People: Richard Ford

GREAT AMERICAN NOVELIST

Last fall, MSU Libraries celebrated the acquisition of its four millionth volume--Independence Day, the fifth and latest novel by Richard Ford, '66.

Now living in New Orleans, Ford was a regular library user. 'We used to go on study dates to the library,' recalls his wife Kristina, who accompanied Richard back to campus for the milestone celebration. 'We spent two hours walking around the campus. It was so sweet.' Recalls Richard, 'After 30 years I walk into the MSU Library and the first person I see is the man who taught me 18th century literature in 1965--Arthur Sherbo--and he's holding a copy of my book. It was quite a wonderful moment.'

The winner of Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and most recently, the 1994 Rea Award for the short story, Richard ranks among America's best writers. His 1986 novel, The Sportswriter, featuring a memorable character called Frank Bascombe, sold 135,000 copies and got a rave review and cover from the New York Times Book Review. His 1990 novel, Wildfire, ignited a critical firestorm. And Publisher's Weekly annointed his latest work as 'the Great American Novel of this time in our lives.'

A native of Mississippi, Richard came to MSU for hotel management. He soon changed to English to get out of organic chemistry. MSU, he says, 'expanded my sense of life.'

He explains: For the first time in his life, he had black classmates as well as friends of Eastern European descent. 'My freshman year I heard both Martin Luther King and Malcolm X on campus,' he recounts. 'Being at MSU established what my core sense of what America is about. I basically found out I was a liberal.'

Richard also has a great love for the Midwest. He is fond of quoting the late DJ Wolfman Jack, 'The future of any record is whether the Midwest can dig it.'

And the Midwest will probably gain in world recognition through his novels--which at last count have been translated into 21 languages.