Pete Dexter
Encyclopedia
Pete Dexter is an American
novelist. He was the recipient of the 1988 National Book Award
for Fiction for his novel Paris Trout.
, Michigan
. After his father died, when Dexter was four, he and his mother moved to Milledgeville, Georgia
, where she married a college physics professor.
He was a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News
, The Sacramento Bee
, and syndicated to many newspapers such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
.
Prior to that he worked for what is now The Palm Beach Post
in West Palm Beach, Florida, but quit in 1972 because the paper's owners forced the editorial page editor to endorse Richard Nixon
over George McGovern
.
He began writing fiction after a life-changing 1981 incident in which a mob of locals in the neighborhood of Grays Ferry
, armed with baseball bats and upset by a recent column about a drug deal-gone-wrong murder, beat the writer severely. The brother of the homicide victim was a bartender at a Grays Ferry bar and Dexter went to the bar to talk to him because the family had called the newspaper to complain. Dexter was roughed up at that meeting and later returned with his friend heavyweight prizefighter Randall "Tex" Cobb. In the fight that occurred outside the bar in the street, Cobb received a broken arm that helped end his professional boxing career, and Dexter was hospitalized with a several injuries, including a broken back, pelvic bone, brain damage, and dental devastation.
Dexter lives and writes on Whidbey Island
in the Puget Sound
area of the state of Washington.
Paper Trails, published in 2007, is a compilation of columns he wrote for the Philadelphia Daily News
and The Sacramento Bee
from the 1970s to the 1990s.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
novelist. He was the recipient of the 1988 National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
for Fiction for his novel Paris Trout.
Biography
Dexter was born in PontiacPontiac, Michigan
Pontiac is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan named after the Ottawa Chief Pontiac, located within the Detroit metropolitan area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 59,515. It is the county seat of Oakland County...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. After his father died, when Dexter was four, he and his mother moved to Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, located just before Eatonton on the way to Athens along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an...
, where she married a college physics professor.
He was a columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...
, The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 25th largest paper in the U.S...
, and syndicated to many newspapers such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is an online newspaper and former print newspaper covering Seattle, Washington, United States, and the surrounding metropolitan area...
.
Prior to that he worked for what is now The Palm Beach Post
The Palm Beach Post
The Palm Beach Post is a major daily newspaper in Florida, serving Palm Beach County in South Florida, and the Treasure Coast area. It is the 72nd largest daily newspaper in the United States and the sixth largest in Florida.-History:...
in West Palm Beach, Florida, but quit in 1972 because the paper's owners forced the editorial page editor to endorse Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
over George McGovern
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
.
He began writing fiction after a life-changing 1981 incident in which a mob of locals in the neighborhood of Grays Ferry
Grays Ferry, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Grays Ferry, also known as Gray's Ferry, is a neighborhood in South Philadelphia bounded by 25th Street on the east, the Schuylkill River on the west, Vare Avenue on the south, and Grays Ferry Avenue on the north. The section of this neighborhood west of 34th Street is also known as The Forgotten...
, armed with baseball bats and upset by a recent column about a drug deal-gone-wrong murder, beat the writer severely. The brother of the homicide victim was a bartender at a Grays Ferry bar and Dexter went to the bar to talk to him because the family had called the newspaper to complain. Dexter was roughed up at that meeting and later returned with his friend heavyweight prizefighter Randall "Tex" Cobb. In the fight that occurred outside the bar in the street, Cobb received a broken arm that helped end his professional boxing career, and Dexter was hospitalized with a several injuries, including a broken back, pelvic bone, brain damage, and dental devastation.
Dexter lives and writes on Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island
Whidbey Island is one of nine islands located in Island County, Washington, in the United States. Whidbey is located about north of Seattle, and lies between the Olympic Peninsula and the I-5 corridor of western Washington...
in the Puget Sound
Puget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
area of the state of Washington.
Paper Trails, published in 2007, is a compilation of columns he wrote for the Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...
and The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee
The Sacramento Bee is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its creation in 1857, the Bee has become Sacramento's largest newspaper, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 25th largest paper in the U.S...
from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Novels
- God's Pocket (1983)
- Deadwood (1986)
- Paris Trout (1988) (1988 National Book Award for Fiction)
- Brotherly Love (1991)
- The PaperboyThe Paperboy (novel)The Paperboy is a 1995 novel published by American author Pete Dexter.-Plot summary:Four years earlier Hillary Van Wetter was jailed for the murder of an unscrupulous local sheriff, Thurmond Call. Call had previously stomped Wetter's handcuffed cousin to death. Wetter is now on death row and...
(1995) (1996 Literary Award, PEN Center USA) - Train (2003)
- Spooner (2009)
Screenplays
- Paris TroutParis TroutParis Trout is a 1991 drama film directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal, starring Dennis Hopper, Barbara Hershey, and Ed Harris. It is based on the National Book Award-winning novel Paris Trout by the author Peter Dexter.-Plot:...
(1991) - RushRush (1991 film)Rush is a 1991 American crime drama feature film, based on a novel written by Kim Wozencraft. A narcotics detective and his inexperienced partner go after an elusive drug dealer...
(1991) - MichaelMichael (1996 film)Michael is a 1996 American fantasy film directed by Nora Ephron and released in 1996. The film stars John Travolta as the Archangel Michael, who is sent to Earth to do various tasks, including mending some wounded hearts...
(1996) - Mulholland FallsMulholland FallsMulholland Falls is a 1996 American neo-noir crime thriller film directed by Lee Tamahori and written by Pete Dexter. The drama features Andrew McCarthy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Melanie Griffith, Treat Williams, and John Malkovich.Nolte plays the...
(1996)
External links
- Interview with Dexter at Powells.comPowell's BooksPowell's Books is a chain of bookstores in Oregon's Portland metropolitan area. Powell's headquarters, dubbed Powell's City of Books, claims to be the largest independent new and used bookstore in the world. Powell's City of Books is located in the Pearl District on the edge of downtown and...