Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
My full name is McCracken King Poston Jr. I live in Ringgold, Georgia, where I also work. I am a criminal defense lawyer licensed in Georgia and Tennessee. I will also go to other jurisdictions on a case-by-case basis.
My first book, “Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom” (Citadel, Hardcover, February 2024), is about a murder case in which I was the defense lawyer.
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
“Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom” (Citadel, Hardcover, February 2024)
From Amazon:
“Was this small-town TV repair man “a harmless eccentric or a bizarre killer” (Atlanta Journal Constitution). For the first time, Alvin Ridley’s own defense attorney reveals the inside story of his case and trial in an extraordinary tale of friendship and an idealistic young attorney’s quest to clear his client’s name—and, in the process, rebuild his own life.
In October 1997, the town of Ringgold in northwest Georgia was shaken by reports of a murder in its midst. A dead woman was found in Alvin Ridley’s house—and even more shockingly, she was the wife no one knew he had.
McCracken Poston had been a state representative before he lost his bid for U.S. Congress and returned to his law career. Alvin Ridley was a local character who once sold and serviced Zenith televisions. Though reclusive and an outsider, the “Zenith Man,” as Poston knew him, hardly seemed capable of murder.
Alvin was a difficult client, storing evidence in a cockroach-infested suitcase, unwilling to reveal key facts to his defender. Gradually, Poston pieced together the full story behind Virginia and Alvin’s curious marriage and her cause of death—which was completely overlooked by law enforcement. Calling on medical experts, testimony from Alvin himself, and a wealth of surprising evidence gleaned from Alvin’s junk-strewn house, Poston presented a groundbreaking defense that allowed Alvin to return to his peculiar lifestyle, a free man.
Years after his trial, Alvin was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, a revelation that sheds light on much of his lifelong personal battle—and shows how easily those who don’t fit societal norms can be castigated and misunderstood. Part true crime, part courtroom drama, and full of local color, Zenith Man is also the moving story of an unexpected friendship between two very different men that changed—and perhaps saved—the lives of both.”
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
I write best in coffee shops, and I used at least six in writing my first book.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
As I child I memorized most of Robert Frost’s poems. I loved H.G. Wells. I enjoy political books and historic nonfiction.
What are you working on now?
I’m just about to get my first book published, in a few days!
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I use them all, but have found surprising close contact with others in the very narrow categories in Reddit.
Do you have any advice for new authors?
Talk to an experienced person and get a good agent.
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
Don’t drink so much.
What are you reading now?
“Stealing the General” by Russell Bonds, and “The Wager” by David Grann.
What’s next for you as a writer?
I’d like to try my hand at fiction!
What is your favorite book of all time?
I loved a children’s book, “My Side of the Mountain”
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