventry ,England
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation =Novelist ,Writer ,Author
nationality = British
period = 1995 - Present
genre =Crime Fiction ,Mystery , Thriller
subject =Jack Reacher
movement =
influences =Alistair MacLean ,John D MacDonald ,Robert B. Parker ,Michael Connelly
influenced =
website = http://www.leechild.comLee Child (born 1954,
Coventry ,England ) is thepen name of British thrillerwriter Jim Grant [cite web |url= http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/crime/story/0,,2286980,00.html| title= Sacked at 40 and on the scrapheap. Now Brummie tops US book charts| author=David Smith| accessdate=2008-07-08| publisher=guardian.co.uk] . His wife Jane [cite web | url=http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/leechild.html| title=Interview in January Magazine, May 2003| accessdate=2007-10-07] is a New Yorker [cite web | url=http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/aug01/child.htm| title=Interview in Writers' Write Journal, August 2001| accessdate=2007-10-07] and they currently live inNew York state . His first novel, "Killing Floor", won theAnthony Award for Best First Novel.Each of Child's novels follows the adventures of a former American
Military Police man namedJack Reacher who is wandering theUnited States . In 2007, it was reported that the Reacher novels sold at the rate of one every second. [cite web | url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/08/09/boharro.xml| title=Daily Telegraph, 9 August 2007| accessdate=2007-10-07]Early life
Though Grant was born in
Coventry , his parents moved him and his three brothers toHandsworth Wood inBirmingham when he was four years old so they could get a better education. [cite web | url=http://www.twbooks.co.uk/crimescene/leechildinterview.htm | title=A Reacher Moment...or Two | author=Bob Cornwell | accessdate=2007-02-18 | publisher=twbooks.co.uk] He attendedKing Edward's School, Birmingham - also the alma mater ofJ. R. R. Tolkien andEnoch Powell . [cite web | url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/crime/story/0,,2286980,00.html| title=Sacked at 40 and on the Scrapheauthor=David Smith| accessdate=2008-06-22 | publisher=guardian.co.uk] His father was a
civil servant . [cite web | url=http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/leechild.html| title=Interview in January Magazine, May 2003| accessdate=2007-10-07]Some of Grant's early influences include
Enid Blyton ,W.E. Johns , andAlistair Maclean .In 1974 at age 20, Grant attended
law school inSheffield , though he had no intention of entering the legal profession and, during his student days, worked backstage in a theatre. [cite web | url=http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/leechild.html| title=Interview in January Magazine, May 2003| accessdate=2007-10-07] Instead, he took a job incommercial television after graduating. [cite web | url=http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/aug01/child.htm | title=A Conversation with Lee Child | author=Claire White | date=2001-08-01 | publisher=Writers Write]Career
Grant joined
Granada Television , part of theUK 'sITV Network, inManchester as presentation director. There he was involved with shows including "Brideshead Revisited ", "The Jewel in the Crown (TV series) ", "Prime Suspect ", and "Cracker." Grant was involved in the transmission of more than 40,000 hours of programming for Granada, writing thousands of commercials, news stories, and trailers. [cite web | url=http://www.bookbrowse.com/biographies/index.cfm?author_number=329 | title=Lee Child Biography | author=Author's Publisher | date=2004-05-01 | publisher=BookBrowse] He stayed with Granada 1977-1995 [cite web | url=http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/leechild.html| title=Interview in January Magazine, May 2003| accessdate=2007-10-07] and ended his career there with two years as atrade union shop steward . [cite web | url=http://www.twbooks.co.uk/crimescene/leechildinterview.htm| title=Interview with Tangled web Books, 2005| accessdate=2007-10-07]After being fired because of corporate restructuring, he decided he wanted to start writing novels, stating they are "the purest form of entertainment." [cite web | url=http://www.rd.com/selecteditions/hardway.html | title=Select Editions | author=Readers Digest | accessdate=2007-02-18 | publisher=RD.com] In 1997 his first novel, "Killing Floor", was published and he moved to the
US in the summer of 1998. [cite web | url=http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/aug01/child.htm| title=Interview in Writers' Write Journal, August 2001| accessdate=2007-10-07]He has said that he chose the name 'Reacher' for the central character in his novels because he is himself tall and, in a supermarket, his wife Jane told him: "Hey, if this writing thing doesn't pan out, you could always be a reacher in a supermarket."... "I thought, Reacher — good name." [cite web | url=http://www.januarymagazine.com/profiles/leechild.html| title=Interview in January Magazine, May 2003| accessdate=2007-10-07] Some books in the Reacher series are written in first person, while others are written in the third person.
In 2007, Grant collaborated with 14 other writers to create the 17-part serial thriller "The Chopin Manuscript" narrated by
Alfred Molina that was broadcast weekly onAudible.com fromSeptember 25 2007 toNovember 13 2007 .On 30 June 2008, it was announced that Lee Child would be taking up a Visiting Professorship at the
University of Sheffield in theUK from November 2008.Novels and awards
*"Killing Floor" (1997)
**Anthony Award winner
**Barry Award winner
**Dilys Award nominee
**Macavity Award nominee
*"Die Trying" (1998)
**WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award winner
*"Tripwire" (1999)
*"Running Blind " (known as "The Visitor" in theUK ) (2000)
*"Echo Burning " (2001)
*"Without Fail " (2002)
**Dilys Award nominee
*"Persuader" (2003)
*"The Enemy" (2004)
**Dilys Award nominee
*"One Shot" (2005)
**Macavity Award nominee
*"The Hard Way" (2006)
*"Bad Luck and Trouble " (2007, ISBN 0-385-34055-9)
*"Nothing To Lose" (2008)
*"Gone Tomorrow" (2009)Other awards
*2005, The Bob Kellogg Good Citizen Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Internet Writing Community
hort stories
*"James Penney's New Identity" from "Fresh Blood 3" (edited by Mike Ripley and
Maxim Jakubowski ) and from "Thriller" (US)
*"The Snake Eater by the Numbers" from "Like a Charm" (edited byKarin Slaughter )
*"Ten Keys" from "The Cocaine Chronicles" (edited by Jervey Tervalon and Gary Phillips)
*"The Greatest Trick of All" from "Greatest Hits" (edited byRobert J Randisi )Notes and references
Newspaper interviews
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/04/01/bochild101.xml Daily Telegraph, 1st April 2007]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/main.jhtml?xml=/travel/2007/07/14/et-lee-child-114.xml Daily Telegraph, 14th July 2007]See also
*
Jack Reacher External links
* [http://www.leechild.com/ Lee Child's Official Web Site] , featuring forum with postings by Lee Child
* [http://www.reachercreatures.com/ Reacher Creatures Fan Site]
* [http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/catalog/author.pperl?authorid=37661 Lee Child's books from U.S. Publisher Bantam Dell]
* [http://www.boekensite.net/engels/booksauthor.php?id=3 Dutch Book Covers]
* [http://www.iblist.com/author1486.htm Lee Child] at theInternet Book List
* [http://www.mysteryreaders.org/macavity.html Macavity Awards Site]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
