American novelist and screenwriter, he was born on July 22, 1943 in Pontiac, Michigan, USA, and moved with his mother to Milledgeville, Georgia. He received his undergraduate degree in 1969 from the University of South Dakota, which later awarded him an honorary Doctor of Arts in 2010. He was a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News. He's known for The Paperboy (2012) and Michael (1996).