James Patterson is one of the top-selling novelists in the world today. His debut novel,
The Thomas Berryman Number, won the Edgar Award for the best first mystery novel. It was published by Little, Brown in 1976 when he was just 27 years old, after being turned down by more than two dozen other publishers.
>
He has since written a string of major national bestsellers that includes the five books in the series featuring detective/psychologist Alex Cross --
Along Came a Spider, Kiss the Girls, Jack & Jill, Cat & Mouse and Pop Goes the Weasel -- as well as
Cradle and All, When the Wind Blows, and
Hide & Seek. In November 2000, Little, Brown published the sixth book in the Cross series,
Roses are Red, and in March 2001 will launch a new Patterson series with the publication of
1st To Die, the novel that introduces the "Women's Murder Club." Also on the slate for 2001:
Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and the new thriller featuring Alex Cross,
Violets Are Blue.
Paramount Pictures's feature film adaptation of Kiss the Girls, starring Morgan Freeman as Alex Cross, was a box office hit in 1997. Freeman will reprise the Cross role in the film adaptation of the first novel in the series, Along Came a Spider, now in production and slated for release in April 2001. NBC bought the rights to 1st To Die with plans to produce a four-hour miniseries to air during the May 2001 sweeps period. Miracle on the 17th Green, a novel co-written with Peter de Jonge, was also made into a television movie, starring Robert Urich.
In addition to writing novels, Mr. Patterson served as chairman of J. Walter Thompson, North America from 1990 to 1996. He began his advertising career as a junior copywriter with the company in 1971 and went on to become the youngest executive creative director and youngest chief executive officer in the company's history. He made his mark at the agency by creating award-winning campaigns for Kodak, Burger King, Toys R' Us, Bell Atlantic, Bristol-Myers and others. He collaborated with advertising colleague Peter Kim to produce the nonfiction bestseller The Day America Told the Truth.
Patterson grew up in Newburgh, New York. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in English from Manhattan College and summa cum laude with an M.A. in English from Vanderbilt University.
James Patterson lives in Palm Beach County, Florida, with his wife and their young son.
