Jackson, Mississippi native Richard Ford nearly missed his calling. He briefly attended law school before deciding to pursue an M.F.A. in writing.
His first two novels, A Piece of My Heart and The Ultimate Good Luck, didn't do as well as expected, so Ford accepted a staff writer position with Inside Sports magazine.
He soon wrote his break-out novel, The Sportswriter, followed by Rock Springs, a highly praised book of short stories, and Wildlife, a novel set in Great Falls, Montana.
He is best known for his novel, Independence Day, which won the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction, the first novel to win both awards.
Ford and his wife, Kristina, reside in the French Quarter. The couple also regularly visit a plantation in the Mississippi Delta and their cabin in Chinook, Montana.
