ADA, Okla., March 9 (UPI) -- Best-selling author John Grisham is temporarily setting aside fiction to write a book on a true crime in the Oklahoma town of Ada.
Grisham, who signed a contract with Doubleday to write the book, told The Oklahoman he was moved to do so after reading an obituary and seeing a photo that appeared in the New York Times in December.
Grisham, who lives in Charlottesville, Va., said the obituary was on the death of Ron Williamson, who was convicted in the 1982 murder of a 21-year-old woman.
Williamson and another man convicted of the crime spent 12 years in prison. At one point, he was five days from being executed. He was finally cleared after DNA evidence disproved the original forensic evidence.
Grisham bought the story rights from Williamson's sisters. Williamson died in December of liver disease at age 51. It is not known if the real killer was ever caught.
Grisham said he's excited about venturing into non-fiction but said he isn't worried about that adjustment.
"(Williamson) survived ... a terrible injustice. He was almost executed for a crime he didn't commit," Grisham said.
