Trivia

After high school, he briefly attended the University of Mississippi, but did not graduate. He held several jobs, including hay hauling, fence building, painting, and fork-lift operator. He served in the Marine Corps from 1970 to 1972, then worked as a firefighter for the Oxford Mississippi Fire Department from 1973 to 1990.

Won the Southern Book Critics Circle Award twice.

Took up writing in his native Oxford, Mississippi while working as a firefighter.