McCracken Poston Jr.

WE’VE BEEN ROBBED! People who write and perform music would often express what piracy of their work felt like. I know the feeling! This is the THIRD time this Ringgold, Georgia story has been hit - now this one is for sale in Belgium and the Netherlands. Whoever “Matthew Bryan” is, if Alvin were here he’d likely be “turning him over to the Lord”, and I would at least feel some satisfaction that justice was coming! This area of law is definitely not in my wheelhouse. It’s been turned over to the publisher’s lawyers.

PAPERBACK PUBLICATION DAY! What a journey! Thank you readers for being a part of it. Remember, all PAPERBACK orders and sales this week go into the first-week sales calculations. These pics are: a trial week classic, Alvin’s visit to Heritage High three years ago today, and a full box of paperbacks arriving at a store.

Alvin Ridley was very much alive when I first turned in my manuscript in 2023, and many of us wouldn't trade anything for witnessing him at the hardcover book launches and seeing how his autism diagnosis and the telling of his story lifted him. He lived another year, and I have updated the TRADE PAPERBACK with his last days, last words, and the lasting legacy he left us here. PREORDERS (basically, purchases in September) will count toward the critical first-week sales, and that computation goes into bestseller status, bookstore decisions, and other things. SHOP LOCAL FIRST! Book&Barrel and Fern&Feather in Ringgold can get you a signed one, closer to launch day (Sept. 29). But if you would rather it land on your porch, here are some other options: Amazon: amazon.com/Zenith-Man-Redemp… Barnes & Noble: barnesandnoble.com/s/9780806… Bookshop.org: bookshop.org/p/books/zenith-… Books-A-Million: booksamillion.com/search?que… Walmart: walmart.com/ip/19319820460 Target: target.com/p/zenith-man-by-m… Kensington Publishing: kensingtonbooks.com/shop/zen… Penguin Random House: penguinrandomhouse.com/books…

SEPTEMBER IS UPON US! LET THE COUNTDOWN TO 09/29/2026 BEGIN! I submitted the manuscript for the hardcover of this book to my publisher in 2023. Alvin Ridley was very much alive and just getting used to the knowledge that he had spent his whole life with undiagnosed autism. The discovery had reframed the whole story for me and sparked this book. It also transformed Alvin. But the story didn't end there. Many of you witnessed Alvin being "lifted" by the autism diagnosis and his new understanding of himself. Autism is an information-processing condition. I apologized to Alvin for my part in the "processing" problem, because I was not processing him and he wasn't processing me! Alvin was the happiest person I knew at the time of his passing, something I never thought I would say about Alvin Ridley. So, the trade paperback, coming to your store (or to your house) on September 29, 2026, will give final closure on the subject. The last days, the last words, and the lasting legacy of Alvin Ridley. While I often wish I could have given you the whole story in the hardcover, I wouldn't trade anything for witnessing how this town warmed up to its "TV Repairman" (as Alvin put on his tombstone). We have a unique opportunity to tell the world this story, now in the less expensive trade paperback format. We also have the opportunity to get "bestseller" status in several forums, such as NYT, USAToday, Amazon, B&N, Books-A-Million, and others. This is all determined by presales before the end of this month. I like to use the example of what Savannah did with "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" after achieving bestseller status. If Ringgold, Georgia could just have a fraction of that... imagine! You can help. Get your Christmas shopping done early! Get your own Alvin Ridley story's conclusion. Get something for that person who has everything in the world but the end of Alvin's story. PLEASE PREORDER THE PAPERBACK TODAY FROM YOUR LOCAL STORE OR FROM: AMAZON a.co/d/06YZU97B BARNES & NOBLE barnesandnoble.com/s/9780806… BOOKSHOP (For Independent Bookstores) bookshop.org/search?keywords… BOOKS-A-MILLION booksamillion.com/search?que… WALMART walmart.com/ip/19319820460 TARGET target.com/.../zenith-man-by… KENSINGTON PUBLISHING kensingtonbooks.com/shop/zen… PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE penguinrandomhouse.com/.../z… And thank you. McP

My publisher's parent company is Kensington Publishing Corp. They are giving away 100 free copies of the updated paperback of "Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom" (Citadel), with registration starting at 12:01 am, tonight, Saturday, August 29th, and ending on Saturday, September 12th. Thousands sign up for Goodreads Giveaways from all over the country. This one is US ONLY. Let's see how many sign up! Best of luck! And if you don't win, remember it's a paperback - and easier on the pocketbook! goodreads.com/giveaway/show/…

THE MAGNA CARTA, THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, and ALVIN’S DECLARATION OF FIVE CONSPIRACIES. Alvin drew this original up during my representation of him when I was trying to get him to focus on the case at hand, his looming murder trial. We fought over its relevance. It’s an elaborate statement connecting a bunch of disconnected and truly impossible-to-connect things and events. What is wonderful is that Alvin gave up all conspiracies after his autism diagnosis, which lifted him and eased his mind. He began to open up to others, and, as he wrote, he forgave “all who done me wrong”, and later even admitted that it was probably “solid state circuitry” that ended his TV business. And it was true forgiveness, a real miracle to watch unfold as the community warmed to him. Of these three historic charters, only one can be seen in Ringgold Georgia, at Caffeine Addicts Coffee - 7819 Nashville Street

Travis Knight, the acclaimed artist now celebrated all over (who did this wonderful art of Alvin Ridley), went to Ringgold High, and as an employee at a Dalton copy center, remembers a specific frequent customer. See this weeks “Livewire” magazine. In the clean up of Alvin’s shop, house and vehicles, between 2003-2026, I have removed over 240 FULL boxes of Alvin’s copies of petitions, notices, beefs, grievances, objections, and general discontent - copied, but never distributed. At 500 sheets per ream, that’s 5000 sheets per box. I stopped counting at 240 boxes, it was probably 250. That makes 1,250,000 flyers of protest. #murdertrial #ZenithManBook #SouthernGothic

IT WAS AN HONOR when Dick Harpootlian, a fine South Carolina lawyer, asked me to be an early reader and reviewer of his book. And even greater when they put my review on the back cover! This is an amazing true crime story from long ago, when he was a prosecutor. Most of America knows him today as the defense attorney for Alex Murdaugh. This is a great read.

Virginia and Alvin seemed to be two peas in a pod, very much aligned in their views of the world, and kept to themselves. Alvin told me before the trial that they did go on vacations, to Florida and once to New Orleans. I just now found the proof. Virginia meticulously planned and budgeted trips, even noting a doctor she could or did see in Daytona Beach, Florida. These were all in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before the business and their world started falling apart, but well into the period she was deemed to be “missing”.