Thomas Harris

Thomas Harris, author of three national bestsellers, was born in Jackson, Tennessee, but moved to Rich, Mississippi, with his parents, William and Polly, early in his life. He attended Clarksdale High School, where his mother taught biology. His mother reports that he spent most of his time reading and writing, and that Hemmingway was a favorite writer.

Not much information is available about the life of Harris, but after high school, he went to Baylor University in Waco, Texas, to earn a major in English. While in Waco he worked for the Herald Tribune as a police reporter but found it very unimaginative. While at Baylor, he wrote numerous stories to magazines like True and Argosy that were gothic and detailed.

During this time Harris met his wife Harriet and they had a daughter named Anne before they divorced in the 60's. His father died during this period of his life as well.

After college Harris moved to New York and held a job as editor for the Associated Press in New York. His experiences as a crime reporter gave him information he used in his later writings. His first book, Black Sunday, is about Arab terrorist and a Vietnam veteran who try to bomb the Super Bowl. Published in 1975, the book became a best seller and a successful movie.

Harris does a lot of research for his Fiction, so his second book Red Dragonwas not published until 1981. This novel is the story of an FBI agent's search for a serial killer and contains Harris's character psychotic psychiatrist Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter. Red Dragon also became a popular movie called Manhunter.

The third novel written by Harris is considered a masterpiece of suspense by many people. The Silence of the Lambs was published in 1988 and includes madmen and a strong-willed female. The film made from the book won five Academy Awards.

Harris has homes in Rich, Mississippi; Long Island, New York; and Miami, Florida. His mother, with whom he keeps in close contact, says she likes his work and she is not frightened by it! Harris closely guards his privacy.

Thomas Harris is known for his painstaking detail in his writing. The detail is so vivid that the story almost seems to make pictures in the mind of the reader. Because of his attention to detail, Harris takes a long time to write his novels. His most recently published novel is Hannibal, published in the summer of 1999.