Grif Stockley - 1944
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Benton High School in Benton, Arkansas
I. Biography
"It seems we are moving into a new reality. Kids are not driven by words. Words don't seem to have the same significance." This is Grif Stockley's view of the modernization of literature today.
Stockley was born on October 9th, 1944, in Memphis. He was raised in Marianna, Arkansas after a short settlement in Lake Chromate, Mississippi. He attended Southwestern University in Memphis, Tennessee. He always wanted to be a diplomat, but writing was also one of his passions. He wrote a column in the sports section of his local newspaper as a junior in high school. Even in high school, race relations interested him. That was the spark for his present half-time job as a lawyer representing indigents in civil cases. Put all these things together, and you have an overview of Stockley: the writer, lawyer, and historian.
Stockley's novels are, as he says, "legal novels." He develops his stories from his lawyer experiences. In fact, all his stories are based upon personal or real events. All the aspects of his stories are down to earth with no supernatural aspects to them. All his characters are named after friends, and all of the settings in Stockley's stories are based upon real places. Bear Creek is actually Marianna, Arkansas. Little Rock is Blackwell County in his stories.
Many of his stories are based upon his favorite character, Gideon. Gideon represents the African American perspective of life. Named after a man from Rwanda, who stayed with Stockley for a time, Gideon's experiences relate to people with little power in the present and past. Stockley joined the Peace Corp in 1965-1967 and lived off the coast of Columbia developing rural areas. This was a great inspiration to him and this also reflected in Gideon. Stockley describes Gideon as around 5'11", bald, large gut, and having to struggle with his own identity. Most of his stories are similar in that Gideon usually takes awhile to get his thoughts together and get the picture, but in the end he always gets it together. He is an everyday kind of hero that makes mistakes.
II. Influences
Stockley benefits from John Grisham, Scott Turrow, and from his agent in New York who influenced him into writing his Gideon series. In Religious Conviction, a novel in the series, Stockley expresses his religious side. This was inspired fifteen years ago by the Evolution vs. Creation Science case. Gideon tries to stay objective but finds himself leaning one way and then another.
III. Literary Works
It takes around one year for Stockley to complete a novel. This gives him plenty of time to research for his novels. He researches his stories by microfilm and common people's stories. Currently, he enjoys researching his future novel. He is basing it on the race rights of 1919 in Helena, Arkansas.
Stockley recommends his book, Expert Testimony, because it is based upon himself and the relationship with his daughter, Sara. He has also written a short story called "Legal Brief." His story is one of many in the book. Other authors in the book are John Grisham and Steve Martini. The one author that inspires him most though is John Updike. He doesn't try to write like him, but really loves to read his stories.
"The hardest part about writing is having the confidence to believe what you're writing is worth publishing," Stockley explains. This is itself something that Stockley wrote about for twelve years, but all five novels he wrote were not published. He says the best part of writing is that "there are days where you've said what you've wanted to."
Stockley, himself is an inspiration. For example, a fan wrote him and complimented him on his writing. Stockley not only wrote him back, he also flew to Canada and met him. He has sold one hundred thousand copies of his books, and in each lie a piece of a good man's heart.
IV. Works Cited
Stockley, Griff. Personal interview. 2 May 1999.
This essay was submitted by a student of Suzanne Dilday, a teacher at Benton High School in Arkansas.