Monday, April 18, 2011

John Grisham does a nice thing for Charlotte

Bestselling author John Grisham will make a visit to Charlotte for a good cause on Saturday, April 23. The master of the legal thriller ("The Firm," "The Pelican Brief," "The Confession") will speak at a private dinner as part of Charlotte Wine & Food Weekend.

The dinner, at Pewter Rose, is being hosted by vintner Robert Foley, Mike Gminski and Johnny Wallace. Gminski, a TV sports commentator and former NBA player who starred at Duke University, lives in Charlotte. Wallace was his roommate at Duke.

Gminski, a friend of Grisham's, asked him to come speak. "He said, 'We'll have a lot of fun, some good food and wine.'" Grisham told me recently.

Grisham, who lives in Virginia, has some strong N.C. ties, by the way. His daughter, Shea, graduated from UNC Chapel Hill in 2008 and his wife, Renee, finished her degree there in 2010.

Two winning bidders each purchased 12 seats at this dinner, bidding a total of about $25,000.

The proceeds will go to four Charlotte charities: The Council for Children's Rights, Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina, Charlotte Community Health Clinic and Pat's Place Child Advocacy Center.

Read more about the dinner in the Food section of Wednesday's Observer.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess that's great....But why post the article if you cant go to the dinner or have an opportunity to meet him?

Anonymous said...

Not a bad life...did he steal his daughters roommate to be his wife?

Pam Kelley said...

Actually, the Grishams have been married for many years. He met her when she was still in high school. She had never completed her college degree and decided to do it at Chapel Hill.

Anonymous said...

The article is good news for our area because these local charities that serve our youth in our community are benefitting by John Grisham's generosity.