New York: Wynwood Press, 1989. First edition. Signed "John Grisham 27 Dec 94." This copy from the collection of Grisham's literary agent, Jay Garon, who championed A Time to Kill after numerous rejections and eventually launched the author's career. With the ink stamp of the Jay Garon-Brooke Associates agency. A Near Fine copy in like dust jacket. Top edge of closed text block a bit dustsoiled. Dust jacket panels just slightly rubbed, with a bit of creasing to front flap.

Jay Garon (1924 - 1995) was a literary agent best known for his professional partnership with the author John Grisham, which saw the publication of Grisham's first six novels and brought massive commercial success to both men. Their partnership began when Grisham sent unsolicited chapters of his first novel, A Time to Kill, to nearly thirty agents; only Garon saw the potential in the work and called him back. Though the novel did not immediately gain traction – after fifteen publishers rejected the title, Garon finally placed it with the fairly obscure Wynwood Press – Garon continued to champion Grisham's work. Two years later, Garon secured publication with Doubleday for Grisham's second novel, The Firm (1991), which became a massive hit and prompted Doubleday to reissue A Time to Kill in 1993. The Firm began a run of dozens of bestselling novels and numerous film adaptations, including The Pelican Brief (1993), The Client (1994), and A Time to Kill (1996). Garon's advocacy in the early years of Grisham's career was essential, and it was through their partnership that Grisham reached the heights of literary fame that he has seen over the past three and a half decades.

Grisham's debut novel, A Time to Kill, was inspired by his decade-long career as an attorney. Drawing on a harrowing case Grisham witnessed in 1984, the legal thriller reflects on innocence, vengeance, and race in the American legal system. The novel was adapted for the screen in 1996 by Joel Schumacher with Samuel L. Jackson and Matthew McConaughey starring.

Provenance from the estate of Gary Sullivan, Jay Garon's longtime partner, through Sullivan's acquaintance and fellow Fire Island resident.

"Jay S. Garon; Literary Agent for John Grisham." Los Angeles Times (August 28, 1995).
"J. S. Garon, 71, Literary Agent Who Saw Talent Others Didn't." New York Times (August 25, 1995). Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. (Item #8190)