From the Johnson City Press:
Local author, former journalist and former lawyer Scott Pratt died Sunday, apparently in a diving accident in Bonaire, and just five months after his wife, a well-known dance instructor, died after a long battle with cancer.
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Pratt, 61, [started] his book-writing career in 2008 after working as an attorney. Prior to that, Pratt was a newspaper journalist who covered the court system for the Johnson City Press in the 1980s and later worked for the Kingsport Times News. He married Kristy Hodge, who was the daughter of the Tom Hodge, the Press’ late opinion page editor.
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He went to law school but later became a full-time writer and published a series of crime fiction — some based on crimes in East Tennessee — and his main character, Joe Dillard, was an attorney going through many of the same challenges and situations Pratt had faced.
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“I’m not often at a loss for words, but I think about Scott’s life and the challenges he faced … most particularly I think about his faithfulness to Kristy for 10, 12 years (as she battled cancer),” said attorney Jim Bowman, a long-time friend of Pratt.
Pratt’s books were extremely successful as he had sold more than 3 million books, according to his website, www.scottprattfiction.com.
In October, Pratt announced a new book, “The Sins of the Mother”, written in collaboration with a Johnson City Police Department detective, Mark Stout. The book was released last week.
Link to the rest at the Johnson City Press and thanks to Darren, who says, “he’s been my Grisham. I’ve devoured his series of two different legal characters,” for the tip.
Oh, I am so sorry to hear this. I’ve read most of his books and really enjoyed them.