Thomas Harris

For other people named Thomas Harris, see Thomas Harris (disambiguation).

Thomas Harris
Harris as displayed in Hannibal (1999)
Born	(1940-04-11) April 11, 1940 Jackson, Tennessee, United States
Occupation	Novelist, screenwriter
Nationality	American
Education	English language
Alma mater	Baylor University
Period	1975–2006
Genres	Crime, Horror, Suspense
Notable work(s)	Red Dragon The Silence of the Lambs Hannibal Hannibal Rising
Partner(s)	Pace Barnes
thomasharris.com

Thomas Harris (born April 11, 1940) is an American author and screenwriter, best known for a series of suspense novels about his most famous character, Hannibal Lecter. All of his works have been made into films, the most notable being the multi-Oscar winning The Silence of the Lambs which became only the third film in Academy Award history to sweep the Oscars in major categories.

Biography

Harris was born in Jackson, Tennessee, but moved as a child with his family to Rich, Mississippi. He was introverted and bookish in grade school and then blossomed in high school. He attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, where he majored in English and graduated in 1964. While in college, he worked as a reporter for the local newspaper, the Waco Tribune-Herald, covering the police beat. In 1968, he moved to New York City to work for the Associated Press until 1974 when he began work on Black Sunday.

Personal life

Little is known about Harris's personal life as he avoids publicity and has not given an interview since 1976. At Baylor University he met and married a fellow student named Harriet. They had one daughter, Anne, before they divorced in the 1960s. Fellow novelist Stephen King has remarked that if writing is sometimes tedious for other authors, to Harris it is like "writhing on the floor in agonies of frustration", because, for Harris, "the very act of writing is a kind of torment". Harris remained close to his mother, Polly, and reportedly called her every night, no matter where he was, and often discussed particular scenes from his work with her. She died on 31 Dec. 2011. He currently lives in South Florida with his long-term partner Pace Barnes, a publishing editor, and has a summer home in Sag Harbor, New York. Harris's friend and literary agent Morton Janklow said of him: "He's one of the good guys. He is big, bearded and wonderfully jovial. If you met him, you would think he was a choirmaster. He loves cooking—he's done the Le Cordon Bleu exams—and it's great fun to sit with him in the kitchen while he prepares a meal and see that he's as happy as a clam. He has these old-fashioned manners, a courtliness you associate with the South."

Bibliography

• Black Sunday (1975)
• Red Dragon (1981)
• The Silence of the Lambs (1988)
• Hannibal (1999)
• Hannibal Rising (2006)

Reception

John Dunning said of Harris: "All he is is a talent of the first rank".

References

Notes

Bibliography

• "Polly Coleman Harris", The Bolivar Commercial, 3 January 2012, retrieved 30 April 2013 
• Conklin, Mike (18 April 1999), "Hannibal is up to his old tricks in 'Silence' sequel", Lubbock Avalanche Journal 
• Cowley, Jason (November 19, 2006), "Creator of a Monstrous Hit", The Observer 
• Dunning, John. Booked to Die. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1992.
• Hoban, Phoebe (15 April 1991), "The Silence of the Writer", New York: 48–50 
• Laughlin, Meg (1999-08-15), "The hunt for Thomas Harris", Houston Chronicle, retrieved 16 April 2012 
• Sexton, David. The Strange World of Thomas Harris. London: Short Books, 2001.
• Streibling, William (2001). "The Mississippi Writers Page; Thomas Harris". Retrieved 29 March 2010. 

External links

• Thomas Harris at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Thomas Harris Website
• The Hannibal Lecter Studiolo