Defending a challenging client in a unique trial in a contentious setting is not a new topic. But for attorney McCracken Poston, his job was made more difficult since both he and the accused grew up in Ringgold, where the charge was murder, the victim was his client’s wife, and his client had a personality disorder.
Georgia Writers Museum is fortunate to host a special Crime & Wine experience on June 22 with Poston, the author of Zenith Man: Death, Love, and Redemption in a Georgia Courtroom, which details the strange case of Alvin Ridley.
GWM: What were your initial impressions of your client, Alvin Ridley, and why did you take him as a client?
Poston: I’d known Alvin – or of Alvin – my whole life. He was in my oldest sister’s class in high school, and my father liked him because he bartered and was a good TV repairman. I had encounters with Alvin when I was in politics, but I always tried to treat him kindly.
My father encouraged me to help him when he was being accused of holding his wife captive for years before killing her.
GWM: Remembering the challenges of the author of The Help, your book is set in Ringgold. You also live there. Has that posed any unique challenges for you on a personal level?
Poston: Perhaps because of the passage of time, everyone gets redemption in this book. I had misjudged Alvin as well. We all had him wrong.
GWM: How do preconceived notions of guilt and innocence play into this case?
Poston: There was a rush to judgment of Alvin’s guilt in the case by local law enforcement, pathologists, and prosecutors. I was sore from losing a congressional race, and Alvin was one of the first challenges I faced after restarting my waning law practice.
While Alvin and Virginia did not trust local, county, and state governments, they both held out hope that the federal government would save them. The fact that our congressman – my former opponent – called me and demanded Alvin be kept away from his district office only inspired me to work harder for Alvin.
GWM: What encouraged you most to become an author?
Poston: The poet Maya Angelou, said, “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” This is how I felt for over two decades after the trial.
GWM: What can you tell us about your writing process?
Poston: I struggled for years, mainly because I was unsatisfied with how to explain my client, Alvin Ridley. His autism diagnosis just three years ago finally helped form the book in my head.
GWM: What do you think is the most difficult part of the writing process?
Poston: With a publishing contract for a 90,000-word book, my first draft had 177,000 words! Hacking away at the story was by far the most difficult part.
Tickets to see Poston describe his time with Ridley, 7 p.m. June 22 (doors open at 6:30 p.m.) at The Plaza Arts Center, are $40 each.
Visit Georgia Writers Museum online at georgiawritersmuseum.org/crimeandwine for reservations and to pre-order Poston’s book for signing afterward.